{"id":324049,"date":"2022-11-07T06:40:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T11:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/?p=324049"},"modified":"2022-11-07T00:30:20","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T05:30:20","slug":"the-struggle-isnt-over-for-dutch-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/2022\/11\/the-struggle-isnt-over-for-dutch-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Struggle Isn\u2019t Over for Dutch Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

from The Epoch Times<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During the summer of 2022, protests erupted in the Netherlands over the government\u2019s plan to curtail\u00a0nitrogen<\/a>\u00a0emissions from the country\u2019s farms\u2014in some cases, by up to 95 percent.<\/p>\n

At the time, authorities acknowledged that their proposal would necessitate slashing livestock numbers across the country, especially near areas protected as part of the European Union\u2019s (EU\u2019s) Natura 2000 network. The stated rationale was to limit emissions of ammonia and nitrogenous oxides, thought to be changing the composition of plant life in such zones.<\/p>\n

TRUTH LIVES on at\u00a0https:\/\/sgtreport.tv\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Epoch<\/a>
Demonstrating farmers slow down traffic on a motorway near Venlo, southern Netherlands, on July 4, 2022. Dutch farmers angry at government plans to slash emissions used tractors and trucks Monday to blockade supermarket distribution centers, the latest actions in a summer of discontent in the country\u2019s lucrative agricultural sector. (Thibault Camus\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dutch government expected a substantial number of farms would have to close, as detailed in a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from the United States Department of Agriculture. In October, farming groups voiced displeasure with the latest plan issued by the government\u2019s mediator, politician Johan Remkes. Some on the farmers\u2019 side pledged to continue protesting.<\/p>\n

In September, The Epoch Times\u2019 Roman Balmakov visited the Netherlands and spoke with a variety of farmers on the ground for an upcoming documentary, \u201cEat the Bugs.\u201d They\u00a0described the challenges their sector faces from the national government and the EU, as those and other powerful factions seek to change how the world produces and consumes food.<\/p>\n

Not Every Farmer Can Go\u00a0Organic<\/a>: Dutch Organic Farmers<\/h2>\n
\"Epoch<\/a>
Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels are organic farmers. They don\u2019t use pesticides or fertilizer, and they try to employ a limited amount of manure.<\/p>\n

Their operation includes thousands of egg-laying hens as well as 200 milking cows. The animals they raise have more space than they would on many non-organic farms. They can also go outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so easy to farm [organic], but we like it,\u201d Jan-Hein told Balmakov in a Sept. 28 interview with the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to work more with the weather,\u201d Sandra added.<\/p>\n

\"Epoch
Chickens roam free on Dutch organic farmers\u2019 Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels\u2019 property on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 2020, the EU\u2019s Farm to Fork strategy set ambitious organic farming targets for 2030\u2014a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use, and 25 percent of farms becoming organic.<\/p>\n

Jan-Hein and Sandra voiced skepticism about that sort of promotion of organic farming on a much larger scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot [every] farmer can do that. Not everybody has enough land around their farm to send the chickens out or the cows out,\u201d Sandra said.<\/p>\n

She believes it\u2019s more important for consumers to try to buy eggs produced locally, even if they aren\u2019t organic. Organic food, she continued, has to be one of many options, at least for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cA consumer has to decide, \u2018We want to buy organic,\u2019 and then the market is ready, and then you can make the transition. But when I am in the supermarket, I want to choose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganic is what we feel is good, but not everyone can pay for it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Read More @ TheEpochTimes.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from The Epoch Times: During the summer of 2022, protests erupted in the Netherlands over the government\u2019s plan to curtail\u00a0nitrogen\u00a0emissions from the country\u2019s farms\u2014in some cases, by up to 95 percent. At the time, authorities acknowledged that their proposal would necessitate slashing livestock numbers across the country, especially near areas protected as part of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[141668],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sgtreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}