The government will increase fines fivefold for farmers to discourage plowing on frozen ground.

In Denmark, it is forbidden to spread manure on frozen ground. When the ground is frozen, nutrients cannot penetrate the soil and risk instead running off into waterways and fjords, where they can contaminate the water environment, cause oxygen depletion, and harm wildlife.

Nevertheless, the first months of the year saw examples where farmers chose to drive out onto the fields and spread manure, even when the ground was frozen. And this is completely unacceptable, asserts minister for green agriculture Jeppe Bruus (S).

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> It should be more expensive to receive a fine for spreading manure on a frozen

> field, than the costs associated with storing the manure.

> Jeppe Bruus, minister for green agriculture

- One does not need to be an expert to calculate that the manure seeps directly into drains, rivers, and water, and everything we with the green agriculture ministry work to prevent - namely that too much nitrogen is released, says he.

In an attempt to address the problem, the minister therefore proposes increasing the fine for spreading manure on frozen, waterlogged, flooded, or snow-covered fields to 50,000 kroner.

- This is more than a fivefold increase of the current fine level, so it is a significant tightening. And it is simply because it should be more expensive to receive a fine for spreading manure on a frozen field, than the costs associated with storing the manure. That is what has been skewed until now. Says Jeppe Bruus.

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Criticism of fine levels

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After several cases ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/landmaend-spreder-gylle-paa-frosne-marker-en-meget-uheldig-og-ulovlig ) in places such as Southern and Southern Jutland, the Board of Green Land Use and Water Management, with the help of the Attorney General, has examined the fine levels. The conclusion is that most fines today range between 10,000 and 20,000 kroner, which, according to the ministry, in practice can make it more profitable to break the law than to invest in larger storage capacity.

Although authorities do not know the full extent of the problem, Jeppe Bruus underscores that it is only a few farmers who spread manure illegally.

- It doesn't change the fact that it is completely unacceptable, he says.

At the agricultural organization Spiras, the proposal meets opposition. Department head for crop production Carsten Clausen Kock believes that the fine level is set too high.

- If it generally is 50,000 kroner, I would be very concerned. For even though one should not grade a law violation, I think it is something of an overreach if even a small violation with a few cubic meters of manure is sanctioned with 50,000 kroner, he says.

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> We can all understand that it can run where it shouldn't. But it just shouldn't.

> Karen Kjær, farmer

On the other hand, farmer Karen Kjær from Ribe sees the high fines positively.

- I don't think one should have the right to spread manure on frozen ground. We can all understand that it can run where it shouldn't. But it just shouldn't, she says.

She points out, however, that the rules become more complicated when it comes to waterlogged soil, as they can come into conflict with the need to keep crops alive. For example, rapeseed, which is sown in the fall, needs fertilizer to survive the winter. Without nutrients, the crops risk dying.

Read also: Frost weather has sent police to farmers who spread manure ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/landmaend-spreder-gylle-paa-frosne-marker-en-meget-uheldig-og-ulovlig )

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Desire for focus on storage capacity

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At the Danish Angling Association, one is satisfied with the significant increase in the fine. Illegal discharge of manure is, after all, a direct source of oxygen depletion and fish death.

But it is not enough, asserts chairman Torben Kaas. He wants more focus on how much manure farmers have storage capacity for.

- When farmers do this, it is out of sheer necessity. It is because they do not have room for more manure. So one could demand that they simply have room for more manure, he says.

Torben Kaas also points out that the rules for when manure can be spread are too lenient.

- Today, one can spread manure out onto the fields already from the 1st of February, and that is too early, he says.

According to the current rules, farmers can spread manure from the 1st of February, as long as the ground is expected to dry out during the day.

The government's proposal for a tightened fine sends it to a hearing at the end of the month and is expected to come into force on the 1st of January 2027.

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