The police in Land van Maas en Waal in Gelderland are hunting for "agricultural terrorists" who've been harassing farmers in the area with vandalism for months. Over the past week alone, vandals sawed through over 2,500 fruit trees of a farmer in Altforst, RTL Nieuws reports.
farmers
May 18 '17 14:05
From September Limburg farmers will use drones to find illegal cannabis plantations on their land, the Limburg agricultural and horticultural union LLTB announced. According to the union, this is the first such project in the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports.
Feb 27 '17 12:20
In the period between 1950 and 2016 six out of seven farms in the Netherlands disappeared, Statistics Netherlands said on Monday. But the average size of the remaining companies increased significantly, from 5.7 hectares to 32.4 hectares.
The number of animals per farm also increased significantly. In 1950 the average farmer had seven pigs, compared to 1,600 last year. Cattle numbers increased from 13 to 160.
Jan 18 '17 13:55
The Dutch Council of State approved expansion plans for Lelystad Airport. On Wednesday the Council ruled that the objections to the zoning plan for the airport are ungrounded, ANP reports.
The zoning plan states that the airport's runway can be extended from 1,250 meters long to 2,700 meters and from 30 meters wide to 45 meters. This makes the airport suitable for heavier aircraft types, something that is essential for the plans to have Lelystad take over some of Schiphol's traffic.
Dec 27 '16 12:10
Seven farmers in the province of Groningen are filing a lawsuit against Dutch petroleum company NAM. They want more than 6 million euros in compensation for damage caused by gas drilling in the province, NOS reports.
Over the past months there have been numerous negotiations between NAM and the farmers, but to no avail, according to the broadcaster. NAM is only willing to compensate a percentage of the damage amount. One farmer was offered 40 thousand euros in compensation, while he claimed 1.3 million euros.
Oct 6 '16 10:02
Nearly half of Dutch poultry farmers have been living below the poverty for an average of 15 years, according to an ING report on the state of Dutch agriculture. Half of chicken farmers and 45 percent of pig farmers lived on less than 22,300 a year between 2001 and 2015
Jul 25 '16 14:00
Farmers in Noord-Brabant are regularly approached by drug criminals asking if they can rent an empty barn for up to 1.5 hundred thousand euros, NRC reports based on a survey by mayors and investigative officers.
Jul 12 '16 10:40
The heavy rain and hailstorms that hit the Netherlands over the past weeks are leading to massive costs for insurer Achmea. The insurer estimates that its clients submitted about 260 million euros in damage claims so far - enough that Achmea expects to end the first half of this year in the red
Jun 29 '16 14:10
The Dutch government will not be compensating farmers in Limburg and Noord-Brabant for damage sustained in recent storms, State Secretary Martijn van Dam of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday. He can see that the storms were very bad, but they were not a natural disaster and there will therefore be no financial compensation
Jun 28 '16 09:24
Farmers' associations ZLTO and LLTB wants the government to classify the storms that caused large amounts of damage in Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Gelderland last week a natural disaster. The associations hope that doing so would increase the chances of affected farmers to get assistance
Jun 27 '16 16:10
Recent storms in the southeast of the Netherlands caused much more damage than initially thought. In Someren alone, damages sustained by farmers and gardeners are estimated at half a billion euros, according to farmers' organization ZLTO
Jun 27 '16 07:36
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is holding a crisis meeting with various farmers' unions and insurers on Monday to discuss the damage storms in Limburg and Noord-Brabant caused last week. On Friday LTO Nederland estimated that farmers in those provinces suffered about 100 million euros worth of damage
Jun 17 '16 10:55
Organic meat farmers are struggling to keep their head above water due to the low prices supermarkets pay for their meat
Dec 2 '15 07:43
The PvdA wants supermarkets to stop selling meat at very cheap prices. According to the party, it puts too much pressure on farmers to raise their animals as cheaply as possible, which in turn puts pressure on sustainability.
Nov 6 '15 15:55
Amsterdam based startup company Connecterra has won the Web Summit 2015 startup competition PITCH with their so-called "Fitbit for cows", Startup Juncture announced on Friday.
Dec 25 '14 08:04
The European support measures for farmers affected by the Russian boycott has been extended to June next year. According to State Secretary Sharon Dijksma, the new measures should help agricultural entrepreneurs find a "good, social destination" for their fruits and vegetables.
Sep 26 '14 11:38
Now that the EU aid scheme for European farmers have been scrapped, whatever surplus farmers have left over from their harvests of fruits and vegetables is not being sent to food banks, Food Banks Netherlands tells BNR.
Sep 15 '14 13:27
Inspired by the annual La Tomatina in Bunol, more than 1,000 people took to Dam Square on Sunday armed with tomatoes to protest against Russian sanctions. At 3 p.m a shipping container was emptied into the square and participants pelted each other with the 120,000 pieces of the overripe fruit bought from growers left in the cold by Russia’s boycott of Dutch fruit and vegetables.
Oct 15 '13 01:45
It's still unclear what the damage is after Sunday's downpour. Individuals don't seem to have suffered extensive damage, but for farmers it may be another week before the full extent of the damage they suffered will be clear, according to the Association of Insurers.
