Inside: Manure Market
How much fertilizer space is the Netherlands missing out on?
Manure, and more specifically phosphate, put livestock farming in checkmate in 2015. The Dutch phosphate ceiling and the sector ceilings were breached, but what if the Netherlands had been smart enough to ensure, following the Flemish example, that exported manure could have been deducted from the balance. The good news phosphate exports rose to a record high in 2016.
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Choose the subscription that suits youRecently, the question has been increasingly asked how things could have gone so wrong in dairy farming, but phosphate also causes stress among pig and poultry farmers. This concerns the POR scheme, which is not certain that it will be maintained. On March 1, the GVE scheme came into effect for dairy farmers, part of a plan to reduce phosphate production below the ceiling by 2017.
The facts in a nutshell. CBS records a total phosphate production of 2015 million kg for 180,1. A significant excess of the total ceiling of 172,9 million kg of phosphate, production in 2002. Part of the Water Framework Directive, on which the derogation for the broader use standards of nitrogen in dairy farming is based. Without it it amounts to 170 kg per hectare, with it it increases to 230 or 250 kilograms of nitrogen.
In 2016, phosphate production dropped slightly again to reach 177 million kg. Still an excess of 2,4 percent. But then the unwanted truth. The export of phosphate has shown an increase since at least 2012, according to the overview of animal manure transport tickets (VDM). In 2016, phosphate exports even increased to 41,47 million kg. Which means that only 135,53 million kg found its way into Dutch fields. The rising trend in exports suggests that more and more phosphate is disappearing from the Netherlands.
Almost every type of manure benefits from the export of manure, only less poultry phosphate crossed the border. If 2015 million kg of this could have been sold in 9,1, in 2016 this was only 8,9 million kg. Slightly less went to Germany and the other destinations failed. If phosphate exports are removed from production, 19,3 million kg remains, well below the ceiling of 27,4 million kg.
32
million
Pig phosphate also performs well across the border. Sales of this increased to 7 million kg. An increase of 12 percent compared to 2015. France in particular purchased more pig phosphate. It puts the total balance of pig phosphate at 32 million kg. The sector ceiling is 39,7 million kg and the sector exceeded this in terms of production in 2015 by 40,1 million kg. However, it was not the volume of phosphate that remained in the Netherlands and therefore it had no consequences for water management.
Only dairy farming cannot survive purely on the basis of exports. Because cattle manure contains less phosphate, it is not suitable for this, but is better suited to an arable farm. Yet there too, sales of phosphate across the border grew to 1,96 million kg. Subtract that from the production of 93 million kg in 2016 and 91 million kg remains. Still well above the 84,9 million kg ceiling, but here too every little bit helps.
The most important category in manure exports consists of 22,08 million kg of slurry and various manure. Including the digestate. This is immediately the category that shows the greatest growth.
All in all, many problems could have been avoided by removing the export ceiling. Which makes sense from a technical point of view because it has no effect on Dutch groundwater. As long as this does not happen, there is no reason to encourage more exports or give new impetus to processing. In 2017, livestock farming will shrink and with it the supply of raw materials for phosphate exports.
