Regeneratieve Agriculture (RA) is a form of agriculture in which the farmer tries to positively score on all biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of sustainability. RA focuses on the outcomes, not on the measures taken. In the past four years, a Community of Practice of 18 farmers has been followed, who have been working towards RA for a shorter or longer period of time. Different farm and soil types and regions were involved as well as very different types of measures that had been taken to reach the outcomes desired. Their approach offers inspiration for other farmers that also want to move into the direction of RA, although monitoring their outcomes appeared a big challenge.

Commissioned by the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability, a literature review was conducted on the environmental impact of beef and leather production systems in Europe. The literature review was restricted to the studies that applied attributional LCA methods. The average carbon footprint of 20.5 kg CO2eq per kg carcass (ranged between 7.0 and 45.7 kg CO2eq per kg carcass) was found for beef production in Europe. Our literature scan showed the higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kg carcass for suckler-based systems compared to the dairy-based system. The GHG emissions of organic farms was almost similar to the non-organic farms. Comparison of a concentrate-based diet with the roughage-based diet showed the lower GHG emissions for concentrate-based diet. The review of studies for beef production systems showed a high potential for mitigating the GHG emissions. Due to high turnover and environmental impacts of leather industry, the literature review was extended to leather production. A high variation was seen in results of leather carbon footprint because of methodological differences (e.g., system boundary and functional unit), quality of product and final use of finished leather. The average carbon footprint of reviewed papers was 24.6 kg CO2eq per m2 finished leather ranged between 7.75 and 53.7 kg CO2eq per m2 finished leather.

In het onderzoek wordt ingegaan op wat de berekende maximale veebezetting is waarbij geen mest buiten het bedrijf afgezet hoeft te worden én op de verhouding van de intensiteit van het melkveebedrijf tot een aantal emissies. Het onderzoek laat zien dat er grote verschillen tussen bedrijven voorkomen in de berekende maximale GVE-veebezetting waarbij alle mest geplaatst kan worden op het eigen bedrijf. Alle emissies uitgedrukt per ha nemen toe bij toenemende intensiteit behalve die van lachgas. Alle emissies uitgedrukt per kg melk nemen af bij toenemende intensiteit. Binnen een intensiteitscategorie komen grote verschillen in emissies voor.

Er wordt al lange tijd gewerkt aan de verduurzaming van de veehouderijsectoren. In dit rapport wordt een overzicht gegeven van maatregelen en stimulansen die invloed hebben gehad op de verduurzaming van de melkveehouderij, varkenshouderij en pluimveehouderij in de periode van 1980 tot 2020. Bij verduurzaming gaat het in dit rapport met name om de thema’s milieu (stikstof, fosfaat), klimaat, dierenwelzijn en diergezondheid.

The war in Ukraine and related sanctions are affecting the cost of agricultural production and the yield prices of agricultural products. There is a need for government and industry to estimate the effects of this on the incomes of entrepreneurs in the agricultural sectors. This study provides an update of the inventory of the possible income effects carried out in April 2022 on various subsectors within the primary agriculture sector.

This study, commissioned by LTO Nederland (the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association), NZO (Dutch Dairy Association) and Rabobank, calculated the effect of the expected development of the Dutch dairy farming sector if current policies are continued combined with an integrated package of measures to reduce ammonia emissions. The calculated reduction of ammonia emitted by the Dutch dairy sector in 2030 compared to 2018 amounts to 28%. The additional investment for ammonia measures in barns, water storage and land was calculated to be 1.3 billion euro at sector level. The overall effect on the financial result of dairy farms is on average -1.07 euro per 100 kg of milk. Given that on average the margins per kg of milk are narrow, this constitutes a significant impact for many farms. The package of measures evaluated in this study can be considered realistic in terms of the level of change compared to current average practice. With respect to the assumed degree of implementation, it is ambitious.

Commissioned by the Dairy Working Group from the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) and the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability, an overview has been made based on literature research and a survey of 28 greenhouse gas mitigation options on dairy and beef farms and their degree of implementation. The mitigation options that have been implemented so far are mainly aiming at improving efficiency and productivity. A majority (63%) of respondents indicate that all or some of their supplying farmers know their individual carbon footprint. The big question is how to stimulate farmers to implement mitigation options.

The aim of this study is to provide insight into the additional costs of biodiversity measures for dairyfarms and arable farms on the basis of an integral better score on indicators from the biodiversitymonitor. The costs for intensive dairy farms, extensive dairy farms and farms on peat are € 1.95,€ 2.18 and € 3.08 per 100 kg of milk respectively. Weighted over the three types of farms in the dairyfarming sector, the additional costs are € 2.21 per 100 kg of milk and € 417 per hectare. Theestimated additional costs for arable farms on clay with a cultivation plan with potatoes forconsumption or on sand with a cultivation plan with potatoes for starch are 324 and 185 per hectarerespectively. Both dairy farming and arable farming require a wide range of measures to achieve abetter score.

This report gives an overview of the expected developments of the Dutch agricultural sector and itsconstituent subsectors, based on existing policy and policy proposals. This overview clarifies whetherthe environmental and animal welfare policy goals will be achieved or whether extra measures arerequired.