Farmers Defense Force is suspending its harsh actions for the time being ‘out of goodwill’ towards 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 immediate reason is a report by Professor Han Lindeboom of the Nitrogen Focus Group that was presented on Texel yesterday. It contains a plan to reduce the amount of nitrogen, without the livestock having to shrink. According to Lindeboom, the solution lies in, among other things, using different feed, different grass and limiting the use of fertilizer.
Farmers Defense Force sees merit in this, and would like to see the cabinet take it seriously. “I therefore call on Mark Rutte: repent and get to work with this report,” says Van den Oever in a video to its members. “As a sign of good will, the FDF will take the first step and we will suspend all hard actions until further notice.”
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.
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