Applying manure on grass is allowed until September 30th

Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) announced in a letter to parliament on Thursday 23 August that manure may be spread on grassland for longer.

The extension is longest on clay and peat soils, where the season has been extended to September 30. Manure may be spread on arable land and other soil types until 15 September.

Distinction
Schouten late in the brief know that the exit season will be extended. However, to prevent leaching, a distinction has been made between sandy and loess soils and clay and peat soils. For example, manure may be applied on sandy and loess soils until September 15, while fertilization may be applied on clay and peat soils until September 30.

A warning is given for fertilizing grass after drought. For example, Minister Schouten points out that there can still be a lot of nitrogen in the soil. The combination of rain and fertilizer application can cause the grass to absorb a lot of nitrate, which can then cause nitrite poisoning in ruminants. 

Driving out on arable land for longer
Manure, both slurry and solid manure, may also be spread on arable land for longer. The extension also applies until September 15. "In all situations, a green manure or winter rapeseed for the production of seed in 17 must be sown by 2019 September at the latest."

Again, the requirements for sandy and loess soils are stricter. This is because only a catch crop that is permitted as a catch crop after the cultivation of silage maize may be sown there. However, it should be noted that the sowing of a catch crop on sandy and loess soils, after the cultivation of silage maize, has already been delayed due to the drought. Assuming that there is enough rain in the meantime, the minister will give the opportunity to sow a catch crop until 17 September.

Destroy Grassland
Not only can the spreading of manure take longer, but there is also more time for destroying the sod. This is allowed on loess and sandy soil until September 20 and on the other types of soil until September 30. The grass must be sown no later than 1 day later.

As a requirement for destruction, Schouten states that this must be reported to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) 7 days in advance. This applies to both the derogation farms and the non-derogation farms. If a dairy farmer makes use of the derogation, a discount of 50 kilograms per hectare applies.

Greening requirements
A last measure mentioned by Schouten in the letter to parliament is that the requirement for greening will also be dealt with more flexibly. It is possible to choose to sow a grass mixture instead of a catch crop. This is for animal feed.

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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