MILAN, Italy (PNN) - July 17, 2022 - Farmers in Italy, Spain and Poland have joined Dutch farmers in protest of “green” government regulations that will decimate the industry by forcing them to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizer compounds.

"We are not slaves, we are farmers," said Italian farmers, who drove tractors through the streets of Milan and blocked city traffic.

According to the Morning Star, "Italian farmers face an imminent crisis due to a severe drought that has seen a third of agricultural produce placed at risk."

The country’s agricultural minister, Steafano Patuanelli, told Parliament earlier this week that Italy faces a further 40% loss of water resources in the coming decades.

Farmers say they have lost around €3 billion as a result of the emergency and are being hit hard by rising fuel prices with costs rocketing as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

In Spain, farmers in Badajoz, Granada and Albacete paraded their tractors down the street in solidarity with the foreign farmers, as well as national protests at home over a lack of food and gasoline.

In Poland, farmers came to Warsaw last weekend to protest against inflation and other government actions.

The protests have led to empty supermarket shelves in the Netherlands, as tractors and other agricultural machinery have blocked warehouses, preventing their shipment - a move against which Prime Minister Mark Rutte has mobilized state police in an attempted crackdown.