Advisory report
RLG 01/6a: Before it is too late…
Advice on the future of livestock farming in the Netherlands - August
2001
The Netherlands' Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries has requested the Council for the Rural Areas to advise on the future of livestock farming in the Netherlands for a term of about 20 years: the nature and the extent of livestock farming, which can permanently prove its worth on the market, which can satisfy all requirements and which can count on public support. In this advice, the Council not only defines a view on animal farming, but also gives its opinion on the approach, the process of plan formation and implementation.
The place livestock farming has in our society
Livestock farming in historical and social perspective
Traditionally, animals have an important function in our society: economically,
ecologically and socio-culturally. However, the rationale of livestock
farming as an economic activity has come under discussion because of problems
with environmental quality, animal welfare and public health. Further
liberalisation of markets and technological development seem to deepen
the discussion. It is obvious that drastic changes are needed. But whatever
the outcome, livestock farming will always play an important role. This
is the first basic principle for this advice.
Livestock farming needs a revised 'licence to produce'. It must operate
in a socially sound way like all enterprises in our country, and must
take ecological, economic and socio-cultural aspects into consideration,
and also contribute towards social objectives. These conditions must be
met by the sector. This is the second basic principle for this advice.
Exploring the future of livestock farming
Trends, developments and scenarios
Social trends and the development of livestock farming are important for the future. Extrapolation makes scenarios visible: on the one hand the zoocentric approach, in which animals would be seen more as equals with ample space for their 'natural' behaviour, may become stronger. On the other hand, the anthropocentric approach, in which it is a matter of course that animals can be used and genetically manipulated by men, may become equally strong. Along the 'natural-hightech' axis, one can see the trend towards more naturalness in the livestock farming system, but as a contrast, technological development may become dominant.
Pressure points and quandaries
a. Animal health and animal welfare. Knowledge of and concern for animal
welfare demands reconsideration of the present approach in and around
livestock farming, which is less and less regarded as acceptable. However,
a large part of the sector now depends strongly on intensive accommodation,
rational care and extensive transportation of live animals. The preconditions
for animal welfare are internationally formulated as the five 'freedoms':
freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition, freedom from physical and
physiological distress, freedom from pain, injuries and disease, freedom
to express normal behaviour, and freedom from fear and chronic stress.
However, this is in actual practice limited to marginal improvements of
the worst pressure points. Meanwhile, the consumer has opted for 'eating
without knowing', and leaves it to the politicians and pressure groups
to effectuate improvements.
There will always be discussions about what is possible and what is allowed.
However, these considerations must give more room to the interest of the
animal, even if this may have drastic consequences for the sector or for
retail prices.
b. Food safety and health. Food has become safer, but is more than ever
under discussion. People demand more and more quality and accept less
and less that they may become ill after consuming animal food products,
which is increasingly regarded as a 'normal' product. 'Zero tolerance'
is impossible, and hence we must learn to live with risks, but the pressure
to minimise the risks is strong. This makes certification, transparent
chains and traceable sources of paramount importance.
The first responsibility for product safety lies with the business world.
The government must set strict preconditions for quality, transparency
and traceability, but also for offering the consumer options and information.
c. Environmental quality. Agriculture lies at the base of the Dutch man-made
landscape, which as such can boast of growing attention. Animals have
always played a role in this, but purposely using animals for maintaining
the landscape - as is now done in many nature areas - is new. Even for
maintaining the fen pastures, grazers are needed. The most important social
function of these animals is shifting from producing milk to maintaining
the landscape. These animals function while grazing as live stage-properties
in the scenery. A pasture without cows is not complete, but this function
brings no rewards. Sheep and an increasing number of horses are becoming
a familiar part of the landscape as well.
