Agractie does not want to be a second LTO

Parties that took part in the action of 1 October are going their own way. Stichting Agractie does not want to be a second LTO Netherlands, but a decisive advocate. However, the foundation consciously distances itself from the plans to block Schiphol, for example.

Bart Kemp, the chairman of the Foundation Agraction, is satisfied with how the protest of Tuesday 1 October went and wants to maintain the attention that farmers have received for a while. "It's all over the world. There was one article in the New York Times that well captured the essence of our protest. That's great and puts extra pressure on Dutch politics."

But, what next? "A package of measures has been handed over, in which we have set a response period of 14 days. We hope that this will be taken seriously in The Hague. However, we have not yet made any preparations for a similar protest. However, if no results are achieved, then change this."

More decisive than LTO Netherlands
Kemp wants to be a permanent, active advocate with Agractie. "We want to be a more decisive advocate than LTO Nederland is. That has now become a bureaucratic organization with little clout. That organization also receives less and less confidence from the farmers. We switch much faster and will not shy away from clear statements." Agractie must, on the one hand, discuss the content of the various files with the ministry and, on the other, denounce current affairs.

He is clear about the end of the collaboration with Farmers Defense Force: "We have worked well together and achieved a historic result, but now we are each going our own way. This was also discussed in board meetings before the October 1 protest. As Agractie, we first want to wait for the reaction of politicians before we take further actions," said Kemp.

'Don't want to lose citizens'
"That is why for now we consciously distance ourselves from actions such as blocking highways, distribution centers or Schiphol. Not that we disapprove of this, but we only want to take actions with the public in mind. Agractie will therefore never cooperate in a blockade of Schiphol", Kemp continues.

Farmers Defense Force is now continuing on its own with the organization of a second action. The party is also working on cooperation in other countries. At the moment, for example, protest actions by farmers are taking place in Germany. Mark van den Oever of Farmers Defense Force indicates that it may be possible to work together to organize protests in Europe on the same day.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.