How many cows are too many, asks the Dutch government?

corner from the office of Mark Rutte, the Netherlands’ prime minister, lies the Koediefstraat, or “cow-thief street”. Many Dutch farmers might find the name appropriate: by their lights, the government wants to rustle their cattle. On June 10th it unveiled proposed limits to nitrogen pollution, such as ammonia from fertiliser and manure, to abide by biodiversity rules. Farms next to nature reserves must cut nitrogen output by 70%. About 30% of the country’s cows and pigs will have to go, along with a big share of cattle and dairy farms.Since then farmers have protested so boisterously that one might think it was legal to drive a John Deere on the motorway. Pastures are festooned with the slogan “no farmer, no food”. Farmers have parked tractors in front of the Senate, harassed government ministers at their homes and blockaded distribution centres to press supermarkets to take sides. They tried to intimidate a vegetarian food company into removing passages on its website stating that cattle-raising contributes to climate change.