Farmers demonstrate at the House of Representatives building against nitrogen policy

About ten hikers gathered at the building of the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon for a demonstration against the nitrogen policy and the possible expropriation of farmers that this entails. For the activists, the forced buy-up of farms is out of the question. “It goes in that direction in all kinds of policy documents,” said Bart Kemp, chairman of Agractie Nederland. With the demonstration in The Hague, the farmers want to issue a statement against those plans.

In addition to the parked tractors, there is a banner that reads “forced buy-out = non-negotiable” and a man dressed as a so-called ‘nitrogen balloon’. There is also a cow on the demonstration, from a care farm, so that it is used to the public. With the cow, Agractie wants to “emphasize the value of animals on care farms, for example”.

Last week, Nature and Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal announced that in some areas it may already be necessary to take these kinds of mandatory measures in the coming years because of the nitrogen problems. At 6 pm there will be a committee debate with Van der Wal and agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer about agricultural policy, where the nitrogen plans are also discussed. Both ministers had received an invitation and came by to talk to the farmers and listen to Kemp.

It is not the first time that farmers are demonstrating in The Hague against the nitrogen policy. Large farmer protests in 2019 and 2020 led to nuisance in the city, resulting in traffic jams due to slow-moving tractors and a destroyed Malieveld. Wednesday’s protest has not yet caused traffic problems, according to a spokesperson for the ANWB.