'Manure spreading has largely already happened'

At the last minute there was an extension of the spreading season for manure. The Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union (NMV) has mixed feelings. It is positive that the extension has come about, but at the same time the union sees that most of the spreading has already happened. The extension came too late.

"Given the extreme weather conditions of this summer, it could be concluded early on that good agricultural practice would require an extension of this term." This concerns the period in which manure can be spread. It was a reason for the NMV to request an extension of 6 weeks at an early stage, so that the sector would have sufficient time to switch.

A lot has already happened in practice
Almost 1 week before the end of the exit season for manure on grassland, the extension came after all. The reason that it took quite a while before the extension came was because Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) wanted to act carefully.

However, the union has doubts about the minister's careful conduct. "Talking about acting carefully stands in the way of actually acting carefully. Acting is what happens in practice: spreading manure by the farmers themselves. This has already largely happened due to the lack of clarity."

Water quality under pressure
Harm Wiegersma, chairman of the NMV, emphasizes that it is about water quality and that is under pressure. This is a direct result of more pleasure craft and a lesser flow, which means that the load (due to sewage treatment) is great." Placing manure on the land under ideal conditions prevents further pressure. However, that has not been the case now.

"Due to a lack of clarity, the farmers have started spreading manure in recent weeks, because they need space in the manure cellar before the season ends." Wiegersma states that the cellars were fuller than normal, because the cows were put in stables (due to a lack of feed in the country).

Also, due to the drought, manure could not be spread. "This is while the soils and soil life must first be given the opportunity to recover from the drought, because otherwise there is a great chance of leaching and runoff."

Damage compensation
Not only are there reservations about the late extension, but the NMV also states that an extension of 2 weeks is too short for sandy and loess soils. "It is precisely there that a lot of drought damage occurred last summer." Subsequently, the NMV hopes that the quik scan will continue the WUR is a harbinger of possible damage compensation.

Herman van den Pol

Herma van den Pol has been with us since 2011 Boerenbusiness and has developed over the years into a market expert Milk & Feed. In addition, she can be seen weekly in the market flash about the dairy market.

h.vandenpol@boerenbusiness. Nl

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