Mineral Accounting System Research Articles

Discussion

The application of nutrients affect the quality of the environment which justifies the consideration of regulations regarding their use in agriculture. In the early 1990s The Netherlands decided to use the indicator 'nutrient surplus at farm level' as the basis for a regulation which was called the mineral accounting system (MINAS). Exceedance of specified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) surpluses ('N and P loss standards'), resulted in a financial levy per kg exceedance. This NP surplus approach is a 'goal-oriented regulation' rather than a 'means-oriented regulation', giving farmers maximum freedom to stop nutrient leaks where they considered measures to be most effective in their specific situation. In 2003, however, the European Court of Justice ruled that The Netherlands Action Programme, of which MINAS was part, was in conflict with the EU Nitrates Directive. Important consideration here was that the legislation in The Netherlands contained as yet no specified application rates for N. The Netherlands was also reproached for implicitly allowing application rates of more than 170 kg N in the form of animal manure per ha per year without possessing formal permission by the European Commission to deviate from this threshold, a so-called 'derogation'. A new, and meanwhile by the European Commission accepted Netherlands Action Programme defines the required N application rates, N fertilizer replacement values of various organic manure types, and periods in which the use of fertilizers and manures is forbidden. All these aspects will be sharpened in the years after 2006.

Nutrient management regulations in The Netherlands

The application of nutrients affect the quality of the environment which justifies the consideration of regulations regarding their use in agriculture. In the early 1990s The Netherlands decided to use the indicator ‘nutrient surplus at farm level’ as the basis for a regulation which was called the mineral accounting system (MINAS). Exceedance of specified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) surpluses (‘N and P loss standards’), resulted in a financial levy per kg exceedance. This NP surplus approach is a ‘goal-oriented regulation’ rather than a ‘means-oriented regulation’, giving farmers maximum freedom to stop nutrient leaks where they considered measures to be most effective in their specific situation. In 2003, however, the European Court of Justice ruled that The Netherlands Action Programme, of which MINAS was part, was in conflict with the EU Nitrates Directive. Important consideration here was that the legislation in The Netherlands contained as yet no specified application rates for N. The Netherlands was also reproached for implicitly allowing application rates of more than 170 kg N in the form of animal manure per ha per year without possessing formal permission by the European Commission to deviate from this threshold, a so-called ‘derogation’. A new, and meanwhile by the European Commission accepted Netherlands Action Programme defines the required N application rates, N fertilizer replacement values of various organic manure types, and periods in which the use of fertilizers and manures is forbidden. All these aspects will be sharpened in the years after 2006.

Evolution of farm management, nitrogen efficiency and economic performance on Dutch dairy farms reducing external inputs

The implementation of the statutory Mineral Accounting System (MINAS) in the Netherlands in the period 1998–2003 required large reductions in nutrient inputs of dairy farms. Patterns in farm management adjustments throughout 6 years and their effectiveness in terms of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and economic performance were evaluated for 45 commercial farms participating in a regional nutrient management project. Six groups of farms were identified that differed in initial NUE and the change therein. Three groups of farms that were able to rapidly reduce fertilizer N input and establish a consistent farm management strategy were most successful in improving NUE. These farms had a higher gross margin per 100 kg milk than farms without a consistent strategy. The three effective strategies were primarily characterized by (i) continuous, gradual adjustment of the integrated farm management combined with a slight reduction in milk production per ha (re-balancing) versus increasing productivity per animal, thereby reducing maintenance N requirements, while (ii) maintaining or (iii) increasing the production intensity per ha. It was concluded that different approaches to improve NUE can be successful, also in economic terms, although a direct relationship between NUE and gross margin was not observed. The probably implicit choice for adoption of a strategy may be governed by farm endowment and the farmer's skills and objectives.

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.

Effects of animal productivity on the costs of complying with environmental legislation in Dutch dairy farming

Dutch dairy farmers have to comply with two policies that aim to reduce losses of nitrogen and phosphate to soil and ground water. The first policy (Mineral Accounting System, MINAS) uses a farm gate balance approach for registering nutrient input and output and consequently nutrient surpluses. Surpluses above an acceptable level are taxed. The second policy (Manure Transfer Agreement System, MTAS) aims at restricting manure application by requiring a manure transfer agreement for manure that is produced on the farm but cannot be applied according to maximum application rates. A possible way to meet both policies is to increase animal productivity in order to complete the milk quota with a smaller herd. This paper explores the impact of increasing animal productivity on economic results of dairy farms of different intensities taking into account environmental policies and a restricting quota. Furthermore, the yearly costs of extra quota are determined below which it is more interesting to buy extra milk quota in response to increasing milk production per cow than to decrease the number of cows. A linear programming model of a dairy farm is used to examine the economic and environmental effects of improved productivity for three farms differing in intensity. From the results, it appears that an improvement of dairy cow productivity leads to considerably lower costs of meeting the environmental policies. From the economic values (EV) of milk production under the 2003 environmental legislation follows that farms with a low intensity can pay three times as much for additional quota than high intensity farms.

Farm structure or farm management: effective ways to reduce nutrient surpluses on dairy farms and their financial impacts

To control and prevent nutrient pollution from agricultural non-point sources, the Dutch government introduced the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS), a nutrient bookkeeping system which taxes farms with nutrient surpluses exceeding safe threshold values. Since the levies can be severe it is imperative to know what causes high nutrient surpluses. The large variation in surpluses is usually attributed to management factors like grazing, feeding and fertilising. Reducing surpluses is therefore assumed to be most effective through an improvement of management. Using technical and nutrient bookkeeping data of specialised dairy farms over 3 years (1997–1999) the effect of farm structure and farm management on nutrient surpluses is analysed with a partitioned linear regression model. Furthermore, the financial impacts are studied. The ratio between structure and management for the explanation of the nitrogen surplus was 1:3, and for phosphate 1:4 over the period 1997–1999. These ratios show that in current practices management is far more important than structure. Changing farm management rather than farm structure can therefore reduce nutrient surpluses more effectively, making it a more interesting approach for policy makers. Furthermore, improving management will also improve financial results.

Identification of farmer characteristics and farm strategies explaining changes in environmental management and environmental and economic performance of dairy farms

In 1998, the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS) was introduced in The Netherlands. MINAS penalises farms with a levy if the farm nutrient surpluses exceed a certain threshold. The threshold is strict, meaning that most farmers need to change their environmental management and performance to avoid high levies. Since MINAS is designed to leave ample room for farmers to follow the course of change of their choice, it is crucial to know whether or not different farmers and different farm strategies lead to different environmental results. A strategic management framework is used to model changes in implementation and performance on specialised dairy farms. Financial and nutrient bookkeeping data of 114 farms, collected over the period 1997–1999 are combined with survey data on farmer characteristics and farm strategies. Results of Linear Structural Equation Analysis (LISREL) showed that the main farmer characteristic explaining change in environmental management was education. Better-educated farmers chose to increase the intensity of the farming system, and cope with the corresponding increase in environmental pressure by improving the production capacity of the herd and improving operational management. Farm strategies explain the differences in the changes in nutrient management. A strategy of process control focuses on optimising tactical management, whereas a growth strategy and a diversification strategy are strongly related to changes in farm structure. Changes in technical and environmental performance in addition to changes resulting from implementation changes are positively affected by education, but show no strong relationship with any strategy, indicating that environmental improvements can be achieved regardless of the way a farmer chooses to develop his farm. Finally, an improvement of financial performance was shown to be significantly related to an improvement of environmental performance.

Assessment of the quality of farmers’ environmental management and its effects on resource use efficiency: a Dutch case study

Most research on efficiency of farm management focuses on the relationship between an array of individual management variables and technical performance. Few studies have analysed the relationship between the total complex of farm management and technical farm performance. The present study uses the concept of strategic management and applies it to nitrogen management on Dutch arable farms. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to assess farm specific efficiency scores for fertiliser use. For a sub-sample of the farms used in the DEA analysis, the strategic management concept was addressed by means of a workshop. The management elements (objectives, internal analysis of weaknesses and strengths, external analysis of opportunities and threats, and synthesis) were made operational by relating them to the introduction of the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS) by 2001 for Dutch arable farms. The external analysis was evaluated by questions about the MINAS rules; the internal analysis was evaluated by questions on the expected consequences for the farmer's N management. An interactive simulation model evaluating whether farmers were able to choose the optimal fertilisation strategy in view of MINAS assessed the ‘quality of the synthesis’. A positive significant correlation was found between the ‘quality of the synthesis’ and N efficiency.

Potential Effects of Accumulating Environmental Policies on Dutch Dairy Farms

Consequences for farm management, environment, and economics of environmental policies for Dutch dairy farms were examined through modeling with two policies applied successively to typical dairy farms. Both policies aim to decrease nutrient losses in the soil. The first policy, the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS), is a farm gate balance approach that was introduced in 1998. Acceptable surpluses and levies are gradually tightened in this system until final standards are used in 2003. The second policy was developed to comply with the European Union Nitrate Directive and is called the Manure Transfer Agreement System (MTAS). This system links production and use of animal manure. Farms that produce more manure than the amount that can be applied on their own land according to standards are obliged to have a contract with a farmer who is willing to apply the surplus of manure on his farm. This system will be first applied in 2002 and final standards will be used in 2003. Results of the MINAS policy show fine-tuning of protein feeding especially by replacing grass in summer rations by maize silage and low protein concentrate. Another general result of MINAS is decreased use of N-fertilizer on grassland. As a consequence, division of the area between maize silage and grassland is adjusted. Income drop ranges from €1400 to 4800 (5 to 18%). Mineral Accounting System N surpluses drop by 45 to 113kg/ha (23 to 37%). Adding MTAS is an incentive for more grassland as grassland has a higher manure application standard. Particularly for intensive farms, MTAS leads to high extra costs (€2600). However, expected environmental improvement is negligible. Therefore, from an environmental point of view there is no logic in adding the MTAS.

The Dutch Mineral Accounting System and the European Nitrate Directive: implications for N and P management and farm performance

Agricultural nutrients can be a significant source of groundwater pollution. This paper studies the possible effects on farm management of a newly introduced policy instrument to control nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of groundwater bodies in The Netherlands. Ecological, technical, political, as well as financial issues, associated with the agricultural nutrient pollution problem, are considered. In response to the concern of the European Community (EC) for pollution of groundwater, The Netherlands implemented the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS), which focusses on nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus flows) on individual farms, and taxes farms whose nutrient surplus exceeds a defined limit. To investigate the implications of MINAS for individual farm performance, financial and nutrient bookkeeping data of 194 farms, distributed over five farm types, were collected from 1997 through 1999. This paper shows that nutrient management performance of farmers varied largely between and within farm types, not only in absolute figures but also in terms of nutrient efficiency. The study also indicated that levies or taxes for excess nutrient surpluses could be high, ranging from ▪179 ha −1 for arable farmers to ▪404 ha −1 for mixed dairy and intensive livestock producers. These levies would reduce gross margin (GM) by 8% on average and can threaten continuity on an individual farm level. Therefore, current performance has to change considerably for farmers to be able to make the final surplus standards in 2003. Furthermore, as a consequence of objections of the EC to the Dutch policy, application standards for manure were introduced. This study showed that this does not prove to guarantee safe nutrient management as well as MINAS does, but will impact financial performance more, due to higher manure disposal costs.

Management strategies on Dutch dairy farms to meet environmental regulations; a multi-case study

In 1998, the Dutch government introduced the Mineral Accounting System (MINAS) to prevent and reduce pollution of groundwater resources by agricultural nutrients. If farmers do not comply with this system they will be taxed, which could constitute a threat to the financial viability of their farms. This paper presents the results of a multi-case study approach to explore the ways in which dairy farms cope strategically, tactically and operationally with the introduction of MINAS. Using three-year panel data from 72 farms and the results of an interactive workshop, propositions regarding nutrient management decisions were formulated and tested. In general, the most environmentally and cost-effective order of nutrient management optimization proved to be: (1) the optimization of production through more accurate management (operational level), (2) the reduction of inputs (tactical level), and (3) a re-evaluation of farm intensity (strategic level). Even though MINAS constitutes a significant change in the external environment of farms it does not cause farmers to alter their strategy. The large variation found in the ways farmers choose to cope with nutrient management problems on their farm appeared to be related to factors like preferences and competencies. These factors affect the choices farmers make to deal with environmental problems.

