German Farmers Launch Nationwide Protests Against Government Cuts

Furious Farmers Descend on Capital and Block Highways with Tractors

Tractors and lorries flooded Berlin city centre in the early hours of Monday morning as thousands of German farmers launched disruptive protests in the capital and blocked highways across the country with slow-moving convoys. The farmers converged on Berlin to demonstrate against government plans to end subsidies for agricultural diesel and cut fertiliser use, policies they claim threaten their livelihoods.

Carrying banners reading “Farms instead of Concrete Jungles” and chanting slogans, an estimated 10,000 farmers drove their tractors into Berlin, with many remaining parked in the city centre on Monday. The farmers used their tractors to block traffic at the Victory Column roundabout and along the wide boulevard running east to west through Berlin’s Tiergarten Park to the Brandenburg Gate. Loud tractor horns blasted continuously in protest.

At the same time, groups of farmers drove convoys of tractors along highways and access roads in states across Germany, causing major traffic disruptions and fuel delivery delays. Eyewitnesses described kilometers-long lines of slow-moving tractors blocking all lanes and exit ramps. Police advised drivers to avoid highways clogged with farming vehicles in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and other states.

Government U-Turns on Budget Cuts After Backlash

The cross-country blockade came just days after the Scholz government agreed to water down planned subsidy cuts following a farmer revolt last week which included trapping Germany’s Economy and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck on a ferry.

Scrambling to contain growing farmer unrest, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition revised draft 2024 budget measures on Saturday, delaying subsidy reductions and fertiliser usage cuts. The government still aims to end preferential tax treatment for agricultural diesel by 2025 but will introduce it more slowly. A planned cap on farmland fertiliser usage starting this year was also postponed.

The concessions followed crisis talks between Habeck and German farming associations on Friday and did not stop farmers from mobilising nationwide demonstrations which brought parts of the country to a halt.

Radicalisation Worries as Far-Right Seeks to Exploit Unrest

As farmers’ anger spills onto highways, fears are growing about far-right groups hijacking the protest movement. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party quickly voiced support for protesters and sent lawmakers to demonstrations, seeking political capital from rural discontent with the Greens-led coalition government.

In an incident last Wednesday, a group of farmers allied with climate sceptics and neo-Nazis trapped Vice Chancellor Habeck on a ferry in northern Germany after a town hall event. The confrontation sparked outrage, with critics accusing protesters of resorting to “militant Methods” and warnings that radicals could exploit farmer frustrations.

Years of Growing Resentment Boil Over

Monday’s mass demonstrations capped years of growing resentment among Germany’s farmers, who believe government reforms unfairly target agriculture to meet climate goals. Many farmers argue Berlin imposes unrealistic environmental standards on farms without consulting the industry or providing adequate financial support through the transition.

Tensions between Germany’s 600,000 farmers and policymakers in Berlin have simmered since 2018, when Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government began introducing regulations aimed at reducing fertiliser use and cutting greenhouse emissions from agriculture. Reforms gathered pace under the new left-leaning coalition government which took office in 2021 pledging ambitious climate action, further alarming farmers.

The Green Policies Fuelling Farmer Fury

The agriculture industry fury focuses on two government reforms in particular which farmers claim threatens their livelihoods:

Ending Diesel Subsidies

• Preferential diesel tax rates for farmers will be phased out by 2025 under government plans
• Farmers currently pay a reduced diesel tax of 16 euro cents per litre compared to the standard rate of 65 euro cents for other commercial diesel users
• Ending this tax break is projected to increase annual costs for agricultural businesses by up to 7000 euros once fully implemented

Slashing Fertiliser Use

• Draft measures aimed to slash German farmland fertiliser usage by 20 percent by 2026
• Scientists link high nitrogen fertiliser application rates to increased nutrient runoff polluting groundwater and climate-damaging nitrous oxide emissions
• Farmers state arbitrary across-the-board fertiliser reductions will slash crop yields

Farmers Demand Government Rethink Green Priorities

Farmer representatives urgently called on Berlin to rethink agricultural and climate policy reforms during crisis talks last week.

Key agricultural groups argue the reforms failed to balance environmental sustainability with food security and farm profitability.

“The farm protests are an alarm signal that concern for agriculture is rapidly getting lost in politics,” German Farmers’ Association President Joachim Rukwied stated on Friday while demanding long-term reliable plans that support farm sector modernisation.

What Next as Protests Cripple Germany?

Scholz’s three-party coalition faces a growing political crisis as farmers paralyse transport arteries with the nationwide tractor demonstrations set to continue for a second week.

Police brace for extended disruptions as farmers unions called for fresh highway blockades and rallies outside parliament on Monday and protests look likely to ramp up pressure on Berlin to overhaul green reforms.

With tensions rapidly escalating, the government urgently needs to reopen dialogue with agrarian associations to rebuild trust and avoid further escalation. However, with positions seemingly entrenched on both sides, hopes for a swift compromise appear slim.

As radicals exploit farmer frustrations, the coming days may prove decisive in determining whether the Scholz administration can contain rural unrest stirring social divisions as Germany strives to hit net-zero emissions by 2045.

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