Most of the public face of Dutch farming is a show intended to mislead the public into having sympathy, as if the farmers were struggling and at risk of losing their livelihoods. This is what every industry does in the face of regulations.

The farmers represented by these organizations are not poor. They are profiting handsomely while creating significant pollution - a cost borne by the local public and the global public.

The Netherlands is a small country by land size, and it has a vast number of intensive farms. The same intensive farming practices which are passable in other places are create high concentrations of pollution here. And as the NL as part of the EU and has agreed to abide by various pollution limits, it must make changes to curb its pollution.

Simply saying, "But this is my way of life!" is not valid if that way of life comes at an increasing cost to everyone around you. Just because something has been going on for some time does not mean it should be allowed to continue.

As for the protests, they are not protests - they are extortion or terrorism. As such, they should be met with severe criminal penalties. Allowing a group of wealthy bullies to take over a country is not acceptable in modern times. We are hopefully not just a bunch of apes with clubs forming clans and dominating those who "threaten our way of life".