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Femke Wiersma

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Femke Wiersma
Wiersma in 2024
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 July 2024
Prime MinisterDick Schoof
Preceded byPiet Adema
Member of the Provincial Executive of Friesland
In office
19 July 2023 – 2 July 2024
Personal details
Born
Femke Marije Wiersma

(1984-12-29) 29 December 1984 (age 39)
Dokkum, Netherlands
Political partyBBB (2019–present)
Spouse
Gijsbert Bakhuisen
​
​
(m. 2016; div. 2019)​
Children4
Occupation
  • Politician
  • lobbyist
  • civil servant
Military service
AllegianceNetherlands
Branch/serviceRoyal Netherlands Navy
Years of service2002–2006
RankSailor

Femke Marije Wiersma (born 29 December 1984) is a Dutch agricultural lobbyist and politician of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB). She has served as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024. Previously, she was a member of the Provincial Executive of Friesland.

Early life and career

[edit]

Wiersma was born in 1984 in Dokkum, located in Friesland.[1] After her parents divorced a year later, she was raised by her mother, who was struggling with poverty. Wiersma took care of horses in her childhood, and she attended secondary education at mavo and at havo/vwo levels in Dokkum. Wiersma joined the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2002, serving as a sailor on the HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck in locations such as the Mediterranean Sea. She was subsequently stationed at a Texel navy base before leaving the military in 2006.[2] She completed training in social work in 2007, and she joined the Dantumadiel and Dongeradeel municipalities the following year as a care consultant, assessing the eligibility of citizens for municipal support programs.[1][2]

After moving to Abcoude for a relationship with a farmer, she established a tea garden, and she started writing opinion pieces for De Boerin magazine in 2012.[2] In 2015, the abolition of the European milk quota led to a growing livestock population, which increased manure production and created a risk of the Netherlands exceeding its phosphate limit. The agricultural sector anticipated a phosphate rights system, which some extensive dairy farmers such as Wiersma found unfair because they were able to manage their manure fully. Wiersma started a campaign on social media platform Facebook in 2015 to protest the new system, and she became a lobbyist for Netwerk GRONDig, which had been founded shortly before to represent extensive dairy farmers. GRONDig was included in negotiations with the government, and an exception for this group was created.[1][2]

Wiersma simultaneously served as policy advisor for the Vereniging Behoud Boer & Milieu, advocating for circular agriculture and surface application of manure over injection, starting in 2016, and for the Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union [nl] starting in 2017.[1][2] NRC noted that her opinion pieces for De Boerin shifted focus from agricultural life to include political viewpoints, criticizing national agricultural policy. She said that experts were circulating one-sided information to cast livestock farmers in a negative light, and she stated that organizations such as Wakker Dier and Natuurmonumenten were spreading propaganda. Wiersma left the Vereniging Behoud Boer & Milieu and the Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union in 2020 and 2021, respectively.[2]

Politics

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NRC reported that Wiersma previously voted for the Labour Party and moved towards the political right while a care consultant, believing that the system of benefits was being abused.[2] When the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) was founded in 2019, Wiersma became a board member.[1] She participated in the 2021 general election as the BBB's second candidate, behind party leader Caroline van der Plas. Wiersma received 25,588 preference votes, and she was not elected, as the BBB secured one seat in the House of Representatives.[3][4] Wiersma subsequently served as a staffer of the BBB's parliamentary group in the House.[3]

She helped establish the BBB's Friesland chapter starting in 2021, and she was on the ballot in the province in 2023 provincial elections, when the BBB won fourteen council seats.[1] In July 2023, the BBB presented its coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal, Christian Union, and the Frisian National Party. Wiersma joined the provincial executive and was responsible for agriculture, the Frisian Rural Area Program, and heritage.[5][6] She eliminated budgets for fair trade and LGBTQ policy, arguing they were not "core tasks" of the province, and she halted construction of nature-friendly shores against the advice of her staff. In the midst of the nitrogen crisis, she believed nitrogen emissions resulting from the construction could better be allocated to farmers left without permits after a 2019 Court of State ruling. Construction was later resumed using emissions-free equipment.[2] Wiersma suspended the province's nature and nitrogen policy in June 2024, weeks after a coalition agreement had been reached nationally by the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB.[1]

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature

[edit]

