Netherlands announces €25bn plan to radically reduce livestock numbers

Programme to tackle pollution crisis caused by an overload of manure faces fierce opposition from farmers

The 13-year plan includes paying some Dutch livestock farmers to relocate or exit the industry, and helping others transition to more extensive methods of farming, with fewer animals and a bigger area of land.

The Dutch government has unveiled a €25bn plan to radically reduce the number of livestock in the country as it struggles to contain an overload of animal manure.

A deal to buy out farmers to try to reduce levels of nitrogen pollution in the country had been mooted for some time , and was finally confirmed after the agreement of a new coalition government in the Netherlands earlier this month. But the plan, the first of its kind in the world, faces a huge backlash from farmers who have staged big street protests in recent years over the prospect of tough regulation and farmer buyouts. They fear permanent damage to food production in the country if too many farmers are forced to quit.