Manure disposal to arable farming is operating at full capacity due to dry weather, but transport and processing costs are maintaining price pressure. At the same time, demand is increasing rapidly. Read more about manure collection fees.
The limits of what is still acceptable regarding manure spreading on wheat are being tested. "Normally, if they think the first knot is loose, the farmer doesn't want to use a drag hose on the wheat anymore. Now some are saying: As long as the second knot isn't in, you can drive," according to an insider. A moderate grain price and a nice compensation for manure are having an effect. Some arable farmers are in a hurry to spread slurry on the wheat. Earning the last euro isn't the most important thing, as long as the contractor comes today or tomorrow.
Capacity, particularly in transport, is the biggest bottleneck. The sections near the livestock farmer or the basin have already been largely completed. If you have to drive a bit further, you quickly need extra vehicles, and these are not easy to obtain. Naturally, there are significant regional differences in this regard.
Quite a bit of slurry has been spread for beets or onions in the clay areas. In other years, that is usually different. Price makes the big difference, and in that sense, the expensive synthetic fertilizer for animal manure is not unfavorable. It is also busy spreading manure for the potatoes, insiders report. "Some customers think there will be no more dry days," says a contractor.
Supply remains large
All in all, a lot of work has simply been done this week. In the south of the country, you can feel that things are starting to ease up a bit. Livestock farmers are quite firm about what they are willing to pay, while arable farmers are slightly more accommodating when it comes to money. Especially in the north, there are livestock farmers who waited to dispose of the manure in the hope that prices would drop a little further this spring, but who are now calling to say that the manure simply has to be disposed of. It is simply not possible to fit all of that in within a short timeframe.
Another factor influencing the decision to dispose of the manure now is that in arable farming, a significant amount of animal manure is factored in for the spring. Now that the weather is reasonably cooperative, the capacity for animal manure is already largely utilized, leaving less room to apply it to the stubble in the autumn.
The DCA collection fee for pig manure remains largely unchanged. Processing still determines the minimum price for manure to some extent, in a sense. Cattle manure shows a decline in the south. The lower end of the range remains fairly stable. It is mainly the upward outliers that are decreasing.