Vegetable growers welcome delay but remain unable to plan

Danish vegetable growers have been given an additional year before new nitrogen rules take effect, but they say the delay has not resolved the uncertainty facing their businesses, DR reports.

The rules are intended in part to reduce oxygen depletion in Danish fjords. Several growers have warned in recent weeks that large parts of their production could be threatened because they may be forced to expand their cultivated areas and leave many fields unused.

The new rules will now apply to vegetable growers from January 2028.

For Amy Rasmussen, who runs the organic farm Kiselgården, the delay provides some room to work but does not fundamentally change the challenge.

“We have something to work with now. But we have not been exempted. It has been postponed for one year. There is a huge difference. We still do not know what will happen from January 2028,” she said.

Rasmussen said the delay followed her call for the minister to ease concerns. She is now waiting to see the findings of an expert group that will examine the evidence on nitrogen leaching from the cultivation of vegetables and potatoes.

The analysis could lead to adjustments to the rules for vegetable growers. Rasmussen said, however, that the uncertainty still prevents new investments over the coming year.

“We are still at a standstill. We cannot make new investments in the next year or so. But now we have something to work with. And we must remember that. Now the really hard work begins,” she said.

On Northern Funen, 38-year-old onion grower Valdemar Clausen said the delay offered hope. He had feared that rising costs under the new rules would force him to stop producing onions.

“Someone has heard us, and that is great. It gives us the opportunity to examine the evidence and hopefully develop a plan so that we do not have to shut down vegetable production,” he said.

Clausen described himself as a cautious optimist. He said he wanted to work with Aarhus University to find a solution, but feared that one year might not be enough.

“This only means that we will plant our vegetables in the spring, but it gives us no opportunity to make a long-term investment. If you want to farm your fields in an environmentally responsible way, you typically make a plan five or 10 years ahead, and we cannot do that,” he said.

On Samsø, vegetable grower Jens Kjeldahl also welcomed the postponement cautiously. He said he was grateful that growers had been heard because it would provide time to launch proper studies and establish a stronger evidence base in cooperation with universities and other advisers.

Kjeldahl nevertheless remains critical of the principle behind the new nitrogen rules. He said the rules impose a centrally controlled and detailed distribution of which growers will be affected.

“It is commendable that vegetables are exempted in 2027, but they account for only 0.3 or 0.4 per cent of Denmark’s total cultivated area. The remaining area will be regulated in many places. This will have fatal consequences for individual local communities,” he said.