Damn Cows

Along the western coastal area of the Netherlands....lies Den Haag.  It's an interesting region (I've been there twice in my life).  The city lies right there on the sea, and the harbor....with vast farmlands to the east and south.  Urban life and environmental agendas are a daily part of political life in the area.

Well....recently folks got around to the topic of nitrogen oxide emissions.  Rather than aim at diesel cars or emissions of vehicles in general (like buses or tractor-trailer rigs).....they decided to aim their attention at cattle.

I know....it's a bit amusing to latch onto cows as a evil thing.

So there's this agenda being politically discussed by some folks...making a Dutch law which says farmers, with x-amount of property, can only maintain x-number of cows on that property.  The suggestion is there to perhaps cut dairy or beef cattle herds by 50-percent.  So you could have a Dutch guy living 40 km east of Den Haag with 300 head of dairy cows, which produce milk and dairy products for the whole of the Netherlands, and maybe even sell to companies in France, Germany, and Switzerland.   All of this....naturally pays tax revenue into the pot, and finances schools, bridges, and welfare programs. 

This farmer would be reading over the political chatter, and start grumbling....who has the right to dictate his farm operation or farm profits? 

So yesterday, roughly 2,000 Dutch farmers took their tractors out on the roads leading into Den Haag and drastically slowed entry into the city.  Some used the comment 'worst commute in Dutch history'.

Likely to repeat?  I might go and suggest that this is the first of a number of protest actions.  It wouldn't surprise if they planned to interrupt rail or tram travel as well in the future.

Now, if you stood back and looked at the political discussion, and got rid of the cattle....where would they go, and how would farms operate? 

First, farmers (believe it or not) have a business model, and it's fairly well conceived.  X-amount of land, current practices, and pricing agendas....lead to successful farms.  If you destroy that model.....with a farmer making 30 to 40 percent less on profits....why operate?  So you'd rapidly see Dutch farmers giving up....selling their farms, and moving their equipment and cattle to countries like Poland or Czech.

The farms vacated....with limited potential for farming....would see prices sink and be mostly worthless except crop production. 

Second, once the farms diminish....where do you buy your milk?  The evil Germans with cattle producing nitrogen oxide?  The evil Poles with cattle producing nitrogen oxide?  The evil French with cattle producing nitrogen oxide? 

Third, if you really wanted to send a message as a environmentalist.....don't buy or drink milk.  Don't eat ice cream.  Don't use cheese products.  Don't support the dairy or beef industry.

I look at this discussion and there's one big factor standing out there.  You have various people who believe they can manipulate the economy to reach some political agenda....in effect....to save-the-world.  In their minds, you can carve off slices of the economy, and things just continue as 'normal'. 

If you had such a realistic problem with nitrogen oxide, why not just stop all auto traffic, limit the number of buses on the road, and cut tractor-trailer traffic by 50-percent.  Tell your grocery people to eliminate 50-percent of all products in the stores.  Limit stores to only x-amount of space for beer, wine, or drinks. 

This will end up being an amusing topic in the months to come, until the environmentalist group drops the topic.