As fertilizer import prices soar, Kyushu farmers look to domestic resources

With fertilizer prices soaring due to the weak yen and the Russia-Ukraine war, compost made from livestock waste is being re-evaluated, as it can be procured domestically unlike chemical fertilizers that rely almost entirely on imports for their raw materials.

In Kyushu, agricultural cooperatives have taken initiatives to process compost into pellets for easier distribution. Farmers have also been exploring so-called "field-livestock cooperation," in which livestock farmers supply compost to field farmers who produce rice and vegetables, while field farmers supply rice straw and rice to livestock farmers for feed.

With such initiatives, agricultural cooperatives are aiming for a stable supply of raw materials and a reduction in environmental impact. However, cost-cutting remains a challenge.

Local circulation

JA Kikuchi, an agricultural cooperative headquartered in the city of Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture, is a pioneer in field-livestock cooperation. Boasting one of the largest livestock farming areas in Kyushu, the cooperative has established three compost processing facilities.

The facilities take in the manure that farmers ferment themselves from cattle and chicken feces and process them for a fee. At the facilities, the manure is further fermented until seeds that may have been mixed into it are killed to prevent weeds from growing in the fields. The most difficult part is adjusting the water content, JA Kikuchi officials say.

The final stage of drying takes place at JA Kikuchi’s facility in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, where some of the compost is processed into pellets. “The manure is turned into fully matured compost here, and then dried in the sun and by stirring for several months to reduce the water content to 25% to 30%," says Tomoyuki Nagata, director of the facility.

The facility has a high reputation for the quality of its processing, and 40% of its compost is sold outside the areas JA Kikuchi oversees, including other cooperatives in Kumamoto Prefecture and the one in the city of Fukuoka.

JA Kikuchi took on compost processing after the livestock waste law was fully enforced in 2004.

To prevent odor and water pollution, the law prohibits the disposal of excrement by piling it up in the open or burying it by digging the ground, and requires farmers to properly manage it by setting up composting facilities. However, as some livestock farmers were unable to handle the waste on their own, JA Kikuchi established the processing facilities in around 2006.

This was followed by the expansion of the cultivation of rice for feed using compost. With consumption of staple rice declining, the cooperative has been encouraging field farmers to switch to rice for feed since 2008. Such rice is mixed into compound feed at a consignment company and supplied to livestock farmers.

"This allows us to recycle local resources and at the same time maintain the function of irrigating groundwater in the rice paddies,” says Osamu Misumi, head of the cooperative. “In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation of imported grains can be greatly reduced.”

The ratio of rice used in compound feed started at 3%, but it had been raised to 8% in recent years and was boosted to 20% in November in response to soaring feed prices.

Holstein bulls raised on compound feed containing locally produced rice have been branded "Ecome Beef,” nicknamed after "eco" for ecology and “kome,” or rice.

This month, JA Kikuchi began selling composite fertilizers that use a different ratio of compost pellets for each of the major crops in the region, including paddy burdock and watermelon, in an effort to enhance circular agriculture in the region.

One drawback is the time it takes to produce the compost. Currently, it takes about six months to make the final product from the time farmers bring in their manure, limiting the amount of processed compost.

“We need to significantly cut down the time taken to increase the amount of processed compost," Misumi said. JA Kikuchi has formed a consortium with a university and a research institute to develop a technology that estimates which parts contain high water content so that the drying process can be concentrated. A test on the technology is scheduled for this fall.

Wide-area distribution

Last October, JA Miyazaki began selling a compound fertilizer containing compost pellets made from pig and chicken manure that came from its directly managed farms and other sources.

The 2019 revision of the fertilizer control law made it possible to mix compost with chemical fertilizers, which had not been allowed before because of inconsistent levels of water in compost and a possible mixture of rice straw contained within it from barns.

“The revision allowed us to make effective use of local resources and aim to recycle within the region,” a JA Miyazaki official said, adding that the soaring fertilizer prices have also accelerated their efforts. The pellets have the advantage of being easy to transport and disseminate through the use of machinery.

According to the farm ministry’s Price Index of Agriculture, the price index of fertilizers rose to as high as 155.2 as of March against 100 in the base year of 2020, while the price index of agricultural products was at 107.1. This indicates that the price increase in production materials is not reflected in the price of farm products, which makes compost attractive to farmers who face increasingly severe business conditions.

JA Kagoshima has also been supplying fertilizers containing compost pellets since last July. This year, JA Kagoshima began a wide-area distribution trial with JA Zen-Noh Miyagi, an agricultural cooperative in Miyagi Prefecture in the Tohoku region that excels in rice production.

During the trial, they plan to ship a total of about 60 tons of compost pellets from Kagoshima Prefecture and 140 tons of rice straw from Miyagi Prefecture. They will compare transportation costs for using railroads, trucks and ferries, and study issues that may arise during the trial.

The project, which was first considered about three years ago, had been on hold, but it started up again last October when Miyagi Prefecture participated in the so-called Wagyu Olympics held in Kagoshima Prefecture. The readily available compost pellets in Kagoshima moved the discussion forward.

During the talks, Kagoshima officials explained that they wanted to find ways to secure a stable supply of raw materials domestically from the perspective of food security as imported feed and fertilizer prices continue to rise.

Meanwhile, officials from Miyagi Prefecture said that there are no farmers in the prefecture who have used compost pellets before, and that they want to study the effects on crop yield and quality.

In the statement issued at the Group of Seven farm ministers meeting held in the city of Miyazaki last month, ministers called for effective use of domestic agricultural resources, and Japan’s farm minister, Tetsuro Nomura, emphasized the promotion of field-livestock cooperation.

The farm ministry has set targets to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers made from imported raw materials and fossil fuels by 30% by 2050, and to increase the self-sufficiency ratio of feedstuffs from 25% in 2018 to 34% by the year starting in April 2030, in an effort to reduce dependence on imported raw materials.

However, the cost is a bottleneck to wide-area cooperation, and those involved agree that government support measures are essential. "A certification system for crops using compost should be established,” JA Kikuchi’s Misumi said. “A panel should also be formed to match regions in Kyushu that can supply compost with regions that cannot,” he said.

This section features topics and issues from the Kyushu region covered by the Nishinippon Shimbun, the largest daily newspaper in Kyushu. The original article was published May 3.