Nutrient flow balance repealed: which fertiliser duties still apply
Germany repealed the Nutrient Flow Balance Ordinance in July 2025. What no longer applies, what the Fertiliser Ordinance still requires and what farms should watch.
Key points
- Repealed: the duty to prepare a nutrient flow balance and the records needed for it have ceased to apply since 8 July 2025.
- Unchanged: the Fertiliser Ordinance with the fertiliser requirement calculation, records of each application within 14 days and the Annex 5 summary by 31 March.
- Still possible: balances required by funding programmes or state rules.
- Outlook: the ministry announced monitoring and changes to the Fertiliser Act.
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With an ordinance of 2 July 2025, Germany repealed the Nutrient Flow Balance Ordinance (Stoffstrombilanzverordnung, StoffBilV). On 7 July 2025, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH) announced its publication in the Federal Law Gazette. For many farms, an annual balance sheet therefore disappears. The Fertiliser Ordinance (DüV), however, remains in force unchanged, and some funding programmes still require balances. This article explains what has gone and what remains.
What the nutrient flow balance was
The nutrient flow balance was introduced in 2018. It compared the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus entering a farm, for example through fertilisers, feed, seed and animals, with those leaving it, for example through crop and livestock products. At first the duty applied to farms with high livestock density. According to the Free State of Saxony, since 1 January 2023 farms with more than 20 hectares of agricultural land or more than 50 livestock units were also covered, including many typical cash crop farms.
Why it was repealed
According to the press release, Federal Minister Alois Rainer said the ordinance had proven bureaucratic and ineffective in practice. The ministry puts the relief for farms at around 18 million euros a year. The measure is part of reducing bureaucracy in agriculture.
What still applies under the Fertiliser Ordinance
The repeal only concerns the nutrient flow balance. The Fertiliser Ordinance continues to apply, and with it the most important records:
| Duty | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| fertiliser requirement for N and P | before fertilising | sections 3, 4, 10(1) DüV |
| record of each application with N and P quantities | within 14 days | section 10(2) DüV |
| farm summary of requirement and nutrient use | by 31 March of the following year | section 10 DüV, Annex 5 |
| retention | seven years after the end of the fertiliser year | section 10(5) DüV |
In addition there are the rules on closed periods, distances to water bodies, application technology and the limit of 170 kg nitrogen per hectare from organic and organic-mineral fertilisers on average across the farm. In nitrate-polluted areas, additional requirements apply under section 13a DüV. How the requirement calculation is structured is explained in Fertiliser requirement under the German DüV.
Nutrient comparison: already dropped in 2020
The nutrient flow balance is often confused with the farm nutrient comparison. That comparison with a control value was already abolished by the Fertiliser Ordinance of 30 April 2020. It was replaced by the Annex 5 summary, which sets the calculated fertiliser requirement against actual nutrient use. Farms that still want to look at their nutrient flows, for example for advisory purposes, can prepare a voluntary comparison.
Where balances are still required
The fertiliser authority of Lower Saxony points out that nutrient flow balances are now only required in individual funding programmes. Farms taking part in agri-environment or water protection programmes should check the funding conditions. State rules and reporting duties can also set their own requirements; in Lower Saxony, for example, fertiliser reporting runs through the ENNI programme.
What comes next
The BMLEH announced that it would set up monitoring and amend the Fertiliser Act so that groundwater protection is maintained. agrarheute reported in April 2026 on a draft of a new Fertiliser Act with a basis for this monitoring. Whether new record-keeping or reporting duties will follow was open at the time of writing. Farms should follow the development before cutting back records they can keep up with little effort.
What the repeal means for everyday documentation
For most farms, less changes in daily work than the headline suggests. The nutrient flow balance was prepared once a year from data that were largely available anyway: purchases of fertiliser and feed, sales of crops and animals. The records under the Fertiliser Ordinance, by contrast, concern every single application and remain fully in place. Farms that have recorded their fertilisation per field with nitrogen and phosphate quantities simply continue as before. The relief mainly benefits farms that had to gather extra documents on feed, animals and sales for the balance.
Practical recommendations
- Do not delete existing records: documents from earlier nutrient flow balances can be useful for advice or funding programmes.
- Keep DüV records consistently: they remain mandatory and are checked during inspections.
- Prepare the Annex 5 summary on time: the deadline is 31 March of the following year.
- Check funding conditions: does a programme still require a balance?
- Keep data structured: farms that book purchases and sales in their farm records and stock anyway can prepare balances quickly when needed.
Fertilisation in PhytAI
PhytAI keeps the records that still apply under the DüV: fertiliser requirement calculation, records with kg N and P₂O₅ and the 14-day deadline, the Annex 5 summary with a reminder before 31 March, and a farm balance with the 170 kg limit. PhytAI does not calculate a nutrient flow balance because it is no longer required.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still have to prepare a nutrient flow balance for 2025? With the repeal effective 8 July 2025, the duty no longer applies. Check whether a funding programme requires a balance.
Does the 170 kg limit still apply? Yes. The limit for nitrogen from organic fertilisers is part of the Fertiliser Ordinance, not of the nutrient flow balance.
Was the nutrient comparison abolished as well? Yes, already with the Fertiliser Ordinance of 2020.
Sources
- BMLEH: Stoffstrombilanzverordnung ist Geschichte – Veröffentlichung im Bundesgesetzblatt erfolgt, press release 056/2025 of 7 Jul 2025, retrieved 16 Sep 2026
- Federal Law Gazette: Verordnung zur Aufhebung der Stoffstrombilanzverordnung, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 155, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- Free State of Saxony: Stoffstrombilanzverordnung, retrieved 16 Sep 2026
- Fertiliser authority Lower Saxony: Aufzeichnungs- und Meldepflichten gem. DüV, NDüngGewNPVO und StoffBilV, 28 Nov 2025, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- Fertiliser authority Lower Saxony: Inhalte der Düngeverordnung vom 30.04.2020, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- agrarheute: Neues Düngegesetz kommt, retrieved 13 Sep 2026
This article reflects the situation on the date shown, based on the sources named, and is not legal advice. Laws, approvals, official decisions and the guidance of the competent authorities prevail.