French farmers are taking action against the EU and the French government by seemingly turning the highways leading to Paris into fields ready for sowing.
The farmers were blocking the roads with their tractors and now they are spreading dirt all over the highways. The video shows one protestor using his tractor to spread soil evenly over the surface of a highway, making it look like farmland.
Des #agriculteurs sèment 300 mètres de prairie sur la RN165 à Quimper. #AgriculteursEnColere pic.twitter.com/YwiseKotGe
— Anonyme Citoyen (@AnonymeCitoyen) January 30, 2024
The video’s caption roughly translates to: “#Farmers sow 300 meters of meadow on the RN165 in Quimper.”
The incident is similar to when French protestors dumped nearly 300 cubic meters of manure in front of government buildings in Cahors, according to BNN.
French Farmers have had enough of the EU’s regulations on the French farming industry, Reuters reported. The farmers who have reportedly amassed outside Paris demand that their industry be more lucrative and that the government’s environmental regulations be nullified. (RELATED: French Farmers Lay ‘Siege’ To Paris To Protest Environmental Red Tape)
France is the largest producer of agricultural commodities in the EU and the bloc is forcing farmers to leave 4% of all farmland fallow, according to Reuters. Farmers are reportedly pressuring the French government and the EU for better conditions at a time when the bloc is importing cheaper food from other countries, such as Ukraine, where agricultural producers have fewer regulations.
The government of Macron versus the farmers.
Who do you side with? https://t.co/XT2C5h2yzz
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) January 30, 2024
The government has deployed 15,000 police officers, mainly in and around Paris, to prevent farmers from entering the capitol, according to ABC. Arnaud Rousseau, the FNSEA agricultural union’s President, spoke on RTL radio, the outlet reported.
“Our goal isn’t to bother or to ruin French people’s lives,” Rousseau reportedly stated. “Our goal is to put pressure on the government to rapidly find solutions out of the crisis.”
Farmers continue to put pressure on the government ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the European Elections in June.