All the unfulfilled promises of a rational government won in the 2024 Dutch elections seem so long ago, especially concerning what farmers thought they had won.
Farming, fishing, food security and nature
- The coalition will do “all it can” to adapt European farming regulations with regard to nitrogen-based pollution and enriching Natura 2000 protected areas
- The Netherlands will no longer pursue a more ambitious strategy to improve nature than the rest of Europe
- There will be no compulsory measures to reduce the amount of livestock or compulsory purchase orders for farms
- Cheap “red diesel”, scrapped in 2013, will be brought back for farmers
This past May, despite the farmers’ protests of the previous two years in the Netherlands, their Net Zero-crazy cabinet once again mulled over yet another massive cut to the amount of nitrogen Dutch farmers would be allowed to use/produce during the year. They were also, naturally, considering draconian measures to control and punish those who missed the mandated target. There was a tiny bit of angst over re-stirring the farmers’ protest hornets’ nest, but obviously Dutch cabinet members’ memories are fleeting.
The Dutch government is preparing sweeping new nitrogen reduction measures, including stricter rules for farmers near protected nature areas, reviving fears in The Hague of a repeat of the mass farmer protests that erupted after a controversial emissions map was unveiled four years ago.
Prime Minister Rob Jetten has said the Netherlands must quickly break what officials call the “nitrogen deadlock” to restart permits for housing construction, farming projects, and road infrastructure. Agriculture Minister Jaimi van Essen is due to present a new nitrogen package by June 26, before the summer recess.
The package is being drafted with the government’s Taskforce Agriculture, Nature, and Nitrogen, which includes senior ministers, deputy prime ministers, and the prime minister, alongside consultations with farming organization LTO and provincial authorities. Officials say the measures will be severe.
Under the proposals under discussion, farmers, industry, and the transport sector would all face mandatory emissions cuts within 9 years compared with 2019 levels. Farmers would need to reduce nitrogen emissions by 42 to 46 percent, while industry and mobility sectors would face 50 percent cuts.
Farmers could lose livestock and phosphate rights if they miss targets, effectively forcing them to reduce herd sizes. Another proposal would cut those rights when farms are transferred to owners outside the family, meaning successors would be allowed to keep fewer animals than previous owners.
Part of the plan calls for massive ‘exclusion zones‘ around environmentally sensitive areas, which would suck up more farms.
…The most politically sensitive proposal involves “zoning” around vulnerable nature reserves such as De Peel and the Veluwe, where stricter nitrogen restrictions would apply to restore ecosystems. Coalition parties have not agreed on the size of those zones.
Former BBB agriculture minister Femke Wiersma previously proposed a 250-meter buffer zone, but critics argued it would not adequately restore the local environment. D66 is pushing for wider zones of about 500 meters, which would place far more farms under tougher rules and could force additional closures or major operational changes.
Even months ago, there were ominous signs the farmers were restless…
…Behind the scenes, officials are reportedly preparing for another summer of farmer protests. Authorities say public dissatisfaction is already high and could escalate quickly. A tractor has already been spotted at asylum-related protests in Loosdrecht.
Beware the lone tractor spotting.
It’s no doubt a scout…
The existing Dutch restrictions, even compared to the rest of climate-cult-mad Europe, are already so insanely minuscule and tight that they have to be modeled rather than measured. The cabinet wants them even tighter.
They can’t even measure that small amount, so they MODEL it.
— ΔΓ (@dimgrr) August 16, 2026
…The Netherlands have the most modern, productive and innovative farmers worldwide.
Our government wants to destroy that.
At the end of July, as the planned cuts took better shape, the tractors spotted on the roads became more numerous, and the sightings more frequent.
Dutch farmers have revived tractor protests over government plans to cut agricultural nitrogen emissions, with more demonstrations set to follow.
Dozens of tractors gathered at roads and bridges across the Netherlands on Monday 27 July, including at the A27, A16 and A2, while about 150 farmers assembled outside Borculo town hall to deliver a letter opposing the plans.
