Around 3,000 farmers and food industry representatives gathered in Odense on Monday to protest the government’s agricultural policy. The minister for nature and animal welfare told the meeting that the government is holding its line.
DR reports that the large meeting was organized by the industry organization Landbrug & Fødevarer. It was held in Odense on Monday, with roughly 3,000 people expected. Farmers and food companies came to voice dissatisfaction with the government’s agricultural policy.
The anger centers on a new law tightening the rules for how much nitrogen may be released on fields. According to DR, the law is expected to be adopted in September. The final details will not be completed until later in the fall.
That timing creates uncertainty, because farmers sow next year’s crops without knowing the framework. Under the new requirements, several of them risk having to buy more land. The extra land would be needed to meet demands for set-aside areas.
Søren Søndergaard, chairman of Landbrug & Fødevarer, said in a written response to Ritzau that the government is making food production in Denmark more expensive and more difficult. As he stated, that would harm agriculture, rural districts and Denmark as a food producing country.
Søndergaard has also pointed to national legislation on nitrogen regulation and pesticide spraying bans. In his view, such rules risk destroying the work already done in the local green tripartite bodies.
Minister stands firm
Christian Rabjerg Madsen (S), minister for nature and animal welfare, was among the speakers at Monday’s meeting. Per DR, he arrived with the message that he understands the frustration and uncertainty among farmers. At the same time, he is keeping to the government’s line.
He said he wants to listen to the agricultural sector and find solutions through dialogue. Those solutions must stay within the framework of delivering the agreed nitrogen reduction. That reduction was agreed politically and with the sector itself, he said.
For vegetable growers, the minister has asked an expert committee to double check the technical basis behind the regulation. DR reports that final emission limits and compensation are expected in late September or early October.
The conflict has already affected the local green tripartite work. Several of agriculture’s representatives have put their participation on hold, according to DR. Rabjerg Madsen said he notes that the sector describes it as a pause.
He said he hopes the final emission limits and compensation will bring calm and certainty. That, in his words, could allow the sector to sit back down at the table, which the government needs.
