Dutch farmers protest against a 30%

Protests from the Dutch farming community have prompted calls to cut livestock production by almost a third due to the "nitrogen crisis" in the country.

This was reported on September 27 by the Plant Based News portal, citing The Guardian newspaper.

The Ministry of Finance and Agriculture has published two proposals to reduce the number of livestock by 30%. According to the publication, this is one of the "most radical plans of its kind in Europe." Both proposals use buyback schemes to reduce animal populations, including dairy cows, pigs and poultry. One proposal also subsidizes sustainable land use and livestock production, while the other focuses on price incentives such as an ammonia levy.

“We are a relatively small country with a lot of inhabitants, industry, transport and agriculture, so we are reaching the limits of what nature can take,” said Dutch Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Rudy Buis.

These proposals drew criticism from members of the farming community. The Farmer's Defense Force (FDF), with almost 60,000 FACEBOOK group members, was formed to help farmers who are being "attacked by environmental extremists."

The FDF calls plans to cut nitrogen emissions "disgusting".

“The snow is not blackened by agricultural activities, the air is not poisoned with heavy metals as a result of agricultural activities. You won't find increased rates of cancer on farms,” says the FDF.

Meanwhile, other groups are pushing for more to be done to protect the planet. The D66 coalition party has previously proposed a 50% reduction in the number of livestock in the Netherlands.

“70% of nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands come from agriculture, most of which comes from intensive animal husbandry. At the same time, the contribution of intensive animal husbandry to our own economy is not even one percent. The ratio is completely missing,” said D66 parliamentarian Tjord de Groot.

Bram van Lier of Friends of the Earth Netherlands applauded the move: “This is a step in the right direction. We would do more to buy out farmers and help them transition to sustainable agriculture,” van Lier told The Guardian.

In 2019, the Council of State ruled that the government was violating EU law and said the country's efforts to reduce excess nitrogen in sensitive natural areas were insufficient.

There are over 100 million chickens, 12 million pigs, four million cows and 600,000 goats in the Netherlands, according to DutchNews. it is also the largest MEAT exporter in the EU.

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