Farmers protest new nitrogen rules as minister stands firm

About 3,000 farmers and food industry representatives are expected to attend a protest meeting in Odense on Monday, DR reported. The meeting was organised by the industry organisation Agriculture and Food Denmark to voice opposition to the government’s agricultural policy.

The main concern is a new law that would tighten limits on how much nitrogen may be discharged from fields. The law is expected to be adopted in September, but its final details will not be completed until later in the autumn.

That timing has created uncertainty for farmers, who are sowing next year’s crops without knowing the rules that will apply. Fruit and vegetable growers also fear they will be hit particularly hard financially. Some may have to buy more land to meet requirements for how much land must be set aside as fallow.

“The government is on course to make it more expensive and more difficult to produce food in Denmark. That will harm agriculture, rural areas and Denmark as a food-producing country,” Søren Søndergaard, chairman of Agriculture and Food Denmark, said in a written statement to Ritzau.

The dispute has led several agricultural representatives in local green tripartite groups to pause their work.

Christian Rabjerg Madsen, the minister for nature and animal welfare, is speaking at Monday’s meeting. He said he understood the farmers’ frustration and uncertainty, but maintained the government’s position.

“I will listen to agriculture, engage in dialogue and find solutions, but they must be within the framework that we must deliver the nitrogen reduction for agriculture that we have agreed on, both politically and with agriculture itself,” he said.

Regarding vegetable growers, the minister has asked an expert committee to double-check the professional basis for the regulations.

He said he hoped the final discharge limits and compensation would be agreed by the end of September or the beginning of October, allowing farmers to return to negotiations.