Dutch Government to Close 3000 Farms

In an attempt to comply with the EU's climate mandates to cut emissions, the Dutch government has announced it's plans to purchase 3000 farms across the Netherlands and then close them down.

The Nitrogen Minister for the Netherlands, Christianne van der Wal said that the owners of these farms would be offered above 100% of the value. He followed up by saying that between now and sometime in 2023 the farmers would be given the option to voluntarily sell their farms. After which the government would carry out compulsary purchases on anyone refusing to sell.

The plans to reduce 50% of nitrogen emissions by 2030 caused massive protests amongst farmers all across the country earlier this year when thousands gathered their tractors together to block borders, motorways and supermarket distribution facilities in an attempt to disrupt supply chains and show what would happen if food production was reduced.

The farmers instead set up small local food stalls along roads to provide food and the protests gained the support of the majority of the public. Similar to the trucker protests in Canada last winter, people lined highways and bridges not just in the Netherlands but across many European countries, carrying signs showing their support for the farmers. Fishermen along the coast of the Netherlands used their boats to block ports as their way of joining forces with the farmers.

Farmers from Germany drove their tractors into the Netherlands to join in with the protests.

These protests caused the resignation of the Dutch agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer who said on Twitter that he was not the man to implement this kind of legislation.

The Netherlands is the largest food exporter in Europe and the 2nd largest in the world. Their methods for farming are considered the most efficient in the world.

Many people, not just farmers have made it clear this is not what the people of the Netherlands want but complaints have fallen on deaf ears as the Dutch Government has doubled down.

Concerns about food supply and shortages have been met with dismissal by governments all over the world who say we will use technology to produce more food.

It adds to the growing collection of problems surrounding the food supply. Beginning in 2020 with the lockdowns and progressing since then with millions of chickens being culled because of (according to government) bird flu, pigs in Germany culled because of (according to government) swine flu, farmers having to stop rearing chickens due to high costs and low profits, fertiliser shortages affecting crop yields and governments taking control of the food supply.