About 200 tractors left Hooge Mierde around a quarter past six in the evening for a protest drive against the nitrogen measures. The vehicles drove in a public-friendly procession towards Lage Mierde and Reusel.
The lampposts in the route were decorated with flags and farmer’s handkerchiefs. In this way the local population supported the activist farmers. “We don’t want to be a burden to citizens,” says one of the participants. “We just hope that we will get them and politicians on board. Nothing in the Netherlands is being tackled, except for the farmers. If we don’t take action, things will happen. nothing at all.”
“We’ll demonstrate for as long as it takes.”
“We demonstrate for as long as necessary,” says another tractor driver. “We are only satisfied when they come up with something decent in The Hague.”
“This will be my profession later on, so I want to keep it that way.”
A young woman behind the wheel of a tractor shares that view. “This will become my profession later on, so I want to keep it that way,” she says. “They don’t want to listen well enough in The Hague, so we’ll let you hear more.”
A man on a bicycle who sees the procession pass, nods in agreement. “They stand up for their work, so it’s only right that the protesters. I support them.”