Corporate news | Publication Policy advice: an active land and property policy for land-based agriculture
Land is the business of land. Land is and remains one of the most essential factors of production in Flemish farms. Much more than land ownership, access to land is essential for farmers in this regard. Access to land use and, above all, the long-term security of that access is the foundation of land-based agricultural enterprises. It is the basis to generate an income, a stepping stone to sufficient autonomy, a prerequisite for permits, the measure of livestock numbers, manure disposal and support measures, the certainty to dare and want to invest and so much more.
Long-term certainty about access to land is therefore an absolute condition for building a future for land-based agriculture in Flanders.
However, the terrain reality in Flanders today shows a large and growing problem of access to land for professional farmers. This observation is often narrowed down to a problem of rising land prices. Discussions about the high price of agricultural land mask the fact that farmers do not necessarily have to become owners of the land they farm. Above all, long-term security of use is crucial. But there is a friction there as well. The current policy approach does not provide sufficient guarantees of long-term security. Even for extensive land ownership in the hands of public institutions, there is no (unambiguous) policy today.
Long-term certainty about access to land is therefore an absolute condition for building a future for land-based agriculture in Flanders.
However, the terrain reality in Flanders today shows a large and growing problem of access to land for professional farmers. This observation is often narrowed down to a problem of rising land prices. Discussions about the high price of agricultural land mask the fact that farmers do not necessarily have to become owners of the land they farm. Above all, long-term security of use is crucial. But there is a friction there as well. The current policy approach does not provide sufficient guarantees of long-term security. Even for extensive land ownership in the hands of public institutions, there is no (unambiguous) policy today.
Read the full policy advice
Beleidsadvies: een actief grond- en pandenbeleid voor grondgebonden landbouw