Support for Dutch plan for admission dry Menure fertilizer in EU

The Netherlands and four other EU countries are urging the European Commission to accelerate the use of a new type of dry fertilizer from animal manure. The admission of this so-called Renure fertilizer should be part of the new fertilizer strategy that Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski will announce next week.

At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Monday and Tuesday in Luxembourg, the Belgian LNV minister David Clarinval will urge, also on behalf of the Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal and Spain, to remove the current legal obstacles.

In recent years, the Dutch MEP Jan Huitema (VVD) and the Dutch government have emphasized the importance of admitting new, natural substitutes for chemical fertilizers.

A note from the five EU countries points out that RENURE (REcovered Nitrogen from manURE) is made by intensive processing of animal manure. It is made into a dry powder form that can be sprinkled. Previous research by EU agencies has shown that its effect is similar to that of agricultural chemicals.

It is argued that allowing Menure instead of chemical fertilizers also contributes to circular and environmentally friendly agriculture. The admission of new agricultural resources as soon as possible has become urgent not only because of its own EU proposals to halve the use of chemicals, but also because of the consequences of the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

Not only for the Netherlands, but also for dairy regions such as in Flanders, Northern Germany and Denmark, the abolition of the manure derogation also means that there is a danger that dairy farmers will soon start using more chemical fertilizers on their pastures.

The latter is allowed by the European rules (because it is not originally animal, but chemical), while the less environmentally harmful Menure (instead of spreading wet manure) is not allowed because the use of animal resources is maximized.