The NSC, like the BBB, may be political newcomers, but their 20 seats are key to Wilders’ fortunes. To the dismay of farmers’ groups, however, the party’s spokesperson on agriculture, dairy farmer Harm Holman, this month backed a resolution in parliament calling for cuts to livestock numbers and the dismantling of large industrial farms.
That stance prompted the leader of the Farmers Defense Force (FDF) activist group, Mark van den Oever, to post a video featuring a pile of burning tires and van den Oever declaring he “hated” Holman — stirring concern that the violent tone that marred Dutch politics during farmer protests last year might return. Back then, Nature and Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal’s home was blockaded and manure dumped on the street outside.
Heating up
“It’s actually pretty hot right now,” said Jos Ubels, vice president of the FDF, which has organized protests in the Netherlands. “I think most of the farmers are looking at the right side of the political spectrum now … because the left side didn’t do their job as they should.”
The unrest in the Netherlands is the result of decades of industry and government inaction on the high levels of nitrogen affecting natural areas. For years, Dutch farmers have been allowed to spread more animal manure on their land than their counterparts elsewhere in the EU.
But in September 2022, the European Commission decided that the exemption allowing such excessive manure use would end in 2026, requiring farms located in or near protected nature reserves to start complying with stricter standards.
After protracted talks, the government earmarked nearly €1.5 billion last year to compensate farmers who voluntarily closed their farms; Brussels approved the buyout plan in November.