Farmers Defense Force (FDF) is not at all satisfied with the first consultation farmers’ organizations have had with the cabinet. “If I get a taste of the mood, I think you can prepare for the hardest actions that FDF has ever conducted”, says foreman Mark van den Oever.
He wouldn’t say what kind of actions are involved. “We’re not going to dwell on that, but we’re definitely going to escalate.”
According to Van den Oever, the gap between the cabinet and the farmers is large. He compares it to the Grand Canyon in the United States. “The impasse is great, we are back to square one,” he says. Van den Oever adds: “Now the meeting farmers have been worked out and the action farmers have to get back to work.”
Back to ‘old strategy’
“Since the hand is not taken, we have to go back to the old strategy,” says Van den Oever. “It does not want to be decided at the negotiating table. We have all decided on a strategy together, also very moderate parties We wanted a small commitment, it’s not coming.”
Van den Oever says that he does not want to make any appeals to his supporters. “The farmers themselves know very well what they can and cannot do. Nobody likes throwing asbestos on the highway. I think we can all agree on that. But look, it is of course also our supporters, we are not going to lose them.” In previous protests, items containing the cancer-causing asbestos were thrown onto the highway. The mess had to be cleaned up by specialized companies, which meant that roads remained closed for longer.
Disappointment
There is also great disappointment among the other seven farmers’ organizations that were represented at Remkes by the LTO, says Jeroen van Maanen of FDF. The organizations were in Wageningen this afternoon for a debriefing. According to Van Maanen, a helping hand has been made to the cabinet on behalf of the farmers. He says it has not been addressed. “But that was a condition for a follow-up meeting for the parties.” The breached trust has not been restored, says Van Maanen.
After his conversation with Remkes, LTO leader Sjaak van der Tak did not say that the consultation had failed, but that the cabinet did not offer enough: “There is movement, but for our horticulturists and farmers it is not enough at the moment. So for today it’s done, we can’t continue the conversation, the ball is really in the cabinet.”
‘It was different inside rooms’
However, Bert van Ruitenbeek, who was also present as director of the organization for ‘biodynamic agriculture’ Stichting Demeter, believes that the LTO only pretends that the outcome of the talks is too little for the stage. The conversation went very differently indoors, according to Van Ruitenbeek. “There is really room to look further at a number of things and the LTO has also agreed to that”. According to Van Ruitenbeek, what LTO does is ‘part of the game’, but he doesn’t like it himself. “They try to keep all parties on board and I understand that, but their statement in the media is too negative.”
Watch our videos about the farmers’ protests here:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.
#Farmers #Defense #Force #farmers #meeting #ready #toughest #actions