On this episode of RaboTalk's Growing our future, we continue the series examining what is happening on the ground in key food-producing regions. This episode focuses on the Netherlands, who's farmers and growers produce enough food to be the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products from an area of land roughly the size of Otago. Blake is joined by Jeen Nijboer, Rabobank's Manager of Food & Agri Sustainability for the Netherlands, to discuss the key sustainability issues facing Dutch farmers and growers.

Blake and Jeen discuss the nature and scale of the agricultural sector in the Netherlands; the Sustainable Dairy Value Chain; the key sustainability performance indicators within the supply chain and how they've been incentivised; current regulations being proposed and implemented, the drivers and potential impacts; the current airborne ammonium issue; and the targets and reduction requirements for GHG emissions set by the Dutch government. Jeen provides his insights on whether the Netherlands is looking to leverage sustainability as a competitive advantage in worldwide export markets, and the risks a country like New Zealand face continuing to export to the EU if sustainability issues are not sufficiently addressed.