'Win-win situation through circular fertilization'

The Network Smart Fertilization (NSF) has launched an action plan in response to the vision of Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality). The aim is for our country to become a frontrunner when it comes to circular agriculture. "Circular agriculture has been possible for a long time and provides a 'win-win situation' for farmers and society."

"The easiest condition for circular agriculture is circular fertilization," says Herre Bartlema, precision fertilization specialist at NSF. According to him, one of the most important changes is that concentrates must come from the nearby environment. According to Bartlema, the change that the use of fertilizer must be reduced is also important. 

"The advantage of fertilizer is that it has a high concentration and that it works quickly. This can also be achieved with concentrates of the thin fraction of animal manure. There are also sufficient alternatives to close the cycles with residual flows from, among other things, livestock farming For example, sulfuric ammonia from the air washer can be used for nitrogen fertilization," says Bartlema.

Founding a cooperative
A first step is the possible establishment of the Netherlands Center for Development of Circular Agriculture (NCOK), a cooperative association with producers as members. The cooperative will focus on organizing independent information and certification of circular agriculture. "This is not the job of the existing cooperatives. They have interests that are not in line with circular agriculture."

Although the fertilizer industry is initially not looking forward to it, NSF expects that they too can make an important contribution. "The use of gas for fertilizer is a factor that disrupts cycles, but fortunately the fertilizer industry is engaged in fertilizer production based on solar energy."

Special chair WUR
To maintain the speed in the transition to circular agriculture, NSF advocates one special chair circular agriculture. "This fits with the ambitions of Wageningen University. It is important that what emerges from the studies is carried out on the experimental farms," ​​says Bartlema.

The most important advice to farmers is not to invest in a fertilizer spreader, but in precision fertilization. "It yields direct profit if the farmer switches to precision fertilization with circular fertilizers in addition to animal manure. And technically this has been possible for a long time, because the machine manufacturers have invested in this."

Adjust legislation
NSF also advocates the abolition of Article 6 of the Fertilizers Act. That article states that fertilizers should be distributed evenly. This is in conflict with precision fertilization, which is applied unevenly across the plot.

NSF also believes that Article 5 (which states that animal manure must be applied in a low-emission manner) should not only concern animal manure, but also fertilizer. Inorganic fertilizers must also be applied with low emissions (and in the root zone). This is because volatilization occurs with a superficial application.

According to NSF, introducing a crop derogation for the use of inorganic components of animal manure is important to enable a transition to fertilization based on animal manure. The use of blockchain is also important to be able to cost-effectively certify fertilization based on animal manure.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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