Dutch pig manure issue to be faced

During a recent parliamentary session, Verburg said pig producers would face pressure on the manure market in 2015, but the sector itself must come up with structural and innovative solutions.

Opposition party, the Party for Animals were questioning the minister how she intended to act on the conclusions of a report by the Agricultural Economics Institute (LEI) on the manure market between 2009 and 2015.

The report predicts that there will be a structural manure surplus in the Netherlands by 2009 and that by 2015, 13 000 tonnes of surplus phosphate will have accumulated.

The Netherlands has a large livestock industry and a relatively small agricultural area. Verburg said she expected the pig sector to feel the pressure most of all. But she stressed that it was up to the industry to find solutions to prevent a long-term build-up of surplus manure.

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