Germany: 2,000 tractors flood Hannover as farmers protest agricultural reforms

W/S Convoy of tractors
M/S Tractors
W/S Convoy
M/S Wheels
M/S Protesters
W/S Convoy
M/S Convoy
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C/U Convoy reflection in mirror
W/S Convoy
M/S Tractors
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M/S Pedestrians waiting for convoy to pass
SOT, Activist (German): "On top of all the criticism that we have been fairly doing today, our concern should also be the valuable food that is produced in Lower Saxony and Germany, at the highest quality and the lowest price. Our goal has to be that the price we get in the market is fair. That should be our common goal today."
W/S Crowd listening to speech
SOT, Activist (German): "The agriculture, for what it causally does, namely securing our nutrition in high quality, [it] should get a reasonable payment for the product. And secondly, what you perceive as a public service, for example environment and nature protection, should be paid for. Not compensated or subsidized, paid for, because it's a service for the society, and services for the society should be paid."
M/S Protesters applauding
M/S Speakers on stage
M/S Protester applauding
W/S Protesters listening to speech
W/S Protesters
C/U Banner reading: 'No farmers No food No future'
W/S Protesters
SCRIPT
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.