Cow nappies? Udder nonsense! Bavarian farmer puts diapers on his animals to …

German farmer has created ‘nappies’ for cows to protest against EU rules
New rules say use of fertilisers is prohibited on hillsides with gradient of 15%
Bavarian farmers’ association fears it effectively stops workers grazing cows
Johann Huber has made cloth ‘nappies’ so his 18 cows don’t fall foul of ban

Richard Marsden for the Daily Mail

Published:
01:47 GMT, 9 October 2014

|
Updated:
01:48 GMT, 9 October 2014

View
comments

Angry farmers have hit out against European Union rules which they claim will force cows to wear nappies.

Under an EU nitrates directive, the use of fertilisers is being prohibited on hillsides with gradients of more than 15 per cent.

The Bavarian farmers’ association fears the new rules effectively ban them from grazing cows on the slopes – because their cow pats might be construed as fertilising.

German Farmer Johann Huber has created homemade nappies for his cows in protest to the new EU rules

The Upper-Bavarian Farm President Anton Kreitmar and Petra Duehring from the Bavarian Farmer’s Union attach a diaper to Doris the cow in Gmund am Tegernsee, Germany, as part of the protest against the EU rules

Under EU rules, the use of fertilisers is being prohibited on hillsides with gradients of more than 15 per cent and farmers fear it effectively bans them from grazing cows because cow pats might be construed as fertilising

One German farmer, Johann Huber, whose family has farmed on the mountain slopes of Gmund am Tegernsee in the Alps for more than 400 years, has created homemade nappies in an unusual protest at the new rules.

He had made them from large pieces of cloth so his 18 cows don’t fall foul of the fertiliser ban.

Mr Huber said: ‘We have no standard nappies, they have not been developed commercially yet.’

Cats are better hunters than TIGERS: Domestic felines are more agile and powerful than their…

Orphaned kitten Babybel that lost her leg in a mousetrap has found a new home… and still loves…

Food fight! Hungry squirrels spotted squabbling over last piece of grain at lunch – and the…

Farmers in breach of the nitrates directive could lose their EU agricultural subsidies, worth thousands of Euros each year – while they fear that complying with the restrictions could also force many out of business.

Anton Kreitmair, farmers’ association president in Upper Bavaria, said: ‘We demand that the ban is stopped in Germany. In Bavaria no fertilisation would be possible on half the cultivated land and restrictions would be needed on cows grazing in Alpine pastures.’