How ionization gives farmers a tax benefit

VekostarAgri from Deventer makes ionization lamps with which livestock farmers can purify the air in their stables from dust. The innovation has recently been recognized by the Sustainable Animal Husbandry Platform. Air in stables is full of ammonia, (fine) dust, bacteria and viruses. VekostarAgri in Deventer has developed a technology that can be used to purify this pollution from the stable air. Low-energy lamps that incorporate ionization and carbon brushes produce ions. These negatively electrically charged particles bind the ammonia, the dust and the bacteria, after which they settle on the ground. As a result, according to VekostarAgri, in the stable animals remain more vital and the infection pressure is reduced.

Moreover, tests show that broilers in a shed with ionization lamps need less feed, die less often prematurely and have a higher final weight than animals in a shed without these lamps, writes the RD. According to the company, the ionization lamps hang in more than two hundred stables, mainly in chicken stables.

Tax Advantage

The technology of the supplier from Deventer has recently been recognized by the Sustainable Animal Husbandry (MDV) foundation of Stichting Milieukeur. This is a certification system for sustainable livestock with attention points such as the emission of ammonia and particulate matter, fire safety and energy consumption. When farmers meet certain standards, they can qualify for tax breaks. To meet the standards of these themes, they must score points. One hundred points are required for the fine dust standard of the MDV. With the installation of ionization lamps in their stables, farmers would already earn thirty. The investment is, depending on the surface of the barn, between € 7,500 and € 10,000.