Page 4 of articles about nitrogen in Swine news

The European Commission is referring Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to take stronger measures to combat water pollution caused by nitrates.

EU imports around 5 million tonnes of phosphates a year but could replace up to 30% of this total by extraction from sewage sludge, biodegradable waste, meat and bone meal or manure.

After examination of the request it can be considered that the proposed amounts of respectively 250 and 200 kg per hectare per year of nitrogen from grazing livestock manure and treated pig manure, will not prejudice the achievement of the objectives of Directive 91/676/EEC.

The committee stressed that more ambitious targets should be set in order to reach 2030 goals.

The Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model provides detailed data on animal numbers, production and emissions.

Minister Coveney noted that 83% of applications were received online for 2014 and confirmed that applications can only be submitted using the online facility for 2015. The closing date for applications is 31st March 2015.

The majority of the issues set out in the sentence of the Court of Justice of the European Union have already been corrected in the new regulation.

Dutch farmers will be able to use, instead of 170 kg of slurry or manure nitrogen per hectare during years 2014-2017, 250 or 230 (depending on the location) kg of nitrogen per hectare and year.

A new report from the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food, of the Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen, quantifies for the first time how much our food choices affect pollutant nitrogen emissions, climate change and land-use across Europe.

The new derogation will run to the end of 2017.

Around 200 types of project are covered by the Environmental Impact Assessment directive (EIA) – from bridges, ports, motorways and landfill sites to intensive rearing of poultry or pigs.

The new derogation allows farmers to exceed the limit of 170 kg of organic nitrogen per hectare set down in the Nitrates Regulations, up to a maximum of 250 kg per hectare, subject to adherence to stricter rules.

The French Ministers of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, and of Agriculture, Food and Forestry have signed two decrees for strengthening the battle against the contamination by nitrates.

Nitrates concentrations are slightly decreasing in both surface and groundwater and sustainable agricultural practices are more widespread.

The goal of the government is to develop in France, in year 2020, 1,000 biogas plants at the farms.