Johann Huber is part of a long line of family farmers who, for over 400 years, have reared cows on the mountain slopes of Gmund am Tegernsee in Bavaria. Now, his 18 prized cows will be gracing the picturesque slopes of Bavaria sporting home-made nappies as a protest against EU nitrate laws!
Directive 1991/676/EEC, on nitrates from agricultural sources, seeks to curb water pollution caused by the run-off from farmland of nitrate coming in the main from the agricultural use of fertilisers and manure. As such, fertilisers cannot be used on slopes with a gradient of more than 15% as the dangerous substances contained in them could leach into water sources. The ban would therefore affect where manure can be left, given the risk from the nitrates in it.
Should farmers breach this law, they could lose their European agricultural subsidies, which would have a significant impact on Bavaria's mountain farmers. Now that the European Commission is taking legal action against Germany for not enforcing the Directive, Mr. Huber's response, in protest, was to place nappies on his cows to prevent the manure dropping to the ground and therefore prevent any nitrate from leaching into water sources.
The Directive does not prevent grazing on sloped land, and so whilst Mr Huber's action may be out of protest, it may actually have to be a long term solution to an environmental problem. However, as Mr Huber said, "We have no standard nappies, they have not been developed commercially yet."
