Every day, many farmers all over Denmark have to drive to their fields that are far away from the farm and can be spread over large areas. A new ordinance will make it easier for farmers to swap land and at the same time to get subsidies for transaction costs. On September 1, a new pool for vocational land allocation opens, with a total of DKK 10 million kroner for the voluntary exchange schemes.

"It is both a benefit for farmers who will drive fewer kilometers and will have a more efficient everyday life, and for other motorists on the roads when scattered fields are exchanged for lands that are closer to the farm. Now we are ready to give the farmer a financial hand, so that hopefully more people want to change land. It is a win-win situation," says Food Minister Mogens Jensen.

The pool for business-oriented land distribution is part of the Drought Package, which was adopted in the summer of 2018 by the then government, the Social Democracy, the Danish People's Party and the Radical Left.

<b>Easier everyday life for farmers</b>

The new ordinance allows farmers to apply for grants, which cover transaction costs when entering a land distribution. Grants can be applied for when five or more farmers join and redistribute an area of ​​at least 100 acres. In addition, the land distribution should lead to a saving on driving, so that on average the driving distance to the fields is reduced by at least 750 meters.

"There are great benefits to the land being gathered in larger fields and the land getting closer to the farm. That is why the government is very concerned that land distribution must also be put into play in other ways, for example by the state intervening and buying low-lying land so that they are no longer used for production, but can instead give way to more nature," says Mogens Jensen .

An analysis from the agricultural knowledge center, SEGES, has previously shown that a farmer can save between 100 and 300 kroner per kilometer, the distance between the farm and the field is reduced every year. In total, it is expected that redistribution of over approx. 2,000 acres of land.