Wiersma was sworn in as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature on 2 July 2024 as part of the Schoof cabinet. The ministry was simultaneously renamed, having previously been called the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.[3][7] The Netherlands had been mandated by the European Union to stop the deterioration of nature in Natura 2000 sites by 2030, and goals with regard to nitrogen deposition had been enshrined in national legislation.[8] The coalition agreement reduced the fund allocated towards solving the nitrogen crisis from €25 billion to €5 billion.[2] In September 2024, Wiersma terminated the National Program for Rural Areas, which had been created by the fourth Rutte cabinet in response to the crisis and which tasked provinces with devising plans to improve the quality of nature and water based on a national fund. She announced that she was creating an alternative policy to tackle the crisis.[9][10]

Wiersma announced she would suspend her predecessor's promised ban on electric cattle prods during transportation. Opposition parties accused her of ignoring parliamentary directions, while coalition parties VVD and NSC considered introducing legislation to force a ban. Wiersma argued a ban violated the coalition agreement's commitment against regulations beyond those required by the European Union, but she later pivoted under pressure.[11]

Personal life

[edit]

Wiersma's first child was born in 2006.[2] In 2010, she was a participant of the Dutch version of Farmer Wants a Wife, where she met dairy farmer Gijsbert Bakhuisen from Abcoude. They were married from 2016 until 2019, and they had three more children.[3][12][13] After their divorce, she took care of her four children as a single mother.[14][15] Wiersma later moved to Holwert, where she renovated her house. As of 2024, she was in a relationship with Jord Brinkhuis, whom she had met in 2023.[2]

Electoral history

[edit]
Electoral history of Femke Wiersma
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2021 House of Representatives Farmer–Citizen Movement 2 25,588 1 Lost [4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Sie, Puck (26 June 2024). "Vechter voor het gevestigde veehoudersbelang" [Fighter for the interests of the livestock establishment]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Steketee, Hans; König, Eppo (11 October 2024). "Femke Wiersma ging altijd vol voor boerenbelangen. Kan ze ook politiek laveren?" [Femke Wiersma always fought for the interests of farmers. Can she also maneuver politics?]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Femke Wiersma van Friesland naar Den Haag om voor BBB landbouw te doen" [Femke Wiersma from Friesland to The Hague to work on agriculture for BBB]. NOS (in Dutch). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 155–156. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Kandidaat Femke Wiersma (BBB) over hoe het nu verder moet". www.omropfryslan.nl (in Dutch). 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  6. ^ "Fryslân heeft het jongste college van Gedeputeerde Staten van Nederland: dit zijn ze". www.omropfryslan.nl (in Dutch). 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  7. ^ "Ministers en staatssecretarissen kabinet-Schoof beëdigd" [Ministers and state secretaries of Schoof cabinet sworn in]. NOS (in Dutch). 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  8. ^ Uijtewaal, Rosa (10 September 2024). "Hoeveel speelruimte heeft minister Femke Wiersma in Brussel? Het schrappen van de huidige regels kan wrevel wekken" [How much room does Minister Femke Wiersma have in Brussels? Eliminating current regulations could create resentment]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  9. ^ Du Pré, Raoul (4 September 2024). "Minister Wiersma stelt het geduld van de Kamer op de proef: de stikstofstrategie is weg, maar waar blijft de nieuwe?" [Minister Wiersma tests the Houses's patience: The nitrogen strategy is gone, but when will its replacement come?]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Kabinet schrapt huidige stikstofplannen, provincies reageren verrast" [Cabinet eliminates current nitrogen plans, provinces respond surprised]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 4 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Minister Wiersma gaat 'veeprikkers' toch verbieden na druk van Kamer" [Minister Wiersma will ban electric cattle prods after all, following pressure from the House]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 25 September 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  12. ^ https://www.ad.nl/tv-en-radio/boer-gijsbert-zegt-ja-tegen-zijn-femke~a99042e6/. Retrieved 2024-06-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ https://www.ad.nl/show/bzv-boer-gijs-en-femke-krijgen-vierde-kindje~ac600c2a/. Retrieved 2024-06-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ "'Farmer Wants a Wife' contestant to become Dutch agriculture minister". POLITICO. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  15. ^ "Farmer Seeks Woman couple Gijsbert and his Frisian Femke split up". 11 June 2019.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature
2024–present 		Incumbent


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