Compost handlers warn of problems with manure storage after a wet spring

Manure handlers have problems selling effluent, a leftover product from manure processing used on farmland as a source of potassium. The effluent is spread across the field with heavy machinery of up to 45 tons, as the shoe pinches. “Because of the wet spring, the plots of land in some areas, such as the polders, are wet, so farmers don’t want heavy agricultural machinery on their lands for fear of structural damage. So they choose the more affordable fertilizing potassium which can be diffused with light compounds,” says Locke. Funstellant from the Compost Handlers Association.

The second problem, he says, is the fact that spring work has been delayed for a long time and farmers are rushing to sow and plant their crops. “They often don’t want to wait for a fully booked contractor who has to schedule effluents to be fired.”

Due to low effluent sales, the storage tanks in dung processors are never empty. Vansteelant estimates that, depending on the region, reservoirs in Flanders are still 50 to 80 percent full, while at this time last year they were nearly empty. This has an effect on manure processing later in the year. “The effluent released during compost processing must be stored somewhere. If the storage tank is full, compost processing is also at risk.”

And the third is the least sold

The same problems occur when sawing clay. Here too, farmers dare not let contractors with heavy mud machines enter the fields for fear of damage. This situation usually occurs in March, but then the land still has time to dry and farmers can wait. “Now everyone is running out of time and farmers often opt for arable fertilizer,” says Vanstelante.

This was confirmed by contractor and dung hauler Leuridan from Lo-Reninge, West Flanders. “Normally, from mid-February to mid-May, we are constantly busy spreading slurry. This year we stopped for at least six weeks due to a wet spring. Due to the delay in spring, many farmers no longer have time to wait and choose synthetic fertilizers,” says the company, which You expect clays to drop 30 to 35 percent this year.