In September 2018, Carola Schouten, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of The Netherlands, presented her new vision for agriculture. With this new vision, the Minister wants to initiate a turnaround towards recycling in 2030.
Closed-loop agriculture
In closed-loop agriculture, as little waste as possible is released, the emission of harmful substances is minimized and raw materials and end products are used with as few losses as possible. The Cabinet of The Netherlands wants to achieve this change while maintaining the strong global position of Dutch agriculture and horticulture.
Minimizing emissions from manure
Nedmag attempts to respond to this trend in agriculture with new concepts. An example is the addition of magnesium chloride to manure. This minimizes harmful emissions of nitrogen, ammonia and phosphate from manure.
Usually, different substances are emitted to the air, soil and surface water during storage and use of animal manure. These are costly losses of important minerals for agriculture. Besides, the substances are harmful when left unused in the environment. When Nedmag's magnesium chloride is added to the manure, there is a reaction of magnesium, ammonium and phosphate that leads to struvite.
Struvite is a very effective fertilizer with minimal emission of ammonia and phosphate. The nitrogen and phosphate remain bound in the fertilizer, and due to the slow-release effect, the valuable nutrients, amongst which phosphate, are gradually released. In addition, the availability of these nutrients is better adopted to needs of the crop, and there will be less leaching to the soil and surface water.
Farmin
The concept is marketed by Farmin BV, an exclusive distributor of Nedmag, under the name Farmin-G. Farmin BV makes use of magnesium chloride of natural origin produced by Nedmag.
Various sectors in agriculture can use the solution. Pork manure, cattle manure and chicken manure can be treated with it, and the treated manure can be used in various crops. Nowadays, the treated manure is extensively used on grassland and corn in The Netherlands.