Storage of natural fertilizers and the nitrate program
Let us remind you that according to the requirements of the so-called Under the nitrate program, farmers engaged in animal production were obliged to ensure a 5-month storage period for solid natural fertilizers and a 6-month storage period for liquid natural fertilizers.
Farms with more than 210 livestock units had until the end of 2021 to adapt the space for storing natural fertilizers.
Smaller farms, equal to or below 210 DJP, had more time to build tanks for storing liquid natural fertilizers or plates for storing solid natural fertilizers. The final date was set for December 31, 2024.
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How much time to mix the manure?
Will there be an additional three years to meet the requirement?
At the beginning of the year, the National Council of Chambers of Agriculture turned to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Czesław Siekierski, with a request to extend the deadline by which farms breeding or breeding livestock with a number less than or equal to 210 DJP are obliged to meet the requirement to adapt the place for storing natural fertilizers.
The Ministry agreed to KRIR's request and on July 12, 2024, sent a letter to the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, and the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius. Its content includes the announcement of an extension of the above-mentioned deadline by three years.
– (…) I would like to inform the Commission about the actions that the Government of the Republic of Poland plans to take in the near future – i.e. extend the deadline, until December 31, 2027, for adapting the appropriate areas/capacity of places for storing natural fertilizers by farms with an animal population of up to 210 DJP (…). I count on the Commissioners' acceptance of the planned solutions. – we read in the letter from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to EU commissioners.
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Siekierski: Salaries at KRUS are too low
The argument is the difficult situation of farms
How does Czesław Siekierski justify his intention to extend the time to adapt the space for storing natural fertilizers on smaller farms? First of all, the difficult situation of farms, resulting from, among others, from the pandemic, the war on our eastern border, and the destabilization of agricultural markets. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, smaller breeding farms face crisis situations to a large extent.
– (…) In the years 2010-2020, in agriculture in Poland (…) there was a significant reduction in the number of farms keeping livestock, as a result of the mass abandonment of animal production by farms, especially those with small and very small herds – he writes Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Czesław Siekierski further expresses concern that the excessive burden on smaller farms with the need for further investments may lead to them abandoning animal production, which in turn will threaten the sustainable development of agriculture.
– Farms with smaller scale animal production have limited investment opportunities to equip the farm with professional manure plates or tanks for liquid natural fertilizers and to provide their own financial contribution for this purpose. Combined with other requirements and burdens as well as the unstable market situation, this may contribute to the abandonment of animal production. The abandonment of small-scale animal production by subsequent farms may have a negative impact on the number of animals, in particular of extensive and local breeds, as well as on the pro-environmental combination of animal production with plant production. This may also have consequences for the preservation of biodiversity and negatively affect ongoing programs for the protection of genetic resources of farm animals – we read in the letter of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
One of the recipients of the letter, Janusz Wojciechowski, unofficially declared on his social media his readiness to support the Ministry's proposal.
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Commissioner Wojciechowski sums up his term of office. He also addresses farmers
