Dutch Government Announces €20 bn Nitrogen Plan, Farmers Protest

The Dutch cabinet presented a €20 billion nitrogen‑reduction programme covering the period to 2035. It includes mandatory farm‑level emission standards – a limit of 0.164 kg ammonia per phosphates right for dairy cows from 2035 and similar rules for poultry, pork and veal from early 2027 – with €2 billion earmarked for farm adjustments. Buffer zones are established around roughly a hundred Natura 2000 sites, funded by €9 billion for land revaluation and support for organic conversion. Industry and traffic must cut nitrogen emissions by 50 % by 2035, receiving €250 million, while supermarkets and processors face new bioproduct rules. Nature restoration and management are allocated €2.2 billion, with €100 million released in 2026 for direct action.

A coalition of farmer organisations – Agractie, Dutch Dairymen Board, Farmers Defence Force, the Dutch Milk Producers Union, the Poultry Union and Stichting Stikstof Claim – condemned the plan as an "unprecedented legal chaos and expropriation" and a "front‑line attack" on agriculture. They called the measures unworkable and urged the Tweede Kamer to discard the package. The main farmers’ lobby LTO Nederland also criticised the package as painful and unclear. The groups announced a protest at the parliamentary debate on Wednesday in The Hague.