The caretaker cabinet on Friday sided with MPs in halting caretaker agriculture minister Femke Wiersma’s plan to allow farmers to spread more manure on their land, because of its impact on water quality.

On Thursday evening MPs voted by 101 to 49 in favour of a ChristenUnie motion calling for a halt, including the right-wing VVD, which currently forms the caretaker cabinet together with Wiersma’s pro-countryside BBB.

On Friday, the cabinet said it too could not back the plan. Wiersma wanted to allow farmers to spread more manure on their land than legally allowed in areas where she says water quality is not at risk.

The Dutch intensive farming sector is struggling to deal with reductions in the amount of manure farmers are allowed to spread on their fields, because of the risk of nitrates leaching into the waterways and the high concentration of nitrogen.

Farmers are now being forced to pay high fees to have the manure disposed of in other ways.

Under EU rules, the Netherlands is supposed to have a new plan to deal with the manure mountain by January 1, which would remain in force for four years. The ChristenUnie motion leaves the decision on how to deal with excess manure up to the next government.