Dutch prosecutors said Friday they have laid an attempted homicide charge against a police officer who shot at a tractor driven by a teenager during a protest by farmers last year.

Police and farmers clashed in July as tensions boiled over about government's proposed plans to cut nitrogen emissions - including by forcing farmers to reduce livestock numbers, and even expropriation in some cases.

Images on Dutch and social media showed how police officers at a roadblock at Heerenveen in the northern Friesland province on July 5 trying to stop a tractor before it drives past them.

At least two shots can be heard before the tractor, driven by a 16-year-old boy races off. No injuries were reported.

A bullet hole was visible on the side of the drivers' cabin following the incident.

"Based on this investigation, the Public Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute the police officer on suspicion of attempted manslaughter," it said.

The case will be heard by a special chamber of the Central Netherlands District Court, that deals with cases of police officers using force to carry out their duties, prosecutors said in a statement.

A hearing date has not been set yet.

Although Dutch police are armed with 9mm pistols, these are seldom drawn and used.

Prosecutors also warned that a picture and the name of a police officer, circulating on online media, was wrongly being used.

"This man is not a suspect in the case," prosecutors said.  

Last month, a political party backing the farmers' protest won a massive victory in key provincial elections, throwing the government's environmental policies into doubt.

The upstart Farmer-Citizen Movement (BoerBurgerBeweging), set up only four years ago, won the majority of seats in the Dutch Senate on the back of the farmers' protests.

The Dutch protests garnered global attention and reaped international support, including from former US president Donald Trump and a host of far-right figures.