Netherlands to close up to 3k farms to comply with EU rules

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/11/28/netherlands-close-3000-farms-comply-eu-rules/

5 16 4 years ago

telegraph.co.uk

What a sorry state Europe has fallen into. The authoritarianism we all fought so hard to eradicate in the 1940s has come back into vogue, it seems.

hw-guy3• 4 years ago

WTF? The atmosphere is over 70% nitrogen. I find it hard to fathom that emissions from all the farms in the Netherlands could upset that balance in any measurable way.

wellthatsawrap1• 4 years ago

Well they need to offset the carbon footprint of private jets and yachts of the WEF somehow.

pulvinar• 4 years ago

Yep, would all be fine if they could just return the nitrogen in its original form.

It's mainly the ammonia (fertilizer runoff from fields and animal waste) that's a problem for nearby nature preserves and bodies of water, according to environmentalists who sued the government. Also livestock urine ammonia vapors and nitrogen oxides forming smog.

From a non-paywalled article: [https://www.science.org/content/article/nitrogen-crisis-jam-...]

hw-guy3• 4 years ago

Well, the article just says nitrogen.

pipodeclown2• 4 years ago

This of course relates to nitrogen holding compounds such as ammonia, other sources (in the form of nitrogen oxides) are road and airplane engines as well as construction and heavy industries. These nitrogen compounds actually have an acute negative impact on population health through respitory tract damage as well as on wildlife as well as certain types of plants, which leads to a reduction in biodiversity. That's the reason for EU wide nitrogen compound emmission caps. Just to be clear, the Netherlands has an extremely high concentration of livestock farmers. About 75% of meat production is exported even though we're an extremely small country with a super high population and structure density..

hw-guy3• 4 years ago

I suspected that's what the article intended, but it read as somewhat scientifically illiterate as it referred to "nitrogen" (N2) when they were really thinking nitrogen compounds.

Kukumber• 4 years ago

From self-sufficient continent, to a giant retail store that imports everything from NA

Who voted for this policy? was it a democratic vote? or it's an authoritarian policy?

If that was not democratic, who is the lobby?

st3fan2• 4 years ago

Big number but that will leave about 8000 farms.

mindcrash2• 4 years ago

Which will be closed eventually, because they want all land to develop a megacity (think Hong Kong) in the (near) future.

st3fan2• 4 years ago

Hey I don't know if you are Dutch or live there .. but the concept of megacities is completely foreign in Holland. Not sure how you came up with that, but if you had any feel for how things work there or how the politics are you would know that megacities is not a thing ...

- Old Dutchie

djohnston2• 4 years ago

Nice, now big ag can buy these shuttered family farms at a premium. Thanks EU!

pipodeclown2• 4 years ago

Who would want to buy a farm for which the license to operate has been revoked? This is a reduction in total livestock in the Netherlands as a result of a reduction in the amount of farms, these farms are not just being bought up and integrated into larger farms....

djohnston2• 4 years ago

Buy them up now. Lobby lobby lobby. Get the licenses re-instated. $$$

rasz• 4 years ago

Netherlands closes farms meanwhile Germany bulldozes rules prohibiting Hydrogen from Nuclear (but not from gas!) and keeps burning oil and coal for electricity. 'Four legs good, two legs bad'

Netherlands to close up to 3k farms to comply with EU rules

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