News Manure application
Slip foot injector stays, regulations don't
The 'drag foot ban' is a hot topic for dairy and contracting companies on clay and peat soil. Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten made clear on Tuesday 19 December in a letter to Parliament about the exact consequences of the ban. The injector will also remain after 1 January 2019, but the regulations will change.
The trailing foot ban on grassland (peat and clay soil) is a file that has been dragging on for years. At the beginning of 2018, the ban was again postponed by 1 year, until January 1, 2019. Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) was clear: "No further delay is desired." She is now working out what consequences this has.
Foot drop ban does not prohibit foot drop
"The trailing foot ban is not so much about a ban on the use of the trailing foot injector", writes Schouten. "It applies to the use of slurry or sewage sludge between grass in strips. The ammonia emission is considerably higher than injecting into trenches with a trench coulter injector."
According to Schouten, there are 2 alternatives that will comply with the new rules as of 2019. The first is the 'pulse track injector'. This brings the manure into pits on the land. If the manure does not come out of the hole, it is used with a low-emission rate. This is easily controllable.
Add water
Adding water also reduces emissions. This method is also recognized as a permitted measure. Although this is not easy to check and it requires technical assurance, in order to demonstrate that sufficient water has been used for the fertilizer application. This (digital) equipment is now barely present on the market. Manufacturers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, because the technology must meet requirements that have not been drawn up by the ministry.
In his own words, the minister intends to include both alternatives in a ministerial regulation, so that they can be applied from 2019. Securing the dilution of the manure with water is then not practical. That is why Schouten 'tolerated' an alternative. In 2019 and 2020, the farmer must carry out this check himself. "It must be possible to demonstrate that when slurry was used, water was applied in the ratio of 1 part water and 2 parts manure."
Postponement of 2 years
She cannot yet say when the technical assurance requirements will be ready. After they have been worked out, they must first be submitted to the European Commission. This procedure takes at least 3 months. The deadline is therefore set to January 1, 2021: then a trailing foot injector may only work with digital equipment. The aim is to draw up the requirements in 2019 in the context of the Reinforced Manure Enforcement Strategy.
The amendments to the Decree Implementing the Fertilizers Act are published in the Government Gazette. This also takes a while. The existing low-emission application techniques are also described here, with the exception of the trailing foot injector. The low-emission manure application will be ministerially regulated after the amendment decree.
Monitor emissions
Schouten further writes that the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) will be informed of the enforcement plan for 2019. According to her, water dilution is used more often in practice, with good results. Ammonia emissions are reduced and the usability of nitrogen increases. Drought damage is also less likely to occur. A monitoring plan must monitor whether the expected emission reduction is achieved. If this proves to be insufficient, alternatives will be considered.
Niels van der Boom
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