Angela Merkel meets Germany’s protesting farmers

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is holding talks on Monday with some 40 agricultural organizations, in a bid to find measures to alleviate their concerns over the government’s agricultural reform package.   

The package foresees a reduction in the use of pesticides and insecticides. It also includes plans to limit the use of fertilizers to tackle nitrate pollution in groundwater and ban the controversial weed killer glyphosate by 2023 to protect insect populations.

But furious farmers say the environmental protection measures go too far and pose an existential risk to their farms.

“We can’t continue like this as overregulation is the last thing we need,” a farmer from the Nordhorn area near the German-Dutch border, told DW last week. “We are not willing to accept what those at the top want us to do without consulting us upfront.”

Many also say they are fed up with “agri-bashing,” or perceived public hostility toward farmers, which they say has cast them as villains in the fight against climate change. Farmers’ grievances also include free trade agreements they say put them at a disadvantage.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Farmers come to town

  More than 1,000 tractors descended on former capital Bonn, home of many ministries including the Agriculture Ministry. The farmers bought gridlock to the small city.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Upset about regulation

  “No one should forget that farmers provide food,” one protest sign reads. The famers are upset about new regulations aimed at protecting the environment and animals.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Used as ‘pawns’

  The farmers feel left behind as more regulation favors bigger agricultural conglomerates to the detriment of small farming operations. The farmer say they are sick of “farmer bashing” and being blamed for damage to the environement.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Protecting the environment

  The central issue at the heart of recent regulation, is the large amount of fertilizer and manure spread across fields flowing into groundwater and rivers. The controls are also aimed at mitigating the effects of declining insect and bird populations in Germany.

• German farmers protest government plans

  City overrun

  The convoy of tractors in Bonn stretched more than 1 kilometer, closing traffic bridges and shutting down major roads. There were also protests in cities across Germany.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Berlin blockade

  A stream of about 200 tractors drove up Straße des 17. Juni, near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. They descended on the city from four different areas surrounding Berlin.

• German farmers protest government plans

  Hundreds in Hanover

  More than double the expected number of protesters turned up in Hanover, in northern Germany. They are upset not only with the new regulations, but also with the ban on glyphosate and the Mercosur trade agreement with South America.

  Author: Alistair Walsh

Farmer protests

Since mid-October, angry farmers have staged demonstrations in a number of cities across the country.

Last week, police said more than 5,000 tractors rolled into the capital Berlin for a protest, leading to convoys as long as 20 kilometers (12 miles) on some roads.

Germany’s Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner defended the government’s measures, aimed in part at bringing the country in line with EU regulations, but said she understood the farmers’ frustrations.

“Consumers keep expecting farmers to do more, but are increasingly less willing to pay more for it,” she told ARD broadcaster last week, calling for more appreciation for the industry.

Farmers have also taken to the streets in France and the Netherlands with similar complaints.

sri/rt (dpa, AP, AFP)

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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/angela-merkel-meets-germany-s-protesting-farmers/a-51495578?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom