Economic and environmental effects of the manure policy in The Netherlands: synthesis of integrated ex-post and ex-ante evaluation.
This paper summarises the results of both an ex-post evaluation of the Dutch Mineral Accounting System (MINAS) and an ex-ante evaluation of the effect of different levy-free surplus values. The MINAS system has been introduced in 1998 in order to reduce nitrate and phosphate leaching from agricultural soils. MINAS resulted in a reduction of the N surplus on dairy farms of approximately 50 kg ha(-1) to limited or no costs to the farms involved. MINAS resulted in higher costs for manure removal for intensive livestock farmers. Though emissions of N and P have decreased significantly during the last five years effects of this reduction in environmental quality cannot be observed, except for a small decrease in nitrate concentration of the upper groundwater. The ex-ante evaluation of different variants for possible future levy-free surplus levels indicated that under the lowest variant, the nitrate concentration in groundwater will exceed 50 mg per litre on 14% of the area. The environmental effect of the different variants for P were not distinguished. The lowering of the levy-free surplus for P will have a drastic effect on the intensive livestock farms. The incorporation of fertiliser P under the MINAS system would be a cheap option to reduce the P surplus.
Westhoek
H
H
Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (RIVM), P.O. Box, NL-3702 BA Bilthoven. henk.westhoek@rivm.nl
van den Berg
R
R
de Hoop
W
W
van der Kamp
A
A
D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004777:Environment; D008372:Manure; D009426:Netherlands; D009566:Nitrates; D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000191:economics*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*
D008372:Manure; D009566:Nitrates; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen