News Manure
Important changes in fertilizer policy for arable farming
Carola Schouten, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), informed the House of Representatives on Monday 18 May by means of a Letter to Parliament informed about the current affairs regarding the manure policy. This includes important news for arable farming. For example, an obligatory green manure application after potato cultivation on sandy soil is no longer mandatory. Growers on clay must take measures against runoff.
Measures are included in the Sixth Nitrates Directive Action Program to improve the quality of surface water. One of these measures – which will come into effect from 1 January 2021 – is that measures must be taken on clay and loess soils for ridge cultivation to prevent rainwater run-off.
emergency measure
By constructing thresholds between the ridges, rainwater can be retained. This has the additional advantage that rainwater does not wash into low places and prevents field emissions. The arable farming sector fears that it will be counterproductive in the event of extreme showers. The legislation therefore allows emergency measures to be taken in the event of extreme rainfall and to drain water. The minister agrees this with the water managers, after which a provision is added.
No green manure after potatoes
There is also news for potato growers on sandy and loess soils. The obligatory sowing of a catch crop for this cultivation has been discontinued. The original plan was that a green manure should be sown by 31 October at the latest, which is not always possible with a late harvest. This created a lot of resistance from the sector, which is now being responded to. However, the nitrogen application standard for consumption and starch potatoes is lowered by 65 kilograms per hectare when cultivation on torn grassland is used.
Fertilizer tax not stimulating
The minister also discusses the subject of 'fertilizer tax', which was suggested by some MPs. Schouten commissioned Wageningen Economic Research to conduct research on this subject. The conclusion of the report is that the use of phosphate from animal manure is almost maximum in the Netherlands. There are possibilities for nitrogen, but a levy on fertilizers is considered ineffective by WEcR. One possibility is high-quality manure processing, where phosphate can be exported and the nitrogen from animal manure can be retained. Both are currently being exported. Such processing lines must be stimulated through subsidies and are not available at the moment.
Niels van der Boom
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