Farmers drove some 2,000 tractors through the streets of Hannover on Tuesday in order to protest against Germany’s agricultural policies and what they decry as the demonisation of farmers.

Footage shows long convoys of agricultural vehicles driving around the city, bringing traffic to a standstill in the process.

One of the speakers at the protest called for farmers to be paid for environmental protection measures, saying that they shouldn’t be “compensated or subsidized” but paid for “because it’s a service for the society, and services for the society should be paid.”

Concerns of the demonstrators include Berlin’s planned total phase-out of the herbicide glyphosate by 2023, and worries that the EU’s upcoming free trade deal with South America’s MERCOSUR bloc could leave them at a competitive disadvantage.

The protest was part of a coordinated action across Germany with thousands participating with their tractors.

(Source: Ruptly)