The van Zanten family set fire to hay bales on their land in Zuiderwoude this morning to protest. Hay is also on fire along the A7, causing a traffic jam. This afternoon the House of Representatives is again debating nitrogen policy, but the family no longer has confidence in it.
Thick plumes of smoke rise above the meadows. Jan and his daughter Nicole have just lit the bale. “It is a signal to the farmers around us that we are at war with the government,” says Jan van Zanten on NH Radio, “because the cabinet has taken over the countryside due to the nitrogen crisis.” He protests vehemently because it is an old-fashioned way of signaling the need for the man.
Jan is not afraid that the farmers will lose the sympathy of the Netherlands. “We are no longer afraid,” he explains. “But we do this consciously to close roads, tunnels, bridges, airports to shut down the Netherlands.” According to him, that is what the government wants with these nitrogen rules. “Everything has to be quiet, and then we still have too much nitrogen with these rules.”
Daughter takes over company
Jan would like to see a line drawn throughout the European Union, but he has no confidence in this afternoon’s debate. He thinks the plan is already boarded up. “They’ve been brooding on this plan for a hundred days, and one has to get out of the cabinet, then the cabinet falls and then it falls off the table.”
Nicole takes over her father’s farm. “The way it looks now, it’s going to be tough,” she says of the future. “But we continue.” She wants to keep fighting for the company as it is today. “Even if I have to hit the road every day, I don’t care.” If the rules are continued as proposed, Nicole will remain a farmer. “But then I have to do all kinds of other branches outside or at the company.”
traffic jam
The smoke has caused a traffic jam on the A7. Jan has a message for the road user. “Excuse the delay and we want to wake everyone up. Not only the farmers are affected, you are all affected.” He thinks the fires on his land will continue to burn for days.
Last June 10, Minister Van Der Wal of Nature and Nitrogen made a significant tightening of the rules. In a strip around the Natura 2000 areas in North Holland, nitrogen emissions must be reduced by 70 percent. The farmers have announced that they will also take action today.
A plume of smoke was visible along the A7 early this morning.