The Nitrate Story

 To tell this entire story, I'd normally need 40 pages...so I'll try to break down into bite-size pieces.

For those who've been stationed around Hahn or Bitburg Air Bases in Germany....in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s....you probably noticed a particular smell.  Farmers in the local region used cattle manure in a spray-like formula on their crop land....to get maximum potential out of the 'asset'.  Liquid fertiziler.....so to speak.

The smell, it lingers for hours, and I can still remember having the windows in the house closed.

So, here is the thing....after decades of research....there's no argument that the nitrate (if sprayed enough)....gets into the water supply.  

Eventually, in the 1990s....the EU stepped up its research and started to review regulations.  

The idea was....you'd write a regulation to prevent water contamination.  The more they got into this.....the more it appeared to be a harsh reality for European farmers.  

Presently, a couple of countries are now leaning toward farm 'closures'....meaning they figured out the numbers and just said that x-number of farms can operate....x-number of farms will 'close down'.

The time involved?  In the Netherlands....2026 is the drop-dead date.  The view?  The government will offer some fair amount of money, and force the shutdown or closure of the farms.

This coming to Germany?  More than likely.

Consequences?  No one has really talked to consumers, and journalists have done everything possible in avoiding the discussion.  That's the funny part of the action going on.  

At some point....probably within 5 years, you will walk into a grocery store to find some portion of the local  produce (meat, cheese, milk, fruit and vegetables) aren't there.  You will notice pricing escalated....probably in steps of 5-percent here and there, with that doubling every couple of years.  Well known Dutch cheese brands?  They won't be able to produce at the same levels....unless they use non-Dutch milk.

The same thing will occur in Germany.

The nitrate threat?  Well....European farmers weren't stupid.....they wised up in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.....they produced more, with the aid of fertilizer (nitrate).  They had a great business plan and with modern technology....could run a simple farm operation, with massive profits.....with nitrate as the chief gimmick.  You could have 200 head of dairy cattle.....easily growing the feed or hay required off your property (with nitrate), and finances made sense.  Without the nitrate gimmick.....you can't sustain the herd, and a new reality is approaching.

What'll happen by 2030?  I think a number of Dutch, French and German farmers will have left....going east.  They will find eastern European countries that refuse to really get into worry over nitrate.  German grocery stores?  They will start to notice more and more non-German labels on the products they desire.  Cost will escalate, and some idiot politician will remark in public one day....it's just odd that Germany now produces thirty-percent less agricultural products....as it did in the 1980s.  

Trying to produce in a bio-friendly way, without the nitrate?  Well....you can do it....but you just won't be able to produce as much.  You will eventually (maybe 20 years down the road) pay twice what you pay today....for a cart of grocery items.