The minister agrees to have experts review nitrogen restrictions.

Økologisk Nu

After prolonged criticism from both the conventional and organic sectors, the Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen (S), is now revisiting the scientific basis behind the planned nitrogen restrictions. It is especially the criticism from vegetable growers that has prompted the minister to listen, as several have warned of closures or significant price increases if the restrictions are implemented. "We therefore ask an expert committee to look even deeper into the scientific basis of our legislation to see if solutions can be found for vegetable producers, who are currently worried about whether they will have to shut down their businesses," writes the minister in a Facebook post and continues: "We are not served by them doing so. Therefore, the parties behind the Green Tripartite have also allocated 1.2 billion in compensation to farmers. And I am basically willing to consider other solutions if necessary, once we know the final figure for how much nitrogen we need to cut in Denmark. But I will not shy away from the task of saving our marine environment." Cannot sacrifice vegetable production Sybille Kyed, the political chief of the Organic Association, also praises the minister's reaction to the criticism—and at the same time agrees that he should not deviate from his task of saving the marine environment. "But he and the government should also not kill Danish vegetable production. And Danish vegetable production should not be sacrificed because, for far too many years, we have fertilized Danish grain fields too heavily, practiced monoculture crop rotations, and have more farm animals than Denmark can support," she writes on LinkedIn and also proposes a model where the emission requirements take into account how much food the cultivated land contributes to human consumption. The new nitrogen regulation is scheduled to take effect from 2027 and aims to reduce agriculture's runoff into the water environment. The new rules hit vegetables hard because vegetable crops are assigned a high leaching per hectare in the calculation model. Seges Innovation has calculated that a grower may need to take between two and six hectares out of production for each hectare of vegetables to keep the farm within limits. Expects high prices Organic vegetable growers face an additional challenge. Many of them grow their vegetables in rotation with dairy farmers' clover grass fields—a system the Organic Association calls scientifically robust. But because the model attributes the nitrogen released when the clover grass is plowed up to the subsequent crop, the vegetable grower, according to the association, is responsible for a nitrogen pool that they did not contribute to. "With the land prices we have in Denmark, and the land rent a vegetable producer would have to pay to maintain their production, it is clear to everyone that it will become very, very expensive to have vegetable production," wrote Sybille Kyed and Richard de Visser, chairman of the Fruit, Berries, and Vegetables Committee of the Organic Association, in a recent debate article. Professor Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen from Aarhus University also believes it is sensible to revisit the bill before it is adopted. "The law seems good and reasonable to me. But when it comes to vegetable cultivation, there are some problems," Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen told TV 2.

After prolonged criticism from both the conventional and organic sectors, the Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare Christian Rabjerg Madsen (S) is now willing to revisit the scientific basis behind the announced nitrogen restrictions.

It is especially criticism from vegetable growers that has prompted the minister to listen, as several have warned of closures or significant price increases if the restrictions are implemented.

"We therefore want an expert committee to look even deeper into the scientific basis of our legislation to see if solutions can be found for vegetable producers, who are currently afraid they might have to turn the key in their businesses," writes the minister in a Facebook post and continues:

"That is not in our interest if they do. Therefore, the parties behind the Green Tripartite have also allocated 1.2 billion in compensation to farmers. And I am basically willing to consider other solutions if necessary, once we know the final figure for how much nitrogen we need to cut in Denmark. But I will not shy away from the task of saving our marine environment."

Must not sacrifice vegetable production

Sybille Kyed, who is the political chief of the Organic Association, also praises the minister's reaction to the criticism—and at the same time agrees that he should not deviate from his task of saving the marine environment.

"But he and the government should also not kill Danish vegetable production. And Danish vegetable production should not be sacrificed because, for far too many years, we have fertilized Danish grain fields too heavily, rotated crops in a monotonous way, and have more farm animals than Denmark can sustain," she writes on LinkedIn and also proposes a model where, in their emission requirements, they take into account how much food for humans the cultivated land contributes.

The new nitrogen regulation is scheduled to take effect from 2027 and aims to reduce agriculture's runoff into the water environment.

The new rules hit vegetables hard because vegetable crops are assigned a high leaching per hectare in the calculation model. Seges Innovation has calculated that a grower may need to take between two and six hectares out of production for each hectare of vegetables to keep the farm within the limits.

Expect high prices

Organic vegetable growers face an additional challenge. Many of them grow their vegetables in rotation with clover grass fields of dairy producers—a system that the Organic Association calls scientifically robust. But because the model attributes the nitrogen released when the clover grass is plowed up to the subsequent crop, the vegetable grower, according to the association, is responsible for a nitrogen pool that they have not personally contributed to.

"With the land prices we have in Denmark, and the land rent a vegetable producer would have to pay to maintain their production, it becomes clear to everyone that it will be really, really expensive to have a vegetable production," wrote Sybille Kyed and Richard de Visser, who is the chairman of the Fruit, Berries, and Vegetables Committee in the Organic Association, in a recent debate article.

Professor Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen from Aarhus University also believes it is sensible to revisit the bill before it is adopted.

"The law seems to me to be good and reasonable. But when it comes to vegetable cultivation, there are some problems," says Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen to TV 2.