And now, with much of the planting out of the way, the protests are beginning in earnest, with tractors numbering in the hundreds making their way to provincial centers to register their unhappiness.
In the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, hundreds of farmers in tractors staged a protest against the environmental policy of the province of North Brabant. The demonstrators opposed the possible revocation of permits for five poultry farms.
Provincial authorities are considering the matter because of excessive nitrogen emissions reaching nearby protected natural areas. At the same time, the plans proposed by farmers to reduce harmful emissions in North Brabant are considered insufficient.
Farmers aren’t buying the excuse that poultry farms are losing their permits only because those operations are in the newly created exclusion zone. They fail to see what’s stopping the government from pulling their permits for some flimsy nitrogen excuse next.
I can’t imagine why they’re so cynical.
…Protesters believe that similar restrictions could eventually be imposed on other farms. On their placards, participants demanded an end to the authorities’ current course and greater freedom for farmers, while also expressing concern about the consequences of this policy for the country’s economy.
GroenLinks (@GL_PvdA) noemt het intrekken van vergunningen van vijf pluimveehouders in Brabant “het enige juiste”.
Kan GL uitleggen waarom?
Niet vanuit het dogma “stikstof is altijd het probleem”, maar vanuit het beginsel van rechtszekerheid:
🔹 Vergunningen zijn afgegeven… https://t.co/6yApMXiV42 pic.twitter.com/nSFj3DxOmI
— Rob Roos 🇳🇱 (@Rob_Roos) August 15, 2026
GroenLinks (@GL_PvdA) calls the revocation of permits from five poultry farmers in Brabant “the only right thing.”
Can GL explain why?
Not from the dogma “nitrogen is always the problem,” but from the principle of legal certainty:
🔹 Permits were issued by the competent authorities.
🔹 They became irrevocable after the objection and appeal period.
🔹 The companies comply with the regulations and agreements.
Why is it suddenly “the only right thing” to revoke those legally valid permits?
Legal certainty is a core principle of the rule of law. Without it, no entrepreneur, builder, or individual can be sure of their position anymore, even if they scrupulously follow the rules.
Please provide concrete arguments and facts. No moral slogans.
Authorities tried to keep them out of the city center, but the tractors got in anyway.
A new season of farmer protests begins in Europe
In the video, hundreds of Dutch farmers drove on tractors to the regional government building in Den Bosch to protest plans to revoke the permits of five poultry farms over nitrogen emissions.
The police tried to stop the… pic.twitter.com/C4GypqlX3D
— THE TRADESMAN 📈 (@The_Tradesman1) August 17, 2026
More farmers gathered together in a field the other night to commiserate, protest, and put on quite a display.
Dutch authorities threaten to revoke permits for five poultry farms over nitrogen emissions. Fearing more farms would be forced to close, THOUSANDS of Dutch farmers protested.
STUPID ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS = HIGHER FOOD COSTS.
pic.twitter.com/K1dE2Q64vR— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) August 15, 2026
And then they used those GPS tilling and sowing skills to form a beautiful shield that wound up glittering in the night.
🚨 Dutch farmers literally formed a shield of tractors
A shield is exactly what free people need against the Agenda 2030 crowd, the WEF, and the politicians and corporations pushing “sustainable” policies that destroy the people who actually grow our food.
Farmers across the… https://t.co/2WdNqpHbKV pic.twitter.com/OHqLV1sRGq
— Rob Roos 🇳🇱 (@Rob_Roos) August 16, 2026
A shield is exactly what free people need against the Agenda 2030 crowd, the WEF, and the politicians and corporations pushing “sustainable” policies that destroy the people who actually grow our food.
Farmers across the West are under coordinated attack in the name of SDGs. The result is not sustainability. It is fewer farms, higher costs, and greater dependence on distant supply chains controlled by the same interests writing the rules.
Food security is national security. No farmers → no food → no future.
At least they’re not spraying manure like the French farmers do…yet.
Not that I’d blame them any if they did.
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