New rules to save our water environment may cripple Danish cabbage production

Danish cabbage growers face production cuts under new nitrogen regulations set to take effect at the start of 2027, industry figures warn.

Producers say the rules, drafted by the Green Tripartite agreement, will impose field-specific nitrogen limits that could make large-scale Danish cauliflower and cabbage farming unviable. The limits are expected to be finalised in September, but interim figures already suggest growers may have to reduce output or exit the sector entirely.

Nicolai Klausen, owner of Birkemosegaard on Funen, which cultivates around 200 hectares of cabbage, said the proposed limits would force a contraction in production.

“Our fear is that we will have to scale back and see a decline in output,” Klausen said while standing in a field of near-harvest cauliflower.

The new nitrogen caps apply regardless of crop type, meaning vegetable growers face stricter limits than cereal producers. Vegetables are harvested before full maturity, leaving more residual nitrogen in the soil compared with fully grown cereals such as spring barley. Klausen estimated that his cauliflower fields would leach three and a half times more nitrogen than an equivalent area planted with spring barley.

“If we want to maintain or even expand Danish fruit and vegetable production, we need to look at what it takes,” he said. “Without the ability to apply nitrogen, we cannot produce at today’s standards.”

Ask and Amy Rasmussen, who run the organic Kiselgården farm in West Zealand, echoed the concern. They said political ambitions to increase domestic vegetable output were welcome but lacked practical solutions.

“There is a lot of talk about growing more Danish vegetables, and we want to do that,” Amy Rasmussen said in a Facebook video. “There are solutions, but not enough political ones at the moment.”

Dorrit Andersen, board member of trade group Dansk Gartneri, warned that the rules could drive more growers out of business and increase reliance on imported produce.

“In the worst case, it could mean even more growers stop producing, leaving more foreign goods on supermarket shelves,” she said.

Dansk Gartneri also criticised the lack of clarity: final nitrogen limits for individual fields will not be known until September, complicating planning for the 2027 season. The group has called for either an exemption for vegetable growers or a postponement of the new rules.

The Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare has not responded to requests for comment before deadline. A ministry spokesperson said final emission limits would be published in September once soil extraction projects in each area were accounted for.