Dutch farmers take tractors to anti-government protest

A small group of people gather ahead of a major protest by farmers at a village in central Netherlands, in The Hague, Netherlands (Michael Corder/AP)

Thousands of farmers have driven their tractors along major roads across the Netherlands, snarling morning traffic as they headed for a mass protest against the Dutch government’s plans to rein in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia.

The national infrastructure authority urged motorists to delay travel as slow-moving convoys of tractors defied appeals not to use major roads as they drove toward the central Netherlands, where a farmer in the agricultural village of Stroe was hosting the protest.