Denmark has announced their plans to unroll a new tax on farmers for cow, pig, and chicken farts to meet climate change targets.
Beginning in 2030, Denmark will officially be the first country to tax farmers for the bowel movements of livestock with the hopes of changing the weather.
This will result in all farmers being forced to pay 300 kroner (roughly 43 US dollars) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent released by livestock. Adjusted after the country’s proposed temporary tax deductions, however, this will initially be slightly lower at 120 kroner ($17.3) in 2030 before increasing to the 300 kroner rate ($43) by 2035.
Either way, the tax represents a significant cost to Danish farmers, with the expected costs likely representing several thousands of dollars in additional monthly expenses.
“We will take a big step closer in becoming climate neutral in 2045,” Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus said following the announcement, adding Denmark “will be the first country in the world to introduce a real CO2 tax on agriculture”.
He further stated that he hopes others will follow Denmark’s lead in taxing farmers for the natural gases emitted by livestock.
Not the first country to propose a gas tax on livestock and unlikely the last
Denmark isn’t the first country to try to tax farmers for livestock gases. New Zealand’s Jacinda Adern, who abruptly resigned towards the end of her nation’s brutal COVID lockdowns, tried to bring the same policy in for 2025.
However, due to the change in administration and intense farmer protests, the government was forced to reverse course.
A number of other countries, including Germany, Ireland, Canada, and the US, have also postulated bringing in similar policies but have been unable to garner significant public support to actually go through with it.
However, should Denmark succeed in rolling out their cow fart tax, many climate-obsessed countries may soon follow.
