Dutch farmers face mounting dung heap crisis

Dutch farmer Jos Verstraten scaled a ladder up the side of a large slurry tank and peered at its contents, which gave off an overpowering ammonia smell.

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As clouds gathered over Verstraten's dairy farm in a southeast corner of the Netherlands, so too, a storm was brewing over the growing manure crisis confronting Dutch dairy farmers.

"We are literally in the shit," the 59-year-old said, pointing to a stable where 145 of his cows waited to be milked.

Verstraten and other Dutch farmers - who together own four million head of livestock - has for years benefited from a special European Union dispensation allowing them to spread more manure on their fields than other countries in the 27-nation bloc.

The EU deal allowed the Netherlands - one of the world's largest dairy exporters - to dump between 230 and 250kg of nitrogen per hectare each year.

From February to September during the growing season, farmers spread excess manure on their fields as a natural fertiliser.