Agricultural Industries Confederation gives evidence at House of Lords
Following the provision of written evidence to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee as part of their inquiry into efficient nitrogen use, AIC was asked to provide oral evidence on behalf of the fertiliser sector alongside AIC Members The Lord Fuller OBE of Nitrasol Liquid Fertilisers (Brineflow) and Pawel Kisielewski of CCm Technologies.
The aims of the inquiry are to:
- Highlight and explore the opportunities for capture and the reuse of existing reactive nitrogen within sectors to minimise waste.
- Understand barriers to sustainable nitrogen management approaches within sectors.
- Review changes to the nitrogen cycle and its balance over time and associated challenges.
- Understand the gaps in current policy and the effectiveness of regulation in addressing nitrogen pollution.
- Understand how Government departments and associated agencies coordinate efforts on nitrogen management and whether this could be done more effectively.
Key points put forward by AIC:
- The 40% reduction in mineral nitrogen use over the last 40 years driven by a combination of improved agronomic advice from FACTS qualified advisers, awareness of nitrogen use efficiency and use of precision application.
- The considerable growth in anaerobic digestate
- Livestock are responsible for the highest percentage of gaseous emissions of reactive nitrogen
- The geographic location of livestock predominately in the west and arable farmers in the east combined with the weight, variable nutrient content and balance of manure creates challenges for its effective use. This can be addressed through processing to create a more stable, uniform product that can be applied at the optimum time of year for crop need.
- The importance of using nitrogen efficiently to meet crop specifications in addition to yield
- How poor manure handling can exacerbate the emissions from organic manures through application onto waterlogged or frozen ground or onto bare soil with no crop need.
- The use of inhibited urea in England from April to mid-January, developed through an industry led approach
- The role of FACTS advisers in providing advice on nutritional need and application timing and the importance of annual CPD enabling them to provide their farmer clients with the most up to date advice
- Policy needs to consider the following:
- addressing the challenges in storing and handling manure to optimise the utilisation of its nutrition.
- Increasing nitrogen use efficiency on farm
- Progress the Fertiliser Product Regulations considering the increasing number of unregulated products coming onto the market.
Next Stage
The evidence will form part of a final report to be published in the summer which will be debated in the autumn.
Author
Vicky Robinson
Vicky Robinson is Head of Sustainability and is responsible for leading and co-ordinating AIC's work on sustainability.