Manure sales show a sharp decline

Manure sales are lagging far behind compared to previous years, according to the quarterly figures of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl). The sale of pig and cattle manure in particular has to be spared, but manure exports to Germany have also fallen sharply.

Compared to the same period in 2017, manure sales in the first quarter of the year decreased by 14,3% to 6,4 million tons. The number of shipments decreased by a similar percentage to 203.780. Both the sale of cattle slurry (-18,2% to 2,2 million tons) and pig slurry (-19% to 2,1 million tons) decreased. The sales of poultry manure (-1,5% to 404.091 tons) are stable.

The declining manure sales correspond to the difficult start of the spreading season, as a result of the heavy rain in that period. In the meantime, sales of, in particular, pig manure a considerable backlog. As a result, the collection contributions be rising.

Less phosphate
The phosphate volume in the pig manure transported fell in the first quarter by about 25% to 7,7 million kilos. Within the sold cattle slurry, the phosphate volume decreased by almost 29% to 3,7 million kilos. The decreases are related to the feed track within the phosphate reduction plan, given that the percentage decrease in the phosphate volume is greater than the transported manure volume. The total phosphate volume decreased by just 20% to 26,6 million kilos. The total nitrogen volume shows a decrease of 13% to 45,2 million kilos.

Less manure to Germany
What is also striking is that less manure is exported abroad. Sales fell in the first quarter by 12,7% to 757.204 tons. Sales to Germany in particular, which is by far the most important sales market, show a significant drop (-25,3% to 458.525 tons). The decrease is related to the changing fertilizer legislation in Germany† this means that 'foreign manure' is less welcome.

The volume loss in Germany can be compensated to some extent with additional sales in Belgium and France. Sales to Belgium increased by 9,2% in the first quarter to 159.013 tons, while sales to France increased by 40,9% to 130.403 tons. The Netherlands hardly exports manure to other countries. Sales to 'other' fell in the first quarter by 42,1% to 9.263 tons.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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