UFU warns NI farming must avoid Dutch nitrogen fallout

Northern Ireland risks seeing environmental policy shaped by the courts unless government works with farmers, the Ulster Farmers’ Union has warned.

UFU policy director James McCluggage said proposed nitrogen restrictions in the Netherlands showed why farmers must remain involved in difficult policy discussions.

Writing in a UFU policy blog, he said the Dutch experience offered lessons for Northern Ireland as it considers ammonia, water quality, planning and future farm support.

Farmers were right to question whether new measures would be practical, affordable and properly funded, he argued, particularly while family farms continued to face high costs, tight margins and labour pressures.

The Dutch cabinet has agreed a €20 billion package aimed at reducing nitrogen pollution and protecting sensitive habitats.

According to Mr McCluggage, farmers could be required to cut ammonia emissions by between 42% and 46% by 2035 compared with 2019 levels, while industry and transport would be expected to halve nitrogen oxide emissions.

Other proposals include buffer zones around vulnerable nature sites, binding emissions limits for livestock holdings and a national stocking limit of 2.6 cows per hectare by 2035.

Farms within the proposed restriction zones could be required to invest in new technology, reduce livestock density, relocate or stop farming.

Compulsory reductions in livestock numbers could also follow if voluntary measures failed to deliver the required emissions cuts.

“These are not minor tweaks. They represent a fundamental intervention in the structure and operation of livestock farming,” Mr McCluggage said.

The measures are intended to reduce nitrogen pollution and address damage to protected habitats. Farming organisations have nevertheless questioned whether some of the proposed restrictions are proportionate and achievable.

The Dutch situation followed a 2019 ruling by the Netherlands’ Council of State, which found that the government’s nitrogen strategy breached European Union nature protection requirements.

Successive governments have since struggled to establish a workable response, while nitrogen restrictions have also delayed housing, construction and infrastructure projects.

Mr McCluggage said the experience showed how environmental policy gridlock could create wider economic uncertainty while leaving farmers to carry much of the burden.

Dutch agricultural organisation LTO Nederland has said farmers are prepared to contribute to emissions reductions but has criticised parts of the package as disproportionate.

Mr McCluggage said farmers could not be expected to meet demanding targets without adequate funding, technology and flexibility.

He added that the UFU’s involvement in discussions over the Nutrients Action Programme, ammonia, planning, water quality and future farm support remained essential.

“The UFU’s role is not to oppose change for the sake of it. Our role is to ensure that any change is fair, practical, properly funded and rooted in the reality of family farming,” he said.

Mr McCluggage acknowledged that Northern Ireland’s farming structure, land base and agri-food supply chains differed from those in the Netherlands.

However, he argued that the Dutch experience highlighted the risks of setting targets without practical delivery plans or allowing regulation to move ahead of science, investment and support.

He called for realistic timescales, properly funded schemes, recognition of environmental work already carried out by farmers and policies that supported productive agriculture.

“There is still an opportunity in Northern Ireland to get this right. But that will only happen if farmers stay united, engaged and clear about what is needed,” he said.