Effects of water protection measures on the profitability of farms

摘要

The effect of different management measures on the nutrient losses from crop and animal husbandry systems, in particular nitrogen, and on the total income of model farming enterprises was investigated. Such measures are considered as powerful options for meeting the requirements of "cross compliance" within the Agenda 2000 midterm review of the CAP. Optimisation of the storage and handling of animal manure was shown to be the most important and cost effective measure to reduce nutrient losses on farms. Other measures such as protein and phosphorus adapted feeding, maintaining a year-round cover crop on arable land and conservation tillage were also effective and it is recommended that these are adopted into farming practices. In general, measures that have both a high potential to reduce nutrient losses and are cheap to apply, and therefore have little effect on the overall profitability of farms, should be given priority in water protection policies.