Demand for manure soaring owing to global shortage of fertilizers

Themarketformanure--frompigs,horses,cattleandevenhumans--hasneverbeensohot,thankstoaglobalshortageofchemicalfertilizers.

JustaskAndrewWhitelaw, agrainsanalystatThomasElderMarketsbasedinMelbourne,Australiawho

runsacommercialpigfarminhissparetime.Whitelawsaidthathe’scompletely

soldcleanofanimalwaste,asfarmershuntforalternativestothemorecommonly

usedphosphate-andnitrogen-basedfertilizersthatarevitaltoboostingcropyields.

“Wedon’thaveanyleft,”hesaid. “Inanormalyear,you’dprobablygetacouplephonecallsayear,notacouple

ofphonecallsaweek.”

Itmaybesometimebeforeheseestheinterestinpigpooptaper.Prices

ofsyntheticfertilizer,whichrelyonnaturalgasandcoalasrawmaterials,

havesoaredamidanenergyshortageandexportrestrictionsbyRussiaand

China.That’saddingtochallengesforagriculturalsupplychainsatatime

whenglobalfoodcostsareneararecordhighandfarmersscramblefor

fertilizerstopreventlossestoglobalcropyieldsforstaples.

TheGreenMarketsNorthAmericanFertilizerPriceIndexishoveringaround

anall-timehighat$1,072.87pershortton,whileinChina,spotureahassoared

morethan200%thisyeartoarecord.

Thedemandfordungisplayingoutglobally.InIowa,manureissellingfor

between$40to$70pershortton,upabout$10fromayearagoandthe

highestlevelssince2012,accordingtoDanielAnderson,assistantprofessor

atIowaStateUniversityandaspecialistonmanure.

Manureismostlyalocalmarketandtruckloadswon’tgofurtherthan50

miles(80kilometers),Andersonsaid.Whencrop,fertilizerandmanure

pricessoaredaboutadecadeago,morefarmersreintroducedanimalssuch

ashogsandcattleontotheirland,inpartfortheirmanure.Thatoptioncould

againbeonfarmers’mindsasfertilizercostssoar.

InAustralia’sQueenslandstate,BrianMclean,generalmanagerofanorganic

fertilizercompany,saidthatsalesofhispoultrymanurecompostaregoing

throughtheroof.Ifinterestkeepsupatthesamerate,peopleseekingready-treatedmanureintheareawouldsoonmissout.

“Therewouldn’tbeenoughintotal,”hesaid.Injustthelastfewmonthshe’s

soldabout15,000tonsofthestuff,comparedtoaround2,000tonsthesame

timelastyear,thoughsomeoftherenewedfervorhasbeendrivenbyabounce-backinweatherconditionsafteryearsofdrought,Mcleanadded.

IntheU.K.,notonlyarefarmersscramblingforanimalcompost,butmany

areeventryingtogettheirhandsontreatedsewagesludgecontaininghuman

excrement,orbiosolids.DavidButler,whofarmswheat,oatsandpeasinWiltshire

inthesouthwestofEngland,hastraditionallyreliedonhisownherdofcows

toproduceanimalwastethatheusesforhiscrops.

“Thearableareastillrequiressignificanttonnageofsyntheticfertilizer,butthis

isreducedbytheuseofmanures,”Butlersaid.Sincetheanimalwastefromhis

farmisnotenough,hehasbeenbuyingbiosolidsfromutilityThamesWater,

whichproducesover750,000meterssquaredofsludgeeachyearforfarmers

acrossBritain’ssoutheast.

However,Butlersaidthatit’sincreasinglydifficulttosourcehumanexcrement

as“thereismoredemandthansupplyforbiosolidmaterials.”

IntheU.S.,biosolidsareregulatedbytheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency,

andinEurope,biosolidshavebeeninusesince1986whenitreceivedregulatory

approvalfromtheEuropeanUnion.

Whilemanureisaninexpensivealternativetopriceysyntheticfertilizers,itisa “poorreplacementforthoseaccustomedtotraditionalfertilizerproducts,”said

AlexisMaxwell,ananalystatBloomberg’sGreenMarkets.Forexample,the

fertilizerdiammoniumphosphatehassixtimesthenitrogenand15timesthe

phosphateasmanureonapertonbasis.

Commercialfertilizers,inventedoveracenturyago,areamongthetechnologies

creditedforraisingcropyieldstofeedingbillionsofpeopleontheplanet.

Butevenbeforepricesforchemicalfertilizersstartedsurging,organic

productshadseenincreasedattentionasproponentsarguethatthepotent

chemicalsfoundincommercialmaterialscanhaveacorrosiveeffectonsoil

health.Greenmanureandcompostingtechniques,meanwhile,canboostcrop

nutrientswithsufficientplanningaheadaroundsomenaturalvariabilityinthe

greenerproductscomparedtotheirsyntheticcounterparts.

Therecentpricespikeislikelytohaveturnedmorefarmersintolonger-termconverts,eveniffertilizerpricesstarttocool,saidMclean,theQueensland

organicfertilizerseller.

“They’venowrealizedhowmuchbetterofftheyareusingtheorganic

products,”hesaid. “They’llbemakingitapermanentthingintheirrotations.”