Assessment of Alternative Phosphorus Fertilizers for Organic Farming: Meat and Bone Meal

Summary

In the past meat and bone meal was a major source of nutrients for recycling back to agricultural land, either as animal feed or organic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer. Nowadays - since the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis in 1999 - it is mainly used as fertilizer. Although meat and bone meals are allowed by EU regulation in organic farming, several growers’ organisations prohibited them since the BSE crisis. Incineration or melting in a cupola furnace are alternative treatment options to their direct use eliminating any risk on BSE transmission. However, these processes lead to losses of organic matter as well as nitrogen and sulfur and affect the phosphorus availability. The fact sheet shows which actions are needed to ease the statutory restrictions for use as fertilizer and thus to make phosphorus sources in meat and bone meal accessible for organic agriculture again.