Skylark brings potato permanently to higher balance More cereals, fewer root crops Also notable is that the very first participants of Skylark have considerably broadened their cropping plan. Not only the number of crops has increased, but in many cases you also see a shift from root crops to cereals. According to Zwijnenberg, this has had almost no negative overall financial impact. The lower share of high-earning crops such as the potato has been compensated by higher earnings per hectare for all the crops as a whole. As the number of sustainable measures further increases, the operating results increase as well, says the coordinator. Pleasant discussions Zwijnenburg and Slabbekoorn have also learned that the participants really like to discuss the topic of sustainability together. ‘Growers see that working on individual sustainability plans soon show positive effects on their operating results.’ Investing in participation in Skylark is not an issue for the growers, the coordinators think. Affiliated growers with fewer than 80 hectares of arable land pay an annual donation of 100 euros and growers with more hectares 150 euros. Drawing up a sustainability plan for the first year of participation costs 500 euros, subsequent plans cost 300 euros a year. For this, growers receive group assistance and also have the possibility of inviting experts, and they can consult experienced agronomists from the region to help draw up sustainability plans. Certificates in 2013 Because of the success in Flevoland and the flying start in the southern part of the country, Skylark wants to expand to other parts of the Netherlands as quickly as possible. Heinhuis is already talkRegional coordinators A e also learned that the Skylark participants really like to discuss the topic of sustainability together ing to parties in the province of North Holland and the northern part of the country. If this is successful, Skylark can expect to have five hundred grower members in 2013, and double the number in 2014, says the director. It is the intention to have a universally-accepted Skylark certificate ready by 2013, so that the sustainable, green efforts of the growers will be rewarded with permanent recognition. ● 19 Pagina 18
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