The environmental aspects of livestock farming are more important than
before. Instead of 'upshot', the environmental quality is now also a motive
for preserving livestock farming in the Netherlands. This requires other
choices and new rewarding mechanisms.
d. Economy and structure of livestock farming. The structure of the sector
and the competition on prices induce farmers to pursue a form of livestock
farming with the lowest possible costs. The consumer has faith in the
supply if all goes well and has little insight into his own role. The
FMD crisis proved that far-reaching optimisation and cost-savings have
made enterprises vulnerable: the lack of temporary accommodation for animals
caused serious welfare problems. Unlike the past, the present enterprises
are characterised by specialising in one animal species, and are in many
cases restricted to one single production target and often achieved off-land.
New forms of mixed farming will offer an alternative.
To integrate social objectives into the production system, the government
must set strict preconditions for industrial forms of livestock farming
and must actively encourage 'alternative' systems.
e. The demand for products and services. As the Dutch population is growing
and the standard of living is increasing, it results in a growing demand
for products and services. The demand for animal products and services
is changing. Some functions will disappear or will become less important
(the advent of meat substitutes); other functions will become more important
(sports, recreation, aesthetics, landscape management). Animals will play
an important though different role in our society.
To gain more insight into the function and the acceptability of livestock
farming in the Netherlands, various functions and services must be distinguished
and weighed against other alternatives.
f. International environment, market and quality. Dutch livestock farming
produces much for export. Consequently, this makes not only Dutch consumers'
quality demands but also the greater and faster changing European consumers'
demands important. World-wide competition makes it hard for the Netherlands
to have cost price profits, and the dependency on imports is great. Sales
are under strain and animal diseases involve extra risks. In the long
term, the Netherlands will have to compete on the base of quality. Only
production forms with a high added value, which meet controllable and
guaranteed quality requirements, will be suitable and economically profitable.
The CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] is now particularly important for
supporting the incomes of farmers with pasture-reared livestock (cattle,
sheep). The extension of the EU and a new WTO round prompt for - possibly
sweeping - adjustments. The income policy will lose importance in favour
of the rural policy. More decisions will be left to the member states.
The export argument is outweighed less and less by the negative effects
of livestock farming. The 'licence to produce' will be linked to (better)
quality: both in production methods and in products. The extent of livestock
farming is decreasing, not as a target, but as the upshot of the development.
The EU framework offers room for a national policy on the management function
of pasture-reared livestock.
g. The role of the government. Animal welfare, public health and environmental
quality are of public interest. Taking this public interest into account,
the government must call ambivalent behaviour to account and create room
for demanded changes: breaking the social dilemma that each individual
contributes to a development we together find undesirable. At the same
time, the feeling is growing that relationships between citizens, non
governmental organisations and government may need re-defining. The central
position of the government is no longer taken for granted, and both the
position and the organisation of the sector are decreasing and changing.
Steering power is on the decrease while uncertainty is on the increase.
Vagueness about the role of the government will create uncertainty for
the public and enterprises. This makes it essential that the government
- and the other parties - take a clear stand in this matter.
The conditions for livestock farming in the future
Livestock farming in changing times
Livestock farming has always played the role that society required, even as this sector expanded, increased its production and intensified after World War II. But in the last decades, there have been serious problems with the environment, with nature and with animal welfare, and social standards and values are in turmoil. Livestock farming has been cut loose from its physical and social environment. Scandals have made people question the reliability of the products and the sector itself. The outbreak of diseases has burdened our entire society. Regular livestock farming has become vulnerable in every respect (economy, welfare, and diseases) and is regarded more as a nuisance than as a positive contribution towards environmental quality.
The task: change into 'societal entrepreneurship'
'Societal entrepreneurship' in the sense of socially sound undertaking,
is now generally accepted as a condition of existence for companies. This
has been acknowledged in a recent advice of the Netherlands' Socio-Economic
Council, which refers to OECD Guidelines. The point of departure is that
the current rules and regulations be respected and that a contribution
be made to social targets, even above the legal minimum. Livestock farming
must be focussed on the new social norms and expectations. The export
argument will be given less weight and will no longer be an excuse for
the unacceptable environmental pressure, nuisance and risks involved in
the current high production. The economic interest is no longer of overriding
importance in all cases. Nevertheless, the international and EU frameworks
are and will remain important, even for what measures are important on
what level. The production in livestock breeding will have to meet higher
quality, safety and environmental standards. This pressure will cause
a reduction in the sector and a shift to other market segments.
