Farmers bring 300 tractors to Copenhagen over fertiliser law

Three hundred tractors are due to arrive in Copenhagen on Tuesday for a demonstration against a proposed fertiliser law, DR reports. More than 1,000 farmers and other participants are expected to travel to the protest by bus.

The demonstration, organised by Bæredygtigt Landbrug, will begin at 9.30am at the Christiansborg Palace Square, outside the Danish Parliament. It coincides with the Folketing’s second reading of the fertiliser law, which will regulate the use of fertiliser in agriculture and forms part of the green tripartite agreement.

Niels Hauge Mikkelsen, chairman of Bæredygtigt Landbrug, said the organisation wanted to put pressure on politicians over proposed changes to nitrogen limits.

“Several farmers and companies have now realised how serious the consequences will be. We have reached the point where we have to approach politicians and ask: Are you ready to take responsibility for this decision, because it will be huge?” he said.

Bæredygtigt Landbrug says the changes would affect 65 per cent of Denmark’s cultivated land. The organisation argues that they would weaken food production, related industries and life in rural areas.

“This decision will hollow out the rural economy and destroy the basis for the lives of a great many people,” Mikkelsen said. He added that the consequences would make the mink case look like “a miniature” by comparison.

Lars Midtiby, director of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, takes the opposite view. He said reducing nitrogen emissions was essential to restoring marine life in Danish fjords and coastal waters, where widespread oxygen depletion is currently affecting many areas.

“The key to solving this is reducing agriculture’s nitrogen emissions, and that is what this legislation is intended to help do,” Midtiby said.

The vote has also caused disagreement within the agricultural sector and in the Venstre party. Several politicians are now opposing the party line and plan to vote against the fertiliser law.

Mikkelsen said he believed the demonstration could influence politicians who had begun to understand the scale of the decision. He urged them to spend a few more days considering the consequences of voting in favour.

Copenhagen Police said the demonstration would have a significant effect on morning traffic. The tractors are expected to enter the city via Folehaven and Gammel Køge Landevej at around 9am, after setting off from three locations on Zealand.

Deputy police inspector Simon Hansen urged drivers to be patient, travel carefully and monitor traffic reports. Police also advised people to consider alternative ways of travelling to the capital.