News manure
Spreading season on grassland extended by two weeks
The spreading season for liquid manure on grassland will be extended by two weeks this season until September 15. Minister Femke Wiersma of LVVN announced this today in a letter to the House of Representatives. The decision was made based on advice from an expert committee, which concluded that this two-week extension has a 'slight increasing effect' on leaching.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) indicates in her letter that various organizations from the agricultural sector have asked her to extend the spreading period for animal manure. Due to the extremely wet weather conditions in both 2023 and 2024, livestock farmers and growers did not always have the opportunity to place animal manure within the user area in a timely manner. By extending the spreading period, this offers additional opportunities to use up that usable space, which prevents the use of additional fertilizer and additional animal manure is offered on the fertilizer market again.
The spreading periods can be changed if there are 'extreme weather conditions in combination with an agricultural necessity'. When making a change, the risk of soil contamination must also be taken into account. The former appears to be the case according to data from the KNMI, Wiersma writes. "In the months of February, April and May 2024, on average, twice as much precipitation fell over the country as the long-term average over 1991-2020 for these months. Even in the months that were relatively dry, especially March, there were days with extremely high rainfall." Accessibility on the land was therefore difficult throughout the spring.
Growing season shifts later in the year
An expert committee, consisting of scientists in the field of water quality, plant growth, the KNMI and representatives from the sector parties, assessed the risk of additional leaching and to what extent an extension of the spreading season was really necessary. They indicated in the advice that a shift from August 31 to September 15 'could possibly have a small increasing effect on leaching'. Due to the wet conditions, the amount of mineral nitrogen in the soil will not be that high and fertilization will probably still result in nitrogen uptake by the crops after August 31. This committee also notes that the growing seasons are shifting to later in the year due to the changing climate. Crops therefore continue to grow later in the year and therefore absorb nitrogen for longer.
Jesse Torringa
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