In the future livestock farming must meet the following conditions:
• All forms of livestock farming must comply with the preconditions
set by soil, water, nature and landscape: no further environmental debts
but a contribution towards accelerated redemption of present environmental
debts.
• The 'five freedoms' must be the criteria for further development
and especially for designing the production, farming, trade, transport
and slaughtering.
• Safety and traceability must be central to production: not for
'absolute' safety, but for optimum risk management by applying the precautionary
principle.
• The cycle of materials in livestock farming must be closed, which
makes all livestock farming land-related via forage supply and manure
depositing
• The demand must be the decisive factor: the general 'demand' of
society related to ethics, the environment and the environmental quality,
as well as the more individual consumer demand for safe and wholesome
food, be they related to societal aspects or not.
• Management must be resilient in countering extraordinary weather
or market conditions, care for the environment, animal diseases and other
calamities.
Realising the necessary change
The European policy framework
Some measures are only possible or sensible in EU connection and should be advocated and/or prepared there. Where possible, room must be created for the necessary change in the specific Dutch situation. The policy freedom within the EU frameworks must be meticulously determined. The expected adjustment of the Common Agricultural Policy (related to the EU extension and the WTO) will make income support less important and will make rural policy more important. National control is growing as has already been shown by the present possibilities of modulation and cross-compliance. This also gives more room for an own policy for the function of land-related livestock farming to manage the countryside.
Various business orientations and regional accents
Development of livestock farming within conditions of 'societal sound
entrepreneurship' does not necessarily lead to one uniform end picture
on the business level. There are at least 4 development possibilities,
with mixed and in-between forms: four responsible orientations for business
development, which can take place simultaneously.
• "mainstream livestock farming" will place the accent
on current livestock farming transformed into a system that meets all
requirements of social undertaking.
• "organic livestock farming" will be very much like the
current organic livestock farming in which the production of food is the
main objective, but seen as an organic element in a natural and social
environment. Part of the business plan will be interrelation with nature
and new co-operative forms.
• "multifunctional livestock farming" will have a variety
of functions for a green area in which livestock farming is only one function,
and not necessarily the prime function. The combination of functions will
create new forms of co-operation between livestock farming and other sectors.
• "perception livestock farming" will do justice to the
social and psychological functions of animals and livestock farming, including
care. This type of livestock farming will offer surprise, spontaneity,
beauty and meaning.
There will be regional differences to the extent in which these four development
directions will take place, which is even desirable, as far as it goes.
For the spatial development of livestock farming, the present regional
differences must be the basis for further development. The northern part
of the Netherlands will have space for the current relatively large-scale
livestock farming, roughly interwoven with other functions. In other areas,
more emphasis is placed on multifunctionality and interweaving, or on
structuring and directive closeness of large population concentrations.
Only a limited number of locations will be suitable for the concentration
of intensive livestock farming.
The crucial role of the chains
Chains appear to be not more than loose links with weak connections.
Businesses deliver to and obtain from other businesses without having
proper insight into what has taken place in the upstream links and may
take place in the downstream links. These connections are points of risk
rather than points of co-ordination. There is also a problem with the
citizen as consumer in the chain, whose purchasing behaviour differs from
his social viewpoints. This gap should become smaller by proper information,
by offering a wide range of options, by social discussion and new arrangements.
On the one hand, we will see the development of short chains connecting
the producer and the consumer directly, and, on the other hand, longer
chains with a strong vertical connection. In the latter type, the chains
will surely steer the primary producers. Market steering and proper safeguarding
of the quality is the first matter of importance in both types of chains.
