ROME – Farmers were blocking Rome’s ring road on Friday, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., a spokesperson for Riscatto Agricolo said. At least 500 tractors showed up to protest.

 The spokesperson, Salvatore Fais, said that they confirmed all procedures with the police headquarters.

 He said that it will be this evening because the protests would cause “too much confusion during the day.” Four tractors representing the group are also expected to enter Rome “without causing inconvenience” and will try to ask for a meeting with the Minster of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida.

 Other farmer groups have been protesting in Rome since Thursday, carrying signs saying, “no farmers, no food.” A spokesperson for this group said a bigger demonstration will take place on Feb. 15.

 Meanwhile, as the Sanremo Music Festival draws to a close, 50 farmers arrived in the Ligurian town. Broadcaster Rai have reached a bargain with them which saw the host, Amadeus, read a statement from the farmers on stage on Friday evening. However, some farmers are not happy with the bargain and are threatening to bring all the tractors from “Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria” into Sanremo.

 These are just two of the places that have been affected by the farmers' protests which have been sweeping across Italy and the rest of Europe in the past month. 

 Politicians have began pointing fingers at each other, with Lega blaming Fratelli d’Italia. Meloni’s party have filed an amendment to the Milleproroghe (the annual decree that extends various government measures) that would see the agricultural vehicles be exempt from insurance for another six months. The insurance requirement is one of the reasons the Italian farmers are protesting. Farmers are also protesting the lack of regulation of imports from outside the EU and the price of their products. 

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