News Farmers protest
Farmers get zero on RIVM's claim
About 3.000 farmers attended the farmers' protest at the RIVM on Wednesday morning, October 16, with their tractors. In addition, the access roads at Bilthoven were full of tractors. The RIVM has made no commitment and declares that it sees no reason to deviate from the current calculation models.
Hans Brug, the director of RIVM, addressed the farmers during the protest in Bilthoven. “RIVM makes calculations about nitrogen disposition in the Netherlands as carefully as possible. According to international standards, this is done with good models,” says Brug. Then Brug quickly disappeared from the stage, to the indignation of many farmers,
The farmers were of course not satisfied with the input from RIVM. Jan Cees Vogelaar, chairman of the Mesdag Dairy Fund, stated that nitrogen deposition is not measured at all, but is only calculated on the basis of models. He therefore stated that facts must first be on the table before policy can be made. According to him, under pressure from the protests, WUR and politicians are finally starting to admit that mistakes have been made.
Farmers are coming back
The farmers left for The Hague around half past eleven. But not without the threat to come back if RIVM does not improve its models. “We will continue to campaign until that is achieved. We want RIVM to apologize and come up with reliable measurement methods," said Jeroen van Maanen, dairy farmer in Zeewolde, on behalf of the Farmers Defense Force (FDF).
The farmers in Bilthoven were supported by a delegation of 12 Polish agricultural organizations. They took a stand in solidarity with the Dutch farmers. According to them, Dutch farmers set a good example for all European farmers.
Anne-Jan Doorn
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