In the longer chains, the parties in the chains will be induced to set
up systems to establish certifications which guarantee the consumers quality
of product and product processes. The government, as the authority responsible
for safeguarding the quality standards, can switch its role of 'controller
in first instance' to its more appropriate role of 'supervisor in last
instance'.
The following is important for setting up and managing the chains:
• Passing on information about products and way of production, for
the traceability of the origin and the properties of the products. Both
on this basis and by offering options structurally, the consumer can be
called to account for the social effects of his purchasing behaviour.
• Possibly provide additional financial incentives, but always by
the government: supportive price-fixing is no concern of the parties in
the chain.
• Detecting points of risk in the chain and taking action with the
'Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP)' as a method of certification
throughout the entire chain.
• Organising the control of chains as a whole, with clear insight
into who is responsible for what to make prompt and effective action possible
whenever necessary; also organising transparent chain management because
of public supervision.
• Encouraging consumer participation in the chains: by shortening
the chain, specific 'green' investment, customer contracts, buying regional
products, etc.
• Giving room for and if necessary temporary support to collaborations
(of producers or various stakeholders in or outside the chain) for their
role as new 'change agents' for creativity, innovative ability and mobilisation.
Conclusions and recommendations
Drastic approach, but no disintegration
The present crisis calls for drastic solutions. A drastic approach is necessary, but the Council is of the opinion that the forced closure of a large number of enterprises is undesirable. The Council assumes that there is place for livestock farming also in the future, provided that the care for animals and the environment is at the forefront whereby society's appreciation can be restored. This 'livestock farming of the future' must be the basis of the transformation process. One must avoid the pitfall that the present situation is seen as basis and standard for the future! But the present situation will indeed be the starting-point for developing concrete measures, mobilising all stakeholders and adapting the instruments.
Initial impetus to make the conditions for 'societal entrepreneurship' operational
'Societal entrepreneurship' in the sense of socially responsible undertaking
is now generally accepted as a precondition for the existence of enterprises.
This is confirmed in a recent advice by the Dutch Socio-Economic Council,
which refers to the OECD Guidelines. The starting-point is that the current
rules are respected and that it is contributory to new social objectives,
even above the legal minimum. Livestock farming must be focused on new
social norms and expectations. These conditions for 'social undertaking'
in livestock farming must be made operative with a 'list of demands' which
must be met within 10 years. The concentration of off-land livestock farming
on business level and ending animal transports may not be entirely realised
within this period, but should be within 15 years. By applying concrete
intermediate objectives, the pressure will be kept up on these points
in the transforming process.
It is very important that this will be integrated into one integral
approach and that a total change be started and continued with the control
and the final responsibilities of the government.
A first operational activity will look as follows:
• Compartmentalising livestock farming and directly connected enterprises
(slaughterhouses, etc.) in the Netherlands, for the purpose of preventing
and combating diseases, and closing the cycle of resources as short as
possible.
• Concentrating commercial off-land livestock farming, wherever this
can be fit in spatially (ecologically, economically). The design of these
enterprises (hog flats or not?) must be foremost approached as a socio-cultural
question.
• Restricting the transportation of live animals in time, in distance
and in frequency for reasons of welfare, the spread of diseases and the
environment. Apart from transportation to the slaughterhouse, animals
should be transported only once for not longer than 8 hours over a distance
of 500 km at the most.
• Demanding that pasture livestock farming should not only produce
milk and meat but also environmental quality in conformity with GAP [Good
Agricultural Practices] and that 'plus' packages should be rewarded structurally.
• Demanding that off-land livestock farming concentrated in special
areas should close material cycles in the form of 'mixed farming at a
distance', within a maximum of 400 km. This must be included in the licence
to establish a business.
• Utilising the rest products from the food industry to close material
cycles, that is to say, with certification and effective control and where
this is safe and ecologically sound.
• Further detailing of animal welfare aspects (five freedoms) into
standards and rules, co-based on a direct interaction with society.
• Increasing the necessary resilience in management by describing
the qualitative demands, and letting companies or sectors themselves outline
how to interpret this.
