Farmers Defense Force cancels major tractor action

Farmers Defense Force (FDF) will not demonstrate with tractors in The Hague next Wednesday, February 5. That day, talks will resume between the Agricultural Collective and the cabinet about the nitrogen approach.

According to FDF, it is more sensible from a 'tactical point of view' to cancel the trigger action. This was not done because the Agricultural Collective and the cabinet are almost on the same page. The farmers' action group claims that the possible nitrogen deal is based on incorrect information. What exactly that means will become clear in the coming weeks, according to FDF.

According to FDF, the Agricultural Collective will also quickly come up with further information. Halfway through this week, the Agricultural Collective already indicated that there are 'still bumps taken had to be'. According to FDF, canceling the campaign is not a cancellation, but a postponement: "We keep our powder dry for when it is really necessary," said chairman Mark van den Oever. 

Own calculations
Last night, the farmers' movement already announced in an extensive message to its followers that it would cancel the action on February 5 and to wait until February 20 in any case. Then the Mesdag Dairy Fund and the Nitrogen Claim Foundation will present their own calculations of the nitrogen emission figures of the RIVM. FDF also looks at other publications that have come out in recent days from the Mesdag Dairy Fund, Wageningen UR and CBS about nitrogen emissions.

According to the organization, all these figures give a completely different picture of the nitrogen dossier, so that we have to wait until these data are definitively available before concluding an agreement with the cabinet via the Agricultural Collective. Shortly afterwards, FDF retracted this post, saying it had been posted in the wrong app group.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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