Story at-a-glance
- Dutch cattle farmers own 70% of Holland, but the government is pushing for a forced buy out of 50% of their land, claiming it’s necessary to reduce pollution
- Experts say the move to get rid of farmers isn’t about the environment but, rather, taking control of valuable land
- The government’s computer models, which are used to support its plan to reduce nitrogen by buying up farmland, are based on a flawed assumption that nitrogen migrates from one field to the next
- The push to remove farmers from their land is being driven by NGOs, which are primarily funded by the government, making them government extensions
- A $25 billion government fund, created using taxpayers’ money, has been established to buy farmers’ land; once a farmer sells their land, they’ll be legally prohibited from establishing a farm anywhere else in Europe
Nitrogen 2000 is an important 45-minute documentary on the Dutch farmer struggle of 2019-23. Dutch cattle farmers own 70% of Holland, but in 2019, the government began pushing for a forced buy out of 50% of their land,1 claiming it’s necessary to reduce pollution. But for the approximately 60,000 farmers in the Netherlands,2 agriculture is a way of life, often passed down through the generations — one that’s necessary to supply food for the population.
Continue reading “Nitrogen 2000 — The Dutch Farmer Struggle”
