What was warned earlier has now been confirmed by the United Manure Distribution Companies of Comilla: Manure pits do not become empty. A bad spring is hampering fertilizer sales, and the problems caused by tightening fertilizer rules are already becoming apparent.

According to Koen van Kuijk of Vacotrans, this year is worse than last spring. Many arable farmers were unable to spread slurry before planting or planting crops. “And this space for selling fertilizer no longer exists,” he wrote on Comilla’s website. “So less fertilizer will go to arable farming this year than last year.”

Johan Mostert, head of Comilla’s fertilizer distribution department, warned at the beginning of this year that emptying manure pits would not be possible. He made this statement on the basis of tightened fertilizer rules around buffer strips and nutrient-polluted areas (Nevada areas). “As a result, a lot of installation space was lost. This while the compost pits were already fuller than usual.

According to Van Cuijk and Mostert, the greatest pressure is on dairy farmers, but the pits are not empty (yet) among pig farmers either. Pig farmers currently have some financial scale. They can still pay the current fertilizer selling price of around €30, but the question is how long this will last.

Ranchers or pig farmers where manure is placed on top of strips must make choices. The stables become empty, or they have to remove the livestock. “I actually know of dairy farms where this happens. According to manure distributors, this can lead to cold curing,” Mostert and Van Cuijk wrote. Article.