Inside Manure
Rainfall hinders the exit season
A better start to the spreading season could hardly have been possible, because the fertilizer season started in mid-February with watery sunshine and high temperatures. The weather has now turned and there is hardly any manure being applied. What are the expectations for the coming weeks?
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Choose the subscription that suits youDue to the quick start of the spreading season, the collection contributions for cattle and pig manure have clearly decreased. In the past 3 weeks, a lot of manure has been spread on grass and arable land, which could clearly be seen and smelled in the agricultural parts of the Netherlands.
Bleak weather
Although spring arrived briefly, it is still winter. In recent days the weather has been inclement in large parts of the Netherlands and a lot of rain has fallen here and there. There are, however, large differences per region. For example, a lot of precipitation has fallen in Groningen in recent days, while elsewhere it was not too bad.
A lot of precipitation is again forecast for the coming days, which is now hampering the spreading season. Intermediaries say that little manure is being spread this week and in some parts of the Netherlands the manure trucks have been standing still since Monday, March 4. It is not yet possible to say what this means for the rest of the spreading season.
Artificial fertilizer instead of animal manure?
For example, the plots with winter wheat are further developed than in the same period last year. The rain, combined with relatively high temperatures, ensures that the crops grow well and this poses a threat to the placement space for animal manure. The area, on the other hand, has been declining for years; last year it shrank by about 10% to 96.311 hectares. The area for 2019 is not yet known, but it is expected to be higher (approximately 2%) than last year.
There is a chance that arable farmers will apply fertilizer more often this spring, instead of using animal manure. This is because it causes less damage to the crop. This could give the manure spreading season a different twist, although it does not alter the fact that the start of the spreading season was one in the book. And as a result, a lot of manure has already been spread, including both pig and cattle slurry At the start was already scarce.
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