The Struggle Isn’t Over for Dutch Farmers

'Every cow is registered'

Dutch cows from the farm of Robbin Voorend, who would face 90 to 95 percent cuts to his livestock under the government's nitrogen emissions plan. (The Epoch Times).

During the summer of 2022, protests erupted in the Netherlands over the government’s plan to curtail nitrogen emissions from the country’s farms—in 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 European Union’s Natura 2000 network. The stated rationale was to limit emissions of ammonia and nitrogenous oxides, which are thought to be changing the composition of plant life in such zones.

Demonstrating farmers slowing traffic on a motorway near Venlo, Netherlands, on July 4, 2022. Dutch farmers angry at government plans to slash emissions used tractors and trucks to blockade supermarket distribution centers, the latest actions in a summer of discontent in the country's lucrative agricultural sector. (Thibault Camus/AP Photo)

The Dutch government expects that a substantial number of farms will have to close, as detailed in a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In October, farming groups voiced displeasure with the latest plan issued by the government’s mediator, politician Johan Remkes. Some on the farmers’ side pledged to continue protesting.

In September, The Epoch Times’ Roman Balmakov visited the Netherlands and spoke with a variety of farmers on the ground for an upcoming documentary, “Eat the Bugs.” They described 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.

Not Every Farmer Can Go Organic: Dutch Organic Farmers

Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels are organic farmers. They don’t use pesticides or fertilizer, and they try to employ a limited amount of manure.

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 nonorganic farms. They can also go outside.

“It’s not so easy to farm [organic], but we like it,” Jan-Hein told Balmakov in a Sept. 28 interview with the couple.

Sandra said, “You have to work more with the weather.”

Chickens roam free on Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels' property on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

In 2020, the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy set ambitious organic farming targets for 2030—a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use and 25 percent of farms becoming organic.

Jan-Hein and Sandra voiced skepticism about that sort of promotion of organic farming on a much larger scale.

“Not [every] farmer can do that. Not everybody has enough land around their farm to send the chickens out or the cows out,” Sandra said.

She believes that it’s more important for consumers to try to buy eggs produced locally, even if they aren’t organic. Organic food has to be one of many options, at least for now, she said.

“A consumer has to decide, ‘We want to buy organic,’ and then the market is ready, and then you can make the transition. But when I am in the supermarket, I want to choose,” Sandra said. “Organic is what we feel is good, but not everyone can pay for it.”

Jan-Hein pointed out that organic farming isn’t always ideal from an environmental perspective.

Even as organic farmers, they haven’t been spared the potential fate of making huge cuts to their livestock numbers. According to Sandra, almost half of their stock will be in the government’s cross-hairs.

“No one knows” how the policy will be implemented, she said, speculating that authorities might hope many farmers make the changes by ceasing operations altogether.

“It’s all top down, and there’s nothing bottom up,” Sandra said.

The nitrogen-related cuts wouldn’t be their operation’s first sacrifice. Jan-Hein and Sandra pointed out that they’ve already reduced their chicken numbers by 90 percent over the past two decades.

Chickens on the property of Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels, on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

The two don’t believe that the government’s nitrogen policy is motivated by a concern for nature. Like many others in the country, they believe that the state is seeking to acquire land to build more housing and related infrastructure.

“[Farmers] take care of the environment and the landscape. By taking that away, you can build houses and highways, but that’s not good for nature, I think,” Sandra said.

As with many Dutch farms, the land has been in the Hein family for generations. Jan’s grandfather began working the land back in 1906.

The two farmers agreed that the pressure on their sector is discouraging the next generation.

“Young farmers are quitting,” Jan-Hein said.

It may prove hard to come back from those losses, even for newcomers who hope to continue the country’s proud tradition of efficient, innovative agriculture.

A tractor on the property of Dutch organic farmers Jan-Hein and Sandra Nikkels on Sept. 28, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

“When you don’t have a farm in your family, it’s almost impossible to start one,” Sandra said.

The two farmers said they hope the government will give farmers a chance to come up with a solution, one that isn’t simply dictated from on high.

Problems With Government at ‘All Times’: Dutch Dairy Farmer

As far as he knows, Robbin Voorend represents the sixth generation of farmers in his family. In 2017, he took over his parents’ operation.

Today, there are 58 cows on his farm. Over the course of a year, they yield more than 130,000 gallons of milk.

“I usually milk twice a day, because we still milk in a traditional milking pit,” he told Balmakov in a Sept. 30 interview.

Vooerend said that although he has problems with the government at “all times,” his current issues began in early 2017. That March, the government told him he had to get rid of 12 cows.

“Every cow is registered in the system—so they know how [many] cows I have,” he said.

Dutch dairy farmer Robbin Voorend on Sept. 30, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

The government’s concern arose out of its plan to reduce phosphate—a vision the U.S. Department of Agriculture described as an effort to set “limits to Dutch dairy production.” Voorend had exceeded a government target that was determined on the basis of numbers from a previous year.

That system soon became more and more onerous, he said. At one point, he was forced to buy phosphate rights from another farmer.

“I spent a ton of money to keep the same cows I had back then,” Voorend said.

The government’s latest nitrogen emissions plan would force him to cut his livestock numbers by 90 to 95 percent.

Voorend said the government has shown little interest in technological solutions to nitrogen emissions tied to agriculture.

He said he feels discouraged from investing further in his operation, including in any emissions rights he might be able to purchase. Banks are also averse to the risks associated with agriculture as a result of the new, still-evolving nitrogen policy, he noted.

“I understand that too. That’s not weird,” Voorend said.

He doesn’t know what he would do if the government forced him to reduce his herd to six cows. His farm, like many others, might have to close.

Dutch dairy farmer Robbin Voorend on his property on Sept. 30, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

Against the drumbeat of agricultural “progress,” defined by many elite institutions in terms of radical cuts to animal farming, Voorend remains unpersuaded. The elimination of productive farmland to preserve nature could ultimately backfire, he said.

“The population worldwide is only growing. So you’re going to need [food].”

You'll be able to hear other interviews with farmers in the Netherlands and across the world in The Epoch Times’ upcoming documentary, “Eat the Bugs.”