Fertiliser regulations threaten Belgian dairies

摘要

As part of this year's EDFE preview, we asked journalists throughout Europe for an update on the dairy industry on the Continent. We start with Steven Vale, who has been looking at a problem facing a large proportion of the dairy farmers in Belgium. Dairy farming is likely to be impossible in certain areas of Belgium next year, as zero-fertilisation regulations are being introduced in specific green areas. That is the view of Michel Halewyck who farms in the state of Flanders. He told Dairy Farmer that the restrictions apply to about 25% of of Flanders, and are designed to protect drinking water and ecologically-sensitive areas. "BasicaEy the regulations will mean that dairy farmers operating in these areas will not be able to apply artificial fertilisers or slurry to their land," he says.