Rochusstraße closed Hundreds of farmers expected at demonstration in Bonn on Monday

Bonn · Hundreds of farmers plan to demonstrate with their tractors in Bonn on Monday. A gathering is planned in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Duisdorf. There will be considerable traffic obstructions.

  Farmers already demonstrated in Bonn city centre in 2019. On 15 August, they plan to march in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Rochusstraße.

Farmers already demonstrated in Bonn city centre in 2019. On 15 August, they plan to march in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Rochusstraße.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

An old battle motto of the farmers at their demonstrations is based on a biblical story. It reads, "They do not sow, they do not reap, but they know everything better." It refers to politicians. And it could also apply to the protest that the association Land Sichert Versorgung NRW (the countryside guarantees supply) has announced for this Monday in Bonn.

According to Klaus Weber, the organiser, and the Bonn police on Thursday, 500 participants with about 200 tractors are expected. Weber thinks that there could well be more, he told the General-Anzeiger.

The registered demonstration will take place in front of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Duisdorf. The tractors are to park on the left and right of the road. Police have announced that Rochusstraße will be closed to through traffic from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the section between the junctions of Villemombler Straße and Provinzialstraße.

A diversion in both directions will be in place during this time via Villemombler Straße, Schieffelingsweg and Provinzialstraße to Hermann-Wanderleb-Ring (see diagram). Cyclists and pedestrians will not be affected by the closure. The police will allow residents in the closed area to enter and leave the road. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., a citizens' telephone line has been set up for questions about traffic, 02 28/15 30 30.

EU Commission: No crop protection in the countryside conservation area

Weber explained that the focus of the protest is a proposal for a regulation by the EU Commission, which became public in June. One of the things it contains is that the use of chemical pesticides in the European Union should be halved by 2030 and 80 percent of damaged ecosystems in Europe are to be restored. The use of pesticides in protected areas is to be banned entirely. The proposals for "restoring nature", which have been much discussed in recent weeks, are to be debated in Brussels in September.

Weber told the GA that the push from Brussels in its current form was "tantamount to a policy against farmers" as it would mean that fertiliser would no longer be permitted on large areas of agricultural land in North Rhine-Westphalia. "80 per cent of the land in NRW is in a countryside conservation area, and in the Rhein-Sieg district it is even more," explained the part-time farmer from Lohmar, whose family farm has existed for 360 years.

Most regional farmers are direct marketers

Most farmers in the region are direct marketers. If they were no longer allowed to apply agricultural pesticides, farming would cease to be profitable for them. This would not only affect conventional agriculture, but also organic farming, Weber says. As a result, the political goals of increasing the share of organic farming from the current eight per cent to 30 per cent of the total harvest would become a very distant prospect.

The association has called on farmers from North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony and Hesse to join Monday’s demonstration. It has also invited the regional MPs in Brussels as well as the agricultural policy spokespersons of the parliamentary groups and the ministerial state secretaries. The President of the Rhineland Agricultural Association, Bernhard Conzen, has already confirmed that he will be there. In view of the Ukraine war and the issue of self-sufficiency, the protest is under the heading "We farm for peace".

Ministry staff can work from home

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture said when asked that the police had been informed about the demonstration. "As to the question of whether there will be a discussion with the initiators at the event on Monday, no statement can be made at this time," a spokesperson said. Because of the announced closure, employees have been advised to work from home if possible.

The last time farmers held a large demonstration against agricultural policy in Bonn was three years ago. Besides impressive pictures of hundreds of tractors, the day was remembered for quite some time because the police directed 400 tractor drivers onto a harvested maize field in Buschdorf.

Heavy rain meant that soil stuck to the tractors’ chunky wheels, and it could only be scraped off the Kölnstraße with great difficulty after they had left. Rain has been forecast for this Monday, but there is no talk of parking in a field so far.

Original text: Philipp Königs

Translation: Jean Lennox

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