Wodenburg, Netherlands — Enough of the Dutch dairy farmers.
They set fire to hay and compost along highways, dumped garbage onto roads and caused traffic jams, blocked food distribution centers with tractors, and emptied supermarket shelves. Across the country, upside-down flags are waving from farmers in protest.
Farmers’ anger is directed at the government, which has announced plans to cut nitrogen emissions by 50% nationwide by 2030, in line with European Union requirements to protect protected nature reserves Did. Factories and cars also emit large amounts of nitrogen and have not been targeted, they say, but the government said reductions related to both sources of pollution would be addressed in the future.
Agriculture accounts for the largest share of the Netherlands’ nitrogen emissions, much of it from estimated produced waste. 1.6 million cows It provides the milk used to make the country’s famous cheeses, such as Gouda and Edam.
To realize these planned reductions, thousands of farmers will have to drastically reduce the number of livestock and the size of their agricultural operations. Failure to meet government-requested cuts could force businesses to close entirely.
The Dutch government has set aside about €25 billion (about $26 billion) to implement its plans, and part of the money will either help farmers build more sustainable businesses or Used to bribe if possible.
“My livelihood and my network are threatened,” said Ben Apeldoorn, whose farm in Utrecht province has about 120 cows that produce milk for making cheese. “You are no longer allowed to exist,” said Apeldoorn, 52, who has been farming for 30 years.
But activists and ecologists say drastic measures are needed to cut emissions and enable the Netherlands to do its part in tackling global warming. That goal has become more urgent this summer as Europe faces record temperatures and drought.
And they say the agricultural sector must change.
“If you have fewer livestock, you will produce less fertilizer and nitrogen,” said Wim van der Putten, a researcher at the Dutch Institute for Ecology.
World Wide Fund for Nature and other environmental groups wrote a letter to the Dutch Minister of Agriculture This month, it states, “The transition to sustainable agriculture and food systems is urgent and necessary.” The letter also says Dutch consumers must do their part to ensure emissions targets are met.
Europe moving away from fossil fuels
The European Union has started the transition to greener forms of energy. However, financial and geopolitical considerations can complicate efforts.
“Consumers must also take responsibility,” he said. “Dutch people need to eat more vegetables and eat less animal protein (-70%).”
All of this comes as a painful shift in the Netherlands, where dairy farms have long been as much a national identity as the country’s windmills and canals.It is also a major producer and exporter of milk and dairy products. According to ZuivelNL, the dairy group will send €8.2 billion worth of dairy products abroad in 2021, producing a total of 13.8 billion kilograms of milk.
But while many of our 17 million people sympathize with farmers, support for them seems to be waning. About 39% of Dutch people said they supported the farmers’ protests in July, down from 45% the previous month. In a survey by a Dutch research company.
Chancellor Mark Rutte, the country’s longest-serving prime minister who has grappled with what is known in the Netherlands as the “nitrogen crisis,” earlier this month denounced the protests as “unacceptable.”
“Deliberately endangering others, damaging our infrastructure, and threatening people who help clean up is beyond the limit,” said Rutte, who met with farmers several times. teeth recently said on twitter.
Helma Breunissen, a 47-year-old dairy farmer who runs a veterinary office with her husband, attended a meeting with Rutte and expressed her anger.
“If half the cows have to disappear, my veterinary clinic will also be closed,” Ms Bronissen said by phone. “I don’t want a bag of money from the government. I just want to do my job.”
Farmers are also frustrated that governments are not doing enough to find technological innovations and other ways to reduce emissions to avoid declining livestock numbers.
But van der Putten of the Netherlands Institute for Ecology says that technical solutions alone are not enough to achieve the levels of reduction needed given the amount of nitrogen the country emits. Most of it comes from egg, dairy and meat production, he said.
“The problem is that we need to find a solution very quickly,” he said. “This isn’t a problem that happened in years, it’s a problem of decades, and everyone just kicked the can.”
“We have to reach our goals, which are set by European law,” said Erwin Wunnekink, a farmer and president of the farmers’ association LTO. “It’s not that I don’t want to hit my goals, but for the most part, this is how it happened.”
The Netherlands is also obliged under a 2019 law to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 95% below 1990 levels by 2050. Other plans include generating more electricity from wind turbines and solar panels. By 2050, according to the government.
In June, the government released a color-coded map of the country showing which parts of the country need to cut emissions the most, depending on their proximity to nature reserves.The percentage is 12. It ranges from percent to 95 percent.
LTO spokesperson Wytse Sonnema said: The map wasn’t just about individual farmers, he added, but about “the social future of the countryside.”
Realization of the reductions is made by the state legislature in partnership with the farmers. The deadline for completion of the plan is July 1, 2023.
Christianne van der Wal, Minister for Nature and Nitrogen, has revealed that the government’s goals are fixed. emphasized. “Structurally, we haven’t lived up to these agreements for about 20 to 30 years,” she said. in July.
Van der Waal’s spokesman Wilhelm Dollmann said details of how to reduce emissions in other industries will be announced in January. However, he said, “agriculture is responsible for the largest share of nitrogen emissions.”
The Dutch government has supported and stimulated agriculture with subsidies and other incentives to secure the country’s food supply and promote agricultural exports.
While many Dutch support the goal of a greener Netherlands, some right-wing groups have expressed support for Dutch farmers as a way to oppose climate activism. The right-wing Forum for Democracy has declared “no climate crisis” and opposes the government’s plans.
Dutch farmers also receive support from abroad.
“Dutch farmers everywhere are bravely opposing the climate tyranny of the Dutch government. Can you believe it?” Former President Donald J. Trump said at a July rally:.
Currently, government-appointed mediators negotiate between farmers and the government. The mediator says there is a “crisis of trust” between the two sides.
“We can’t help but fight,” said dairy farmer Apeldoorn. “That’s what most farmers are feeling right now.”