News nitrogen
Belgium does open the door for later sowing catch crop
In contrast to the Netherlands, the door in Flanders is ajar with the sowing date of catch crops. Environment Minister Zuhal Demir indicates that she will take her responsibility this season as soon as the weather conditions are of such an influence that timely sowing is impossible.
The sowing and planting of crops was delayed due to the wet and relatively cold spring, which is a concern for arable farmers. They see that the harvest is also later as a result, which jeopardizes the latest sowing date of catch crops on certain soils. The manure legislation (MAP6) in Flanders requires that catch crops be sown no later than September 15 to prevent leaching of nutrients, which may therefore not be possible. Member of Parliament Stefaan Sintobin therefore denounced this problem and asked Demir if she could possibly adjust the time of sowing.
Flemish minister less rigid
Contrary to Agriculture Minister Piet Adema, who this week does not allow any exceptions for the latest harvest date of consumption potatoes and closes the door, Demir does indicate that there are options if necessary: "I will take my responsibility if the weather conditions are so extreme that timely sowing is impossible. I will evaluate this in the coming months, I cannot anticipate this yet."
Sowing a latest date for catch crops and that for the potato harvest are not entirely proportional to each other, but the Flemish minister seems to be better able to understand than Adema that nature has a major influence and that earlier harvesting does not affect the quality of the product. good comes. "The time of harvest also plays a role. The dry matter content of fodder crops, for example, is influenced by the time of harvest and can be important for optimal crop storage," she explains in response to Sintobin's question.
Demir does defend calendar agriculture and the MAP6 plan to preserve and protect water quality. "Early sowing of catch crops is essential to absorb the residual nitrogen after harvesting and prevent it from leaching into surface and groundwater."
It is not the first time that the Flemish minister has taken a lenient attitude towards later sowing of catch crops. Last summer, the final sowing date of September 15 was moved to September 30 because the soil was hardly workable due to extremely dry weather conditions. A derogation was also granted in the summer of 2021. This time the soil was too saturated to work properly, so the sowing date was also moved back by two weeks to September 30.
Jesse Torringa
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