Farmers Defense Force is suspending its “tough actions” for the time being “out of goodwill” to the cabinet. Foreman Mark van den Oever says the group is doing this as a “first step” in the hope that the government will opt for other plans to reduce nitrogen emissions.
The group continues to hang inverted flags on its own farms. According to Van den Oever, public-friendly actions will also continue, such as the announced protests at the Vuelta a España cycling race, which starts next week in the Netherlands.
In a video message, the chairman of FDF refers to a report by, among others, nitrogen professor Han Lindeboom. According to De Telegraaf, this states that drastic reductions in nitrogen are also possible if investments are made in the refinement of newly available technologies. Then the livestock would not have to be reduced. “The report is something that we can all make good progress with,” says Van den Oever.
Last week, Van den Oever announced the “hardest actions FDF has ever taken”. He talked about escalating and coming up with something special. This happened after the action group was completely dissatisfied after the first consultation between farmers’ organizations and the cabinet, led by nitrogen mediator Johan Remkes.