Danish farmers protest fertiliser law with tractors

More than 1,000 farmers with about 200 tractors demonstrated outside Denmark’s parliament on Tuesday against planned legislation regulating fertiliser use, agricultural emissions and arable land.

The bill aims to regulate fertiliser runoff and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and forestry. If adopted, farmers from 2027 would receive an emissions quota based on the nitrogen reductions needed in their watershed and would have to convert part of their land into natural areas.

The government announced a one-year exemption for vegetable producers from the planned quota system. The Danish Association for Organic Agriculture said that, under the proposal, a farmer cultivating one hectare of vegetables would have to leave between two and six hectares of land bare.

The proposal is backed by a majority of Denmark’s political class but has divided the Liberal Party, which has traditionally been close to the agricultural sector. Five of the party’s 18 MPs have said they will reject the party line and vote against the bill in parliament on Thursday.

Lene Otte, a 63-year-old farmer who travelled to Copenhagen from southern Denmark, said farmers felt their profession was being destroyed and that there was no longer understanding or support for maintaining agriculture in Denmark.

Niels Mikkelsen, president of the Sustainable Agriculture association, which co-organised the demonstration, said the proposed fertilisation law tightened already ambitious targets and would force farmers to give up a large part of the profession.

The bill is part of a wider green initiative that will introduce a carbon tax on livestock from 2030. Denmark is a major exporter of dairy and pork, and 61 percent of its land area is under cultivation, according to the Danish statistics agency.

Scientists have warned that nitrogen from agriculture is harming plants and animals. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency says about 17 percent of mainland Denmark is affected by water deoxygenation, which causes marine fauna and flora to disappear. Researchers estimate that an annual reduction of 14,800 tonnes of nitrogen, or about one-third of overall nitrogen emissions, would be needed to restore good water quality.