Manure gains traction in Germany amid fertilizer crisis

Without fertilizer, almost nothing happens in the field. In order to obtain an economically sustainable income, a farmer needs to revive the fertility of the soils, which are already quite depleted, with the use of fertilizers, and for several decades, artificial products have been used mainly for this purpose.

Indispensable is not only nitrogen, which promotes plant growth, but also other primary macronutrients (phosphorus, potassium) and secondary (sulfur, magnesium, calcium). In artificial fertilizers, their dosage can be adapted exactly to local needs.

To some extent, an organic fertilizer is also capable of performing this function. Farmers spread manure and urine from various types of animals on their crops, often to the displeasure of neighbors, especially due to the ammonia smell from the slurry (liquid manure), which hangs around for days and opening the window to ventilate only makes the situation worse.

Manure and slurry on the rise

Until now, the guideline of German policy has been to reduce the amount of animal manure in the fields. Not because of the bad smell, but to protect the water in the ground. However, this is another point where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine frustrated good intentions, since to produce artificial fertilizers, gas is needed, a fossil fuel that the war has made scarce and increasingly expensive.

Thus, the much-loved manure and slurry gain a new status. The Association of German Farmers (DBV) confirms that these livestock wastes are once again in great demand, given the rise in artificial fertilizers. Not only has their price tripled or quadrupled over the previous year, it’s also difficult to find them.

“If natural fertilizer becomes more expensive and scarce, all organic sources of nitrogen gain value and attractiveness,” DBV secretary general Bernhard Krüsken told the DPA news agency. The movement in the fertilizer markets is great: “Compost exchanges have more intense demand. This is also expressed in the increase in sales prices and in the fact that the product is being transported in part over greater distances than before.”

The data is confirmed by Edelhard Brinkmann, from the Weser-Ems Fertilizer Bank, operating in northwest Germany. According to him, the demand for organic fertilizers “has grown strongly” in the last year, not only due to the increase in gas prices, but also to the volatility of the product’s prices: “What costs 900 euros today, you can get them tomorrow for 600” – and vice versa. -versa too, of course.

Organic fertilizers are not as good as artificial

A fertilizer bank is a kind of brokerage that puts suppliers and buyers in contact in a relatively disorganized market. The Weser-Ems have their own fleet of vehicles and take the slurry from one farm where it is superfluous to another where it is urgently needed.

The costs are shared between the seller and the buyer, explains Brinkmann. Because many farmers are very happy to be able to get rid of the excrement of their animals: they cannot simply spread it across the fields, as there is a maximum quota for the discharge of primary and secondary macronutrients, in order to protect the neighborhood and, above all, the drinking water.

A complicating factor, however, is the current trend to reduce livestock farming as a contribution to climate protection. German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir commented in a TV interview in late July: “We need fewer animals, we need to distribute them better over the areas.” As climate change is human-made, it is up to humans to take care that the effects are not so drastic, “for example, eating less meat”, recalled the green politician.

Year after year, up to 3 million tonnes of pure nitrogen are spread across Germany’s fields, reports DBV. Even if livestock production were not reduced, as is currently the case, it will not be possible to reach this figure with only slurry, compost or residues from biogas production.

“For this season, we are still more or less supplied, but next year worries us”, observes Bernhard Krüsken. In the event of a shortage of mineral nitrogen fertilizers, “we will see smaller harvests”: a halving of fertilizer, for example, results in 20% to 25% smaller yields.

“If we are talking about winter and the distribution of gas, we also need to keep in mind that fertilizers are responsible for food supply”, warns the secretary general of the agricultural association DBV.