Grower tells Eustice organic manure solution is a ‘fairytale’

Defra secretary George Eustice has faced a barrage of criticism from farmers after suggesting they could switch to organic manures to combat high nitrogen fertiliser prices.

During a Q&A session at this week’s NFU conference in Birmingham, Merseyside grower Olly Harrison asked the minister if Defra had a plan for fertiliser security, considering growing tension between Ukraine and Russia, a major producer of nitrogen fertiliser.

Mr Harrison said growers had been hit with a 200% increase fertiliser prices. Without access to chemical fertilisers, they faced a 60% reduction in crop yields.

See also: Video: Farmer demands clarity on autumn muckspreading ban

Mr Eustice said the UK’s only manufacturer, CF Fertilisers, had recently suspended production and “was not operating at full tilt”. The availability of ammonium nitrate was very closely linked to gas prices, he noted.

He added: “Longer term, I think this spike in gas prices will cause more farmers to think carefully about where they get their fertilisers from. We could see more people looking at different technologies to use organic fertilisers, farmyard manures.”

Mr Eustice said there was growing use of crops like phacelia, green fertilisers and clover mixes in some grasslands.

The industry was also working on urea fertiliser to find a “middle way” to enable its continued use while helping the government to meet air quality objectives.

‘Fairytale’ of muck

But Mr Harrison told the minister: “It needs a little bit more than the fairytale of: ‘Oh, it’s alright, we’ll use more cow muck and we’ll use our own muck’. It’s not there. It’s not getting wasted. It’s just simply not available.”

NFU president Minette Batters said the Environment Agency’s (EA) interpretation of the Farming Rules for Water effectively banned farmers from spreading organic manures on land in the autumn.

This was contrary to government aims to improve soil health under the forthcoming Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, said Mrs Batters.

Spreading organic manures in early autumn was better than spreading onto bare soils in February, she added.

Farmers remain frustrated about the EA’s interpretation of the rules. There was a lack of a joined-up approach between governmental departments, she said.

Mr Eustice said he disagreed with how the EA had interpreted the rules, adding that further guidance would be issued this spring by farm minister Victoria Prentis.

Grower reaction

Farmers later took to Twitter to explain they were already spreading all the available organic manure.

Oxfordshire arable farmer Tom Allen-Stevens said: “We cannot have a situation where farmers are encouraged to follow regenerative farming practices on the one hand, and then can’t apply manure in the other, which is absolutely essential in those systems. Quite frankly, it’s a s*it show.”

Mr Harrison told Farmers Weekly: “I would like George Eustice to look behind the Defra sofa for some spare organic manure.”