• Taking care that all products - including the imported products
- entering the Dutch market meet strict standards for food safety and
full traceability.
• Taking care that the public as the consumer can count on various
options as well as the related information about quality and origin so
that the consumer can be faced with his social responsibility. Consider
price incentives.
• Stimulating the public to be more directly involved in the production,
whether or not on the basis of new chains: as the consumer, as the stakeholder
or even as the shareholder.
• Availing the public's need for safe and healthy food to put pressure
on the progress, and for legitimisation of the total change, including
welfare and environmental aspects.
From crisis management to transition management
Government actions on livestock farming have mainly been crisis management
in the last few years. The recent advice of the Wijffels think tank acknowledges
that the problems may be stubborn but that a fundamental change is inevitable.
The call for change must be translated into an action perspective in order
to get the process actively and effectively going and to involve all parties.
It is the task of the Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries
to draw up a process plan for change and to control its implementation.
The intended change is an operation that must be compared to the Delta
Plan and the pit closure and revitalisation in the southern Limburg region.
Now a transition plan for livestock farming is needed: with a strong basis
and ambitious targets and budgets to supply long-term and co-ordinated
efforts by successive Cabinets, and to send the message to the farmers
that they are not on their own. The Council is of the opinion that this
can and must be arranged in the next coalition agreement. The term of
'plan' must not be taken as a structure of concrete measures and instruments.
But it does set the targets and the long-range supply of means, it gives
insight into and indicates the margins for transition processes, and it
lays down the responsibilities of the parties involved.
The outlines of a 'transition plan for livestock farming'
The problems will stretch out over many different areas and levels of
policy. This requires an approach focussed on coherence. Entirety is essential,
and fragmentation into loose projects must be avoided. The transition
plan to be drawn up must guarantee a consistent and continuous line of
the central government - both as regards content and equipment - which
makes it the basis for the trust and the involvement of society and the
stakeholders.
TARGETS AND TIME FRAME. The transition plan must have the objective and
the ambition to implement the change into 'socially undertaking' in livestock
farming within 10 years (partly within 15 years). The plan will describe
the situation reached in terms of conditions, time frame and intermediate
targets.
SPATIAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK. The transition plan must outline the framework
within which the intended change should take place: national legislation,
the European policy framework and the room for different orientations
and regional accents. The core question is what measures are both possible
and effective without upsetting competition in the Netherlands or in the
European connection, and what should happen if a choice must be made between
competition and the ambition to attain higher quality.
WORKING PROGRAMME. The plan must give insight into the points that should
be worked on, but not in the form of detailed measures. It is essential
that measures - though initiated and controlled by the government - be
detailed and implemented in consultation with, and where possible, by
the stakeholders, including other authorities.
For designing this working programme, the Council comes out with the following
points:
ON PRODUCTION:
• Put new land-related businesses, compartmentalisation and concentrating
intensive livestock farming high on the agenda and prime them promptly.
• Stipulate the final picture and time frame of this transition in
the Fifth Memorandum on Spatial Planning part 3 (Vijfde Nota Ruimtelijke
Ordening) and in the Green Space Structure Plan 2 (Structuurschema Groene
Ruimte).
• Enhance the transformation - especially compartmentalisation and
concentration - with purchasing the production rights, room-for-space,
transportation arrangements, and additional instruments, if necessary.
• Stipulate in concrete codes the performance in environmental management
within the framework of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), setting a good
example in Europe at the same time.
• Reward the GAP-plus-management structurally via packages of measures
that are accessible for all interested farmers, that is to say, in situations
where expenses cannot be passed on to the market.
• Give innovators and new collaborations enough elbow room: not in
targets and time frames, but in design and instruments; give them, if
necessary, also temporary support to define their new roles as 'change
agents'. Challenge existing collaborations to implement innovations widely.
• Work out the transport restrictions step by step, and realise them,
but with a long time frame so that short-term measures are also paving
the way to necessary follow-up steps.
• Undertake several orientation possibilities for business development
which occur side by side but are mixed in such a way that they fit in
with the regional differences in quality and space.
