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A comment on Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat. Parent comment

Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by artisinal on Sunday August 30, 2026 @02:19PM (#49501304)
Drought in The Netherlands is artificial though. Millionaire farmers are pumping up water to water their crops during the day. Due to the heat most of the spray evaporates before it touches the plants. During the winter they artificially lower the ground water level for personal benefit.

Also of this so they can gain even more millions by exporting all the food across the border. Time to block some more highways, destroy some more property and kill some more people in order to secure those sweet EU subsidies.

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Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by MrDresden on Sunday August 30, 2026 @06:04PM (#49503319)
Not saying that Dutch farmers don't use a lot of water overall, but they have some of the most effective farming practices on the planet when it comes to water usage.
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Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by artisinal on Sunday August 30, 2026 @10:09PM (#49504835)
That doesn’t change the fact that the millionaire megafarmers completely screwed over Dutch water management for personal gains. Did you know that farmers are basically completely in control of waterschappen despite only bringing in a couple percent of the GDP.
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Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by crote on Monday August 31, 2026 @07:19AM (#49508328)
Correct, but those very same practices are causing huge damages to the local environment and economy, while the farming relies on foreign imports to function and the majority of its production is exported.

Rather than exporting farming products, The Netherlands should focus on exporting farming practices.

[ Parent | on HN ]