Mineral policy in the Netherlands and nitrate policy within the European Community

In the Netherlands, the manure problem has been on the political agenda for many years as a result of conflicting objectives within society. Since the 1980s, measures have been taken to reduce the environmental impact of manure to meet national and international — mainly European — environmental objectives. The infringement procedures of the European Commission and the court rulings on the Pig Farming Restructuring Act have forced the Dutch Government to tighten its manure policy. The integral approach the Government has opted for, is based on a combination of the MINeral Accounting System (MINAS) and manure disposal contracts, both of which are to be implemented within the framework of the Nitrate Directive of the European Union (EU). The Dutch Government advocates realization of the Directive's objectives but at the same time claims some freedom in selecting the means to attain these goals. This has resulted in points of discussion with the EU. This paper reviews the history of manure legislation in the framework of environmental policy of the Netherlands and the EU, describes the adaptations that the Dutch Government has made to meet the requirements of the EU Nitrate Directive, and discusses the points on which both sides have different opinions.

Environmental impact of heifer management decisions on Dutch dairy farms

Dairy farming contributes substantially to Dutch environmental problems. A dynamic heifer rearing model was used to determine the extent to which the rearing activity influences nutrient flows on a dairy farm. Based on current rearing conditions, the economic optimal rearing policy resulted in an average accounting nutrient surplus of 51.4 kg of nitrogen and 17.0 kg of phosphate per heifer per year. To study the sensitivity of the optimal rearing policy to environmental measures as the Dutch mineral accounting system (MINAS), the model was extended with the mineral accounting relationships and a 'least mineral' ration formulator. Optimal rearing policy, in terms of growth rate and breeding decisions, was only slightly influenced by these measures. The effects on ration composition and nutrient surpluses were considerable.

New Technologies in Low Pollution Swine Diets : Diet Manipulation and Use of Synthetic Amino Acids, Phytase and Phase Feeding for Reduction of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Excretion and Ammonia Emission - Review -

In the paper insight is given in the legislation policy to restrain environmental pollution by pig husbandry, focused on The Netherlands (Mineral Accounting System). Besides, nutritional measures are presented to reduce environmental pollution by lowering excretion of N and P, emphasizing (multi) phase feeding, the use of low protein, synthetic amino acids supplemented diets, phytase and its effect on phosphorus and calcium digestibility, its interaction with phytic acid and proteins, and the environmental impact of the use of phytase in pig diets. Also, nutritional means are indicated to reduce ammonia volatilization from pig operations. It is concluded that nutrition management can substantially contribute to reduction of N and P excretion by pigs, mainly by lowering dietary protein levels, (multi) phase feeding and the use of microbial phytase, and that the use of phytase on a large scale in The Netherlands has a tremendous environmental impact. In 20 years the excretion of P in growing-finishing pigs has more than halved. Ammonia emission from manure of pigs can be reduced substantially by lowering dietary protein content, but also by including additional non-starch polysaccharides in the diet. A very promising method to reduce ammonia emission is to manipulate dietary cation-anion difference, e.g. by adding acidifying salts to the diet, which will lower pH of urine substantially. Further research is desirable. This also applies to determining dietary factors influencing the odour release from manure. Finally, some speculation on the future of pig farming from an environmental viewpoint is presented.

Mineral accounting: the way to combat eutrophication and to achieve the drinking water objective

In 1998 the Netherlands government introduced a new manure policy in order to combat pollution of the environment by an excess supply of nutrients in agriculture. This policy is based on a mineral accounting system (MINAS) at the farm level and is focused more on nitrogen than in the past. MINAS came into force by an alteration of the law on fertilisers (Meststoffenwet). In MINAS chemical nitrogen fertilisers are included, because the use of these fertilisers contributes in the same order of magnitude to nitrogen surpluses as the application of animal manure. The new policy aims to alleviate the nitrogen problems caused in the period 1998–2008/2010. By implementing MINAS surface, waters will eventually be protected against eutrophication and the quality of groundwater used for drinking water will improve. Farms record all nutrient inputs and outputs accurately and report their farm surplus. A surplus exceeding the levy-free surplus is subject to a charge. The levy-free surplus will diminish in the period 1998–2008/2010. MINAS is only practicable if a balance exists between production of and demand for animal manure. Therefore the Dutch government has decided on a 20% reduction in the number of pigs in the short term.