Billings, Mont. – In what seems like a bizarre twist, the U.S. ranch group that rails against the global and domestic trade policies that have relegated the U.S. to be a net importer of beef, today announced its support for Dutch farmers protesting in the Netherlands, a beef exporting country from which the ranch group has tried to block imports.
“But this isn’t about trade policy,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard adding, “The Netherlands is ground zero for a globalized effort to control the food supply and those who produce it.”
Dutch farmers have been protesting for weeks against the Netherlands’ mandate to cut emissions of nitrous oxide and ammonia in half by 2023, an action that inexplicably places the blame for environmental pollution squarely on the shoulders of Dutch farmers.
It is unknown why other sectors of the Netherlands’ economy were not subject to similar mandates, and the government’s reported remarks that not all Dutch farmers will be able to stay in business seems to disregard any concern for reductions in food production almost certain to occur under the mandate.
Protest editorialists report the mandate is expected to reduce Dutch livestock numbers by as much as 30%, which is expected to drive many Dutch farmers out of business. This helps explain why tens of thousands of Dutch farmers are reportedly protesting.
In a YouTube video posted last week, Bullard described how the Netherlands’ mandate is an extension of efforts by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) that enlists global banks, global beef packers, and global retailers to devise and then impose universal production standards and production requirements on animal husbandry in the U.S. and around the world.
Bullard claims the universal production standards and requirements sought by the GRSB through private global corporations can have the same force and effect as the Netherlands’ government mandate. He said this is because global corporations now dominate livestock marketing outlets and can condition timely access to those markets on full compliance with GRSB standards.
“Dutch farmers are facing an immediate threat to their livelihoods, liberty and independence,” said Bullard adding, “America’s cattle farmers and ranchers are on the cusp of suffering the same fate, which is why R-CALF USA supports the Dutch farmer-protestors who are fighting on the front line.”
R-CALF USA President Brett Kenzy said the two conditions that make globalization such a threat to the liberty and independence of all citizens are now exemplified in the Netherlands – “runaway government and runaway concentration.”
Wyoming rancher and attorney Tracy Hunt, a nationally recognized critic of the GRSB said, “Whether by collusive actions by globally powerful privately owned banks, NGOs (non-government organizations) or corporations, government fiat or “public-private partnerships,” the Dutch farmers’ actions are measured and justified.”
Bullard said if the Dutch mandate was truly about improving the environment for and the welfare of Dutch citizens, the government would have worked with Dutch farmers to create alternative production practices that would ensure the economic viability of their farming operations, a lessening of environmental impacts, and no interruption to food production.
“That such commonsense foreplanning did not occur suggests this is nothing but a ploy by the Dutch government to whip many or all of its nation’s famers into submission. We urge all Americans to join with us in admonishing the Dutch government’s action and to stand in support of Dutch Farmers,” he concluded.
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