ON CHAINS:
• Pass on information about products and production methods more
effectively throughout the chains; taking care also of the traceability
of origin and property of products and call 'the public as consumers'
to account for the social effects of their purchasing behaviour.
• Conclude a covenant with the retail organisations on the diversity
of product supply and on offering consumers relevant information about
quality, production method and origin.
• eave the supportive price control measures to the government; consider
first a high VAT rate or a charge for low-quality products.
• Arrange the control of chains as a whole, with clarity about who
is responsible for it, so that also prompt and effective action can be
taken when and where necessary.
• Detect risk points in the chains and take action via 'Hazard Analysis
of Critical Control Points (HACCP)', as a certification method throughout
the chain.
• Encourage participation of consumers in the chains by making new
chain constructions, investment and participation forms, consumer contracts
and other arrangements possible.
ON POLICY CO-ORDINATION:
• Link the policies from various domains: generic, chain-oriented
policies and policies focused on regional quality. Also make use of the
positive and negative experiences with the Policy on the Reconstruction
of the areas with a concentration of off-land livestock farming.
• Use the lack of successors and emigration tendencies strategically;
partly for reducing the number of farmers and/or livestock (intensify
the purchase of production rights) and partly by accompanying measures
(fiscal, land and spatial policies) to help young farmers start up, but
only on the new conditions.
• Explore new collective organisation forms for environmental management
in addition to farmers' nature organisations, e.g. trusts for funding
and managing rural areas.
• Settle up with the past: do not cause new environmental burdens
and redeem the environmental debts; if necessary with collective means
the way it is often deemed expedient in other sectors.
• Encourage animal welfare by improving the provision of information
via the chain, but also by setting up public panels to discuss the minimum
requirements for livestock farming, transportation, etc.
• Raise the issue of desired measures in Brussels in time to explore
the room and to create extra room: where possible in broader coalitions
and also focused on the future (rural) policy.
MEANS. The plan will give an idea about the substantial investments for
the changing process and will also include a social plan to accompany
disinvestments and reorganisations. The origin of the necessary means
will be outlined and fixed for the course of the transition plan. The
means may be partly generated from shifting and more effective use of
existing funding, including funding from Europe. The European income support
may be maximally used for innovation, e.g. by modulation (up to 20%).
However, an additional long-range reservation from national public means
will also be needed.
CONTROL. To direct the control of the changing process, we will need a
minister - a Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries
- with co-ordinating powers. The minister must be supported by a Task
Force to specify, implement and follow the draft of the process together
with entrepreneurs, banks, social organisations and authorities. The government
control consists at least of the following: (1) drawing up and communicating
the transition plan, (2) taking care that the necessary initiatives are
deployed selectively and in time, (3) monitoring the progress made and
(4) intervening in case of insufficient progress
MONITORING. The plan will describe the method to watch if the process
works out well and to account for it to society. Like the annual environmental
and nature balance sheets are produced, a similar balance can likewise
be drawn up for livestock farming comprising all functions and aspects.
This needs proper indicators and adequate implementing institutions. The
Dutch Food Authority (per pro) may take responsibility to monitor the
aspects of food safety and animal health and welfare, the planning offices
for the environment, nature and space (per pro) the aspects of landscape,
the environment, nature and space.
EFFORTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES. The control and the final
responsibility for the transition process are to be borne by the government.
The issues will cover several areas of policy, up to the European and
even global level. Decisions must be made and implemented in co-ordination
with others, and this demands a coherent approach. It must be avoided
that they are cut up in loose projects and that a still larger forest
of rules and regulations is created. The provinces must play a leading
part in implementing the measures and projects, and must involve the municipalities
in the process and the actual implementation.
Market parties are expected to make efforts that are in line with their
long-term interest. The sector must accept full liability for the current
issues, also for "sales will continue when structural changes are
being made", which means full liability for the quality and safety
standards in conformity with the standards that are effective at the time.