Motieven en belemmeringen om te werken aan eiwitarmere melkveevoeding : uitdagingen in beeld gebracht vanuit pilotproject Koe en Eiwit

This study focuses on the efforts of the Dutch dairy sector to reduce nitrogen emissions. Currently, three measures are being promoted: more grazing, better manure processing and storage and lastly lowering crude protein in the ration. This is the focus of this thesis. The research focuses on farmers' motives, drivers and barriers in wanting to reduce protein and the process of implementing the measures. The study uses the framework proposed by Brown et al. (2021), modified to incorporate political factors. Semi-structured interviews with 11 farmers were conducted to understand the influence of economic, socio-demographic, structural, environmental and political factors on their decision-making process to feed less protein and adopt measures. Furthermore, drivers and challenges in adopting these measures were identified. The study found that important motives for farmers to reduce protein were farm economic and socio-demographic factors. The choice of measures to implement was driven by the farm structure, technical/innovation design and the farmer’s beliefs and values. When adopting the measures, weather, doubt and farm structure were identified as barriers, while knowledge was identified as an important driver. To enhance the effectiveness of policies and their adoption, the study recommends expanding the research to a more diverse sample, incorporating knowledge-sharing into policy design and providing targeted guidance. Simplifying policies and providing financial and on-farm support could further encourage farmers to adopt sustainable practices or policies. This understanding is important for developing effective policies and engaging farmers in the process. Besides the interviews done as part of the thesis, motives and obstacles were added by the project team Cow and Protein from farm visits, group meetings and study days. These can be summarized under the themes of farm management, attitude/mindset and calculation method crude protein.