Netherlands -Twenty percent fewer livestock will curb manure oversupply
http://www.wur.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/Twenty_percent_fewer_livestock_will_curb_manure_oversupply.htm
10-May-2010 (16 years 29 days ago)The oversupply of manure from Dutch livestock farms is rising as a result of stricter environmental regulations. To solve this problem without manure export or technological innovations, the number of livestock will have to be reduced by twenty percent before 2020, reports the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI).
LEI distinguishes between two situations in its attempt to arrive at a balanced manure market in the Netherlands. In both these situations, livestock farmers have to deal with a phosphate quota which is subsequently being creamed off by the government. In scenario A, the phosphate quota cannot be marketed. The livestock would then have to be reduced across the board by 19.5 percent so that this mineral quota can be maintained. In scenario B, the phosphate quota may be sold. The number of cattle in the Netherlands would then have to be reduced by 12 percent, the number of meat pigs by 30 percent and the number of breeding pigs by 35 percent. 'The better-off livestock farmers would then buy phosphate rights from those who give up livestock farming', Vrolijk explains the differences between the two scenarios.
LEI distinguishes between two situations in its attempt to arrive at a balanced manure market in the Netherlands. In both these situations, livestock farmers have to deal with a phosphate quota which is subsequently being creamed off by the government. In scenario A, the phosphate quota cannot be marketed. The livestock would then have to be reduced across the board by 19.5 percent so that this mineral quota can be maintained. In scenario B, the phosphate quota may be sold. The number of cattle in the Netherlands would then have to be reduced by 12 percent, the number of meat pigs by 30 percent and the number of breeding pigs by 35 percent. 'The better-off livestock farmers would then buy phosphate rights from those who give up livestock farming', Vrolijk explains the differences between the two scenarios.