Farmer protests about falling prices have been taking place right across the EU over recent months.

Monday’s special Farm Council was arranged weeks in advance and that gave EU farm organisations plenty of time to organise a large-scale protest outside the EU Commission headquarters.

Many officials in Commissioner Hogan’s DG Agri section would have been quietly hoping for a large protest to strengthen their case for crisis funding for their sector. They were presumably pleased at the turnout estimated at 6,000 farmers and 2,000 tractors.

Presumably also happy with it were Belgian police who will receive plenty of overtime payments around the Monday event.

When I arrived in Brussels on Friday evening, in advance of the protests, there was already a big presence of police sitting the night out in vans and there were wire barricades placed across the streets to block access to the European Commission headquarters. By 10am on Monday, the protesting farmers had arrived and driven up to the police barricades. They spent the first hour or two blowing the horns on all tractors, making a big racket.

The anger of these farmers was visible and real. It was anger at seeing prices fall, cashflow dry up and 2015 incomes disappear.

But the police they were facing were a tough lot. They were carrying pistols, truncheons, handcuffs and riot shields. They wore full protective gear including helmets. In their vans they had tear gas and gas masks.

They were muscled up by about half a dozen heavy armoured vehicles fitted with water cannon. Hoses from street mains supplied water. In the background were some heavily armed soldiers.

By noon, the protesting farmers had lit fires using straw and tyres. The sound of horns was replaced by bangers and other fireworks, some thrown towards the police lines.

Protesters began making attempts to push through the wire barricades in order to get closer to the European Commission buildings.

Attempts were made using tractors to knock and pull down the barricades. The police responded using the water cannon.

By mid-afternoon, groups of farmers were throwing bottles, sticks and placards at the police. They began tearing up paving stones and bricks and throwing them. The police responded with tear gas as well as water cannon.