03/08/2025
Ploughing Over the Future: Are Governments Sacrificing Farms for Industry?
From the wheat plains of Victoria to the lush lowlands of the Netherlands, a quiet resistance is rising. Across the world, farming communities are rallying against policies and projects that they say threaten not just their livelihoods, but the future of food security itself. The question now echoing across continents is this: are governments sacrificing productive farmland and rural safety in the name of energy, mining, and industrial growth?
Australia: Transmission Towers and Sand Mines on Prime Cropland
In Victoria and New South Wales, the rollout of large-scale Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) and transmission corridors has sparked widespread rural opposition. Farmers in regions like the Wimmera and Riverina say they are being ignored in favour of urban energy needs.
Ben Duxson, a grain and wool farmer believes that the proposed transmission lines would devalue farmers land and pose a bushfire risk.
“We’ve seriously got generational farmers out there who are just beside themselves and saying ‘No, we’re not putting up with this. This is not right’,” he said.
“They’ll have to come and compulsorily acquire our land and even when it gets to that, we’ll still fight them at the gate.”
Meanwhile, mineral sands mining proposals have alarmed landholders. In the Wimmera, more than 3,000 hectares of farmland is under retention licenses. Community groups argue the mines will damage groundwater systems and permanently alter soil structure.
A 2023 survey by the Victorian Farmers Federation found that 72% of affected landowners felt inadequately consulted during energy infrastructure planning.
United States: Eminent Domain and the Carbon Pipeline Backlash
In America’s Midwest, farmers are fighting back against carbon capture pipelines, such as those proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions. These pipelines, meant to sequester carbon from ethanol plants, are facing fierce opposition due to safety, land access, and compensation concerns.
Several lawsuits have been filed, and multiple counties have passed temporary moratoriums on pipeline construction. Critics argue that using eminent domain for private energy projects sets a dangerous precedent.
In South Dakota, farmer Jared Bossly denied Summit's accusation of threatening surveyors but was still barred by a restraining order from confronting trespassers on his property.
"This is tyranny," Bossly said. "They destroyed my crops and think they can bully us into submission”. His case sparked a farmer protest at the state capitol, leading South Dakota to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. Summit is now contesting this law in court.
According to the National Agricultural Law Center, over 1,400 miles of pipeline are being planned across five states—much of it through highly productive farmland.
South Africa: Mines vs. Maize Fields
In Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, rural communities are pushing back against sand, coal, and titanium mines encroaching on agricultural land. Farmers worry about displacement, land degradation, and access to clean water.
In Xolobeni, a titanium mine backed by an Australian company has faced more than a decade of opposition. A 2018 court ruling declared that mining cannot proceed without the “full and informed consent” of affected communities—a landmark moment for land rights.
Farmer Richard Mtwa, who opposes the mine, says that his piece of land is the inheritance of future generations and that any threat to farmland is a threat to his livelihood. “They are saying that these projects will create jobs, but for who? Agriculture and tourism are what feeds our families, and it will continue to feed them.”
In 2022, the South African Human Rights Commission warned that unregulated mining on rural land is a growing threat to food security and environmental sustainability.
Germany: Farmland Disappears Under Solar Panels
Germany’s energy transition has accelerated the rollout of wind and solar farms, but rural communities are growing uneasy as more than 200,000 hectares of farmland have been repurposed since 2010.
Landowners prefer to rent their land more profitably to solar or wind farm operators and there is less and less land available for agriculture and livestock farming. In addition to this, German farmers that lease land are being driven off their properties due to increasing rent prices.
A 2021 study by the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) showed that 70% of farmers were concerned about the long-term impact of renewable energy infrastructure on agricultural land availability. They stated that "the planned obligation to tolerate power lines is constitutionally questionable, tantamount to expropriation without compensation, and disregards the rights of farmers and landowners." DBV secretary general Bernhard Krüsken added that “coercion has never increased acceptance.”
The issue has prompted calls for policies that prioritise rooftop solar and brownfield development, rather than farmland conversion.
Netherlands: Nitrogen Policy Sparks a Rural Revolution
The Dutch government’s attempt to cut nitrogen emissions by 50% by 2030—largely by reducing livestock numbers—sparked one of Europe’s most sustained farmer protests in modern history.
Government estimates suggest 11,200 farms may need to close or downsize to meet targets. In response, the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) party—born out of the protests—won the largest share of votes in the 2023 provincial elections, shaking the Dutch political landscape.
BBB party leader Caroline van der Plas stated that "the government has to start talking to the farmers, not just talking but listening and really hearing them or things will get worse…we want the whole nitrogen policy and plans that are on the table right now put on hold and to look for other solutions…be careful what you wish for because when the farmers are gone, they are not going to come back."
Farmers say they’re willing to innovate, but that the policy unfairly singles them out while aviation, transport, and industry face less severe cuts.
The Bigger Picture: Are We Prioritising the Wrong Future?
Taken together, these global examples reveal a troubling pattern: rural communities feel ignored, undervalued, and expendable. While governments tout climate targets, energy goals, and economic growth, the people who grow our food and manage our landscapes say their voices are not being heard.
This is not simply a “NIMBY” reaction to change. It’s a plea for balance—for policies that protect both the planet and the food systems that sustain us.
Without farmland, there is no food. Without water security, no crops. Without rural trust, no smooth transition to a greener future.
So we must ask: why are governments so quick to trade fertile soil for concrete, wires, and pits?
And at what point do we stop calling it “progress” and start calling it what it is: a slow, quiet erasure of the people who feed us?
