No fear of heights for manure collection contributions

The 2018 growing year will go down as special for many crops and this certainly also applies to the fertilizer market. Regardless of the weather, 2018 had already been branded a special season. This is because in the fall of 2017 manure scandals came to light through research by NRC Handelsblad.

The NRC article did not appear to have a direct impact on fertilizer prices. The graph below clearly shows that the collection contributions for fattening pig slurry in the regions of Deurne, Tilburg and Uden (between November 10, 2017 and March 16, 2018) do not show a special price picture.

The development of the collection contributions for cattle slurry (in the period from November 10, 2017 to March 16, 2018) in those regions is also as expected in the winter period. Without that there particularities were visible.

Impact of the weather
The weather was the main reason why the high collection contributions were kept alive. The wet and cold spring was the culprit for the fact that less manure could be spread. As a result, the overcrowded manure pits of pig farmers in particular remained untouched, which created dire situations.

After the weather turned and planting and sowing work could still be carried out, it turned out that there was no longer any time available (to spread a lot of manure).

An early grain harvest occurred as a result of dry and warm weather. Although the first plots were released in the second half of June, the weather conditions that were too dry threw a spanner in the works for spreading manure. This is because the sowing of green manures was postponed until significant rain fell.

The dry weather prompted farmer advocates to request an extension of the spreading season. Ultimately, this was allocated by Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) for both arable and grassland.

High collection contributions
However, it turned out that the manure space was not sufficient everywhere, especially because a lot of nitrogen space had already been used. The extension of the spreading season has helped to reduce the tension in the supply, although the supply of fattening pig slurry in East Brabant remained high.

On balance, collection contributions continued to be at the highest level since the existence of the DCA-Markets manure quotation. For the regions in the south of the country, the average for fattening pig slurry was €25,874, compared to €23,835 last year (period January 1 to October 5).

For this week (week 40), an increase is visible in the collection contributions for cattle slurry and solid chicken manure. Also the trade in replacement processing agreements (VVOs) has risen further, according to data from DCA-Markets.