Focus on dairy farming grants in the Netherlands
Under the EU eco-scheme, dairy farmers in the Netherlands who do more for the climate, nature and the environment receive higher grants than those who receive only income support. Though average grant income was lower last year, dairy farmers with a gold eco-medal have retained their overall grant funding at the same level. The Netherlands Court of Audit comes to these conclusions in a report it presented today, Focus on dairy farming grants in the Netherlands.
Some €500 million in EU and national grants are awarded to livestock farmers in the Netherlands every year, with €400 million going to dairy farmers. In 2023, the average award per farm fell to about €4,500. As a result of the eco-scheme, grants promoting sustainability were on average higher.
Gold, silver and bronze
The amount awarded to dairy farmers for the sustainability measures they take depends on the eco-medal they hold. Farmers can earn gold, silver or bronze medals for their sustainability efforts. Examples include sowing clover or herbaceous plants in grassland, using organic pesticides and extending the grazing season (so that cows spend more time outdoors and less indoors).
Increase in proportion of grants to promote sustainability of dairy farming in 2023 (amounts in €)
| year | Income support grants | Sustainability grants |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 22056 | 6628 |
| 2019 | 21788 | 6383 |
| 2020 | 21422 | 6308 |
| 2021 | 21804 | 6314 |
| 2022 | 20674 | 6402 |
| 2023 | 14958 | 7639 |
On average, dairy farmers with a gold eco-medal were awarded total grant funding of €460 per hectare in 2023. Dairy farmers without an eco-medal received €270 per hectare on average. There was accordingly a lot of interest in earning a medal: 93% of all dairy farmers in the Netherlands applied for one.
Eco-scheme prompts change in dairy farming grants
Gold medal dairy farmers score higher on sustainability indicators
The Court of Audit also investigated whether grants were awarded to farmers who actually worked sustainably: is a gold medal dairy farm more sustainable than a dairy farm with a silver, bronze or no medal? By linking each farm’s medal to sustainability indicators compiled by Wageningen Economic Research (WEcR), we found that significantly more farmers with a gold medal scored higher on the sustainability indicators than other farmers. In other words, the higher the medal, the higher the score on WEcR’s sustainability indicators.
On average, dairy farmers with a gold medal scored more positively than other dairy farmers on many indicators. The indicators relate, for instance, to the environment and biodiversity, environmental impact, ammoniac emissions and number of outdoor grazing hours.
Nevertheless, 42% of dairy farmers with a gold medal had a low or medium-low score on the sustainability indicators. Barbara Joziasse, a member of the Court’s Board, recognises there is room for improvement, ‘Farmers with high sustainability scores are not the only ones to be awarded medals. On the whole, we can see that for dairy farmers who apply for a grant, sustainability pays’.
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