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Dutch farmers and the government failed to reach a deal on Friday on environmental plans that have sparked weeks of angry demonstrations. Farmers have blocked roads with manure and set fires to protest against plans to reduce livestock and even close some farms to cut down on nitrogen emissions. Talks on Friday produced "really too little", said Sjaak van der Tak, head of the LTO, the main Dutch farming union, adding that the "ball is in the government's court". The official overseeing the talks, Johan Remkes, said there was "grave crisis of confidence" between the farmers and the government of...

A pile of manure, tires and hay bales on fire on the A50 highway in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, during a farmers' demonstration against the government's nitrogen policy on July 27, 2022. Credit - Netherlands OUT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images A standoff between Dutch farmers and their government is causing havoc in the Netherlands this summer. Protesters have withheld deliveries from grocery stores, smeared manure outside the home of the agriculture minister, and blocked highways with hay bales and tires. “That’s what you get when you make people so very angry,” Sieta van Keimpema, secretary of the Farmers Defense Force (FDF), said...

Hay bales in flames, manure dumped on highways, blockades at supermarket distribution centres and demonstrations on politicians' doorsteps. Dutch farmers have been generating global headlines with protests described by Prime Minister Mark Rutte as "wilfully endangering others, damaging our infrastructure and threatening people who help with the clean-up". This proud farming nation is under immense pressure to make radical changes to cut harmful emissions, and some farmers fear their livelihoods will be obliterated. "It's in our blood, I want to do this, and if we have to adapt to new situations, I want to, but we have to be fair,...

PM Justin Trudeau has decided to move forward with his cap on nitrogen emissions by reducing fertilizer use even as provincial Agriculture Ministers beg him to stop. As per a Government of Saskatchewan news release, both Alberta and Saskatchewan’s Ministers of Agriculture have expressed “profound disappointment” in Trudeau’s decision to attempt to reduce nitrogen emissions from fertilizer. “We’re really concerned with this arbitrary goal,” Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture David Marit said. “The Trudeau government has apparently moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set their sights on Saskatchewan farmers.” According to Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate...