The protests organized by farmers in Romania in the first part of 2024 signal the emergence of a new economic and political cleavage in national politics. Modelled and inspired by similar protests in Western Europe, they have proved to be disruptive to the policy coordination system between large agricultural businesses and the Government and the public agenda. The claims put forward by the farmers were a mix of protectionist and fiscal measures, both at the national and EU level, aimed at shielding them against market fluctuations and revenue losses. The protests also had electoral dimensions, as the far-right parties and groups echoed and inflated the events. The paper uses the framework of Critical Agrarian Studies to highlight the political economy of farming in CEE and Romania and explain the pattern of farmer mobilization in the country. By interpreting the farmer's list of claims, actions and media discourse, we aim to put forward a mobilization model highlighting the interaction between economic agrarian setting, the contentious forms of farmer actions, and its politicization at the national and EU level.