Danish agriculture and food organization Landbrug & Fødevarer called farmers to a large meeting in Odense on Monday, August 31, over the government’s agricultural policy and a new nitrogen regulation.
DR is covering the gathering in a live blog that opened at 7 a.m. local time. According to DR, Landbrug & Fødevarer summoned the meeting to discuss the consequences of the government’s policy in the agricultural area. The broadcaster states that farmers are dissatisfied above all with a new nitrogen regulation.
The event is being held under the title Stormøde, Virkeligheden kalder, which translates as Mass Meeting, Reality Is Calling. It takes place at Odense Congress Center, in the city of Odense on the island of Funen. Landbrug & Fødevarer is the trade and interest organization for Danish farming and the food industry.
The organization has not, in DR’s account, set out the format of the meeting beyond its stated purpose. DR describes the gathering as a stormøde, the Danish term for a large open meeting called at short notice or on a single pressing issue. The broadcaster says it will follow the proceedings as they happen.
The nitrogen dispute
The grievance named by DR is the new nitrogen regulation, which sets limits on how much nitrogen farmers may apply to their fields. Nitrogen leaching from farmland into Danish coastal waters has been at the center of the dispute between the sector and the government.
The rules have been the subject of repeated demonstrations by Danish farmers. Earlier nitrogen rules and the fertilizer law drew organized opposition from the sector before Monday’s meeting in Odense.
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Nitrogen limits affect how much fertilizer can be spread per hectare, which in turn affects crop yields. That link between regulation and output is the reason the sector has pointed to the rules as an economic issue rather than only an environmental one.
DR has not reported which government ministers or politicians, if any, are attending the Odense meeting. Nor has the broadcaster reported any decisions taken by Landbrug & Fødevarer at the time its live blog opened.
Odense Congress Center is one of the larger conference venues in Denmark and is regularly used for sector-wide gatherings. DR has not given an attendance figure for Monday’s meeting.
The live coverage from DR is continuing through the day. Further details on what was said in Odense, and on any next steps announced by Landbrug & Fødevarer, are expected to come from that coverage.
