Derogation on the EU Nitrates Directive: does it make a difference?
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The paper discusses an ex ante evaluation
of the derogation on the Nitrates Directive for Flanders,
Belgium, which is a case of intensive but highly
productive livestock areas. The aim is to develop an
accurate simulation model to detect small differences in
manure surpluses caused by changes of manure
production and/or utilization. The system of models
consists of various modules to fine tune the calculations
of manure production, fertilizing behaviour and manure
allocation and disposal on and off farm. The results
show that derogation may cause the existing manure
surpluses to expire, if only nitrogen limits are considered
and no transactions costs are taken into account. When
also phosphate fertilization limits are considered, the
increase in manuring possibilities is much lower than
expected. Ongoing research focuses on the marginal
shifts in manure surplus at farm level and possible
effects of transactions costs.