German farmers: 'Overregulation is the last thing we need'

Farmers from across Germany have descended on Berlin to take part in a mass protest against the government's agricultural reform package that foresees a reduction in the use of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides.

Line after line, the area around the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin was clogged up with tractors from all over Germany. Farmers had driven them into the capital days in advance to be more visible to the general public as their mass protest got underway on this Tuesday in November.
They were highly aware they were causing traffic jams in downtown Berlin, but people needed to take notice and take an interest in why they were there, they argued. "We can't continue like this as overregulation is the last thing we need," said an angry farmer from the Nordhorn area near the German-Dutch border, who has taken the trouble to drive his tractor to Berlin in an 11-hour ride. "We are not willing to accept what those at the top want us to do without consulting us upfront."
"Those at the top" are German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner and Environment Minister Svenja Schulze. They both presented an agricultural package in September saying that farmers would have to reduce their use of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides with a view to curbing the dying of insects and reducing the nitrate content in the groundwater.

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