Farmer fury, environmental anger protest in Germany

BERLIN: From grumpy bee-keepers dumping honey on politicians´ doorsteps to furious farmers holding up traffic, increasing tensions between farmers and environmentalists have overshadowed the opening of the biggest show on Germany´s agriculture calendar.

Thousands of tractors descended on cities across Germany on Friday at the opening of Berlin´s annual “Green Week” trade fair, as the farmer´s collective “Land schafft Verbindung” (LSV) railed against tightening regulations.

Aggrieved at Germany´s latest agricultural reform that includes introducing an animal welfare label on food products and restrictions on pesticides to protect insects, the protesters claim they are carrying the costs for new environmental protection measures.

“Don´t forget that farmers feed you” and “No farm, no food, no future”, screamed posters held aloft by farmers, who fear the new laws will slash their revenues. But lawmakers are being squeezed on both sides, with climate activists arguing that recent agricultural and climate reforms do not go far enough.

The gulf between farmers and environmental activists has deepened in the last years as climate protection shot to the top of the political agenda following weeks of student-led Friday for Futures school strike protests. The LSV protesters consider themselves a counterweight to the environmentalist grouping “We are fed up!”, which is expected to draw tens of thousands to the streets on Saturday to protest the damaging effects of industrial agriculture.