Furious farmers drove their tractors to The Hague, causing rush hour traffic chaos | Vincent Jannik/AFP via Getty Images The Netherlands struggles with nitrogen headache Farmers are angry at being the main target of efforts to slash nitrogen pollution.

As the Dutch government tries to comply with a court order to cut nitrogen pollution, hundreds of angry farmers hit The Hague in protest.

The country’s highest administrative court in May said government rules for granting construction permits and farming activities that emit large amounts of nitrogen breach EU legislation. Up to 18,000 infrastructure and construction projects have as a result been stalled, including the opening of Lelystad Airport next year. The government is also being advised to cut speed limits to reduce pollution.

But most of the nitrogen that ends up in the environment comes from farms, and they’re being asked to bear the brunt of the costs. Tjeerd de Groot, an MP from the center-left coalition D66 party, proposed reducing nitrogen emissions by halving the country’s livestock population — cutting the number of pigs by 6 million and chickens by 50 million.

Furious farmers reacted on Tuesday by driving their tractors to The Hague, causing rush hour traffic chaos.

“We feel as if we’re being put in the dunces’ corner by city types who come and tell us how things should be in the countryside,” one of the protest organizers, Mark van den Oever, told Trouw newspaper, adding that farmers shouldn’t be blamed for the nitrogen issue.

The Netherlands is the world's second-largest agricultural exporter after the U.S. But it's a much smaller country, which means that farms are nestled close to protected nature areas.

The Natura 2000 network, which stretches over 18 percent of the EU’s land mass, is a bloc-wide scheme meant to protect natural areas. The Netherlands has more than 160 such areas, and EU rules mandate that they are protected.

But 70 percent of the country's surface area exceeds critical limits for nitrogen, according to government data.

Excess nitrogen in the atmosphere can produce pollutants such as ammonia and ozone, which affect health, limit visibility and alter plant growth. Nitrogen oxides — emitted by car exhausts, farm soils, livestock and fertilizers, as well as the generators, diggers and other equipment on building construction sites — can also harm the health of forests, soils and waterways, and can act as an indirect greenhouse gas.

In 2015 the government tried to rein in pollution with a plan that allowed for additional nitrogen emissions as long as it was compensated at a later date.

But the May ruling from the Council of State found that wasn’t enough, and effectively halted every project which could lead to an increase in nitrogen emissions — from new chicken sheds to entire residential developments.

Last week, an advisory commission urged the government to adopt a broad package of measures, including lowering the speed limit on some roads, and buying out and closing older farms to reduce emissions.

Johan Remkes, who led the commission, said the Dutch government has to make some tough choices. “Driving a little more slowly from A to B does not make much difference” to travel times in the Netherlands, but will mean a substantial reduction in emissions, he said.

The commission is due to present a second report in May with advice on long-term measures.

Remkes said it would be “unacceptable” for the government to try to look for loopholes, calling for “a credible and demonstrable restoration” of 118 nitrogen-sensitive Natura 2000 areas and a reduction of nitrogen pollution.