A group of about five farmers tried to crush the Groningen minister Henk Staghouwer (Agriculture) around 7 p.m. on Friday evening. They came too late.
‘Never pleasant’
Staghouwer was on a working visit to a farm in Snelrewaard, Utrecht province. Activists got wind of the visit and set course for the farm. A call was made to stop Staghouwer. When the tractors arrived, the minister had already left.
Some officials were still present: they were only allowed to drive off after a conversation with the activists. “This was a great conversation, but it is never pleasant when this happens,” says a spokesperson for Staghouwer.
Visited nitrogen minister at home
That same evening, nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal was visited by a group of farmers. They had driven with dozens of tractors and a number of cars to her house in Overijssel. Van der Wal talked to the farmers and asked them to leave: “My children are shaking inside.”
Nitrogen emissions down
Earlier in the day, the cabinet announced that nitrogen emissions from farmers in large parts of the country must be significantly reduced. This is necessary for the recovery of nature. That will mean the end of farms in some areas.
Action group Farmers Defense Force (FDF) previously said it expected spontaneous actions by farmers against the government’s nitrogen policy. Farmers’ collective Agractie has announced that it will take action with tractors in The Hague on Wednesday 22 June against the cabinet’s approach to the nitrogen problem. Several agricultural organizations will meet next Monday.