Farmers may again take action against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans on Tuesday. Bart Kemp, leader of farmers’ action group Agractie Nederland, announced this on Monday. He indicated that the actions are not organized by Agractie.
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It is unclear where protesting farmers can turn up. Rijkswaterstaat advises road users to be extra alert, to keep a sufficient distance and to take speed differences into account.
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Decentralized actions
Yesterday it went wild again throughout the country due to protest actions by farmers. On several highways, such as the A67, the A28 and the A2, tractors stood still or deliberately drove very slowly. Ministers Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) and Henk Staghouwer (Agriculture) have condemned the actions of the farmers. They called them ‘not appropriate’ and called on the protesting farmers: ‘Please keep within the bounds of the law.’ That did not prevent them from also settling down in front of Van der Wal’s house, just like angry farmers reported there last week. Besides, she wasn’t home.
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Contrary to the major protest in Stroe, there was no clear initiator behind yesterday’s blockades. Farmers organize the actions in small groups and have to assess for themselves which actions are appropriate. LTO Nederland repeated on Monday that farmers must act ‘with dignity’. “We are not involved in these wild actions,” said chairman Sjaak van der Tak.
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‘Baldadig’
Farmers adhered to this to a greater or lesser extent. Near Hoogeveen, about seventy tractors were standing on the highway after they passed a police blockade via the slope. A farmer speaking on behalf of the group said that part of the group had “behaved rowdy” by blocking traffic. Despite the division within the group, he was satisfied with the action: “We were able to show ourselves as farmers.” In Apeldoorn things were even more rowdy: shit was dumped in front of the town hall. In the town hall in Raalte, a meeting with the mayor and alderman took place. In the evening there was another ‘surprise campaign’ at the media park in Hilversum. It is not clear exactly why they protested there – in the end NOS is not responsible for the nitrogen policy – but the honking of the farmers did reach the live broadcast of NPO Radio 5.
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Don’t let peaceful action escalate into a peasant uprising
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Thus ended the day, which farmers’ action group Agractie Nederland had started with a ‘last appeal’ to Minister Van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) not to go through with its plans. ,,Don’t continue on the chosen path. Don’t let peaceful action escalate into a peasant uprising,” foreman Bart Kemp said in a vlog. “Know that farmers will fight for their future. How long and how far they will fight is up to them.”
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During the demonstration in Stroe, Kemp, a sheep farmer by trade, said that the Netherlands is ‘at war with the peasant republic’. For the sake of clarity, he added that the peasants must wage their struggle without weapons. “We understand that farmers feel unheard of and we understand the emotions. Stroe sent a strong signal, but I am concerned that the ministry is closing its doors for consultations.”
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‘Throw the beech in’
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The policy must be off the table. Normal actions apparently have no influence
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Mark van den Oever, foreman of Farmers Defense Force, does not want to bear responsibility for the protests. But according to him there is a great willingness among his supporters ‘to throw in the towel’. “The minister has made many farmers angry. We now have to see what will happen, but I don’t want to be responsible for that.” He did have a message to the farmers: “You know what to do.”
He himself stood with his tractor on the A59 near Oss, and later went to the provincial house in Den Bosch where the police and the police were present. “The policy must be off the table. Normal actions apparently have no influence,” said Van den Oever, who referred to the demonstration in Stroe. The House of Representatives approved the cabinet’s nitrogen plans last week.
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Protect citizens as much as possible
Van den Oever called for citizens to be spared as much as possible. Many Dutch people still understand the farmers’ protests, according to a survey by Panel Inzicht commissioned by the General Newspaper† More than 80 percent of the 1000 respondents thought it was fine that the actions were held, although half thought that it should be done according to the rules.
There were traffic jams all over the country. For example at Best, where about forty tractors hit the road. At Assen (A28) there were even sixty tractors that bypassed the police via roadsides. Hay bales were thrown on the road on the A67 near Liessel and between Groningen and Heerenveen (A7), and there was also ‘something on the road’ at Boerakker and Leek, according to Rijkswaterstaat. At the end of the afternoon there was a second series of actions, including between Arnhem and Utrecht on the A12 and at the Zwolle-Zuid exit, and there was also a delay between Groningen and Heerenveen (A7) due to the actions.
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File costs 200 euros per hour per truck
Protests were held not only on highways, but also at various town halls. In Raalte, Apeldoorn, Epe and Rijssen, among others, farmers gathered to demonstrate against the nitrogen plans. Bales of hay and pallets are set on fire.
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It is up to the police, spokesman for Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz, said, and not to the national government. As far as she is concerned, farmers who break the law, for example by taking tractors onto the highway, do not simply get away with it. They will be fined as much as possible afterwards, Yesilgöz said last week.
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Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN) finds it unacceptable that highways are blocked during demonstrations and calls on farmers to stop as soon as possible. “It cannot be the intention that actions endanger others or make work impossible,” the transport organization said. A traffic jam costs about 200 euros per hour per truck, calculated economist Henry Steenbergen of the Rabobank.
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Watch our videos about the farmers’ protests below:
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