There is too much fertilization in Germany: many regions exceed the EU legal limits. Schleswig-Holstein is also one of them, with negative consequences for seas and inland waters. Nevertheless, Agriculture Minister Cornelia Schmachtenberg (CDU) wants to relax the rules. There is applause from the farmers’ association, the environmental associations are up in arms.
“There is always more possible,” he began with this sentence “Insider Day” in the village of Rendswühren. Around 500 farmers accepted an invitation from an agricultural contracting company. Agriculture Minister Cornelia Schmachtenberg (CDU) was also there, who “concreted on a burning state issue” like that Farmer’s paper reports: In the future, fertilization will also be allowed on slightly or temporarily frozen ground, said the minister. This “important signal” was “received very positively,” reports the farmers’ association newspaper.
For the environmental associations BUND and Nabu, fertilizing in frost is a no-go: “It’s like dumping manure directly into the ditch,” says Bini Schlamann, agricultural expert at the Schleswig-Holstein regional association of the German Federal Environment Agency and Nature Conservation Agency. Because if the soil cannot absorb the substances applied, the thaw or the next rain will wash them away.
Jana Ohlhoff, spokeswoman for the Kiel Ministry of Agriculture, contradicts: “Our technical recommendation only refers to slightly frozen soils that thaw completely during the day and can absorb nutrients again.” Because these must be distinguished from “permanently frozen soils”. This distinction is also used in other federal states, said the spokeswoman.
Relapse by prescription
“The approach is not new,” says Alexander Schwarzlose, state chairman of Nabu Schleswig-Holstein. An earlier version of the Fertilizer Ordinance already stipulated that soil that is still frozen in the morning and then thaws completely during the day is not considered ‘frozen’. “But the legislator has decided to reject this interpretation in order to comply with the European legal requirements for water protection.”
Bini Schlamann from BUND sees it similarly: “During the day the temperature is slightly above zero, at night it is below zero. This makes it very difficult to determine when which area is frozen and when not. Who is supposed to determine this, how can this be checked?” The question is currently clearly regulated: Even if there is not frost around the clock, the area is considered frozen. “By redefining it, you create more uncertainty and ambiguity.” Since the possible consequential damage from fertilizers during frost is so great, a stricter interpretation of the rules would make more sense. The BUND expert believes that this would also benefit farmers who try to keep entries low.
From the ministry’s point of view, it must be clear that “distribution may only take place under strict conditions” so that no harmful substances are washed into the water. “The authorities monitor the implementation of the fertilizer requirements,” says Ohlhoff.
The nationwide Fertilizer Ordinance regulates who is allowed to dump which fertilizer on the fields and when. The states issue their own regulations for specific implementation. After a court ruling in autumn 2025, there is legal uncertainty in several countries. But that doesn’t change the fact that the federal regulation still applies, says Alexander Schwarzlose from Nabu. “Soils that thaw during the day are therefore still considered frozen – the State Ministry cannot simply ignore this.”
Standards are being lowered everywhere and environmental law is being massively compromised
Bini Schlamann, BUND
Nabu Schleswig-Holstein sees this as a possible violation of the law. “We will examine this and do not rule out legal recourse,” Schwarzlose announced. In addition: “It cannot be the case that such a measure is announced at an ‘insider day’. We are no longer in the Middle Ages.” A decree with legal justification is required.
For Schlamann, the minister’s decision fits in with a series of similar initiatives. “Standards are being lowered everywhere and environmental law is being massively compromised.” Through such “unnecessary gifts to agriculture” the profits would be privatizedthe damage is borne by the general public. More than half of the groundwater bodies in Schleswig-Holstein are already contaminated with nitrates.