Landbouwpraktijk en waterkwaliteit op landbouwbedrijven aangemeld voor derogatie. Beschrijving van de meetnetopzet voor de periode 2006-2009 en de inhoud van de rapportages vanaf 2008

In 2006 RIVM and LEI set up a monitoring network that measures the consequences of the option for farmers to deviate from the European use-standard for animal manure (derogation). The monitoring network follows three hundred farms benefiting from individual derogations and records the consequences for agricultural practice and water quality. This report describes the design and set-up of the monitoring network, as well as the content and layout of the annual reports from 2008 onwards containing results of the monitoring network. The report indicates, for example, what data will be available at a certain point in time, and what methods will be used to calculate such factors as fertilisation and yield. The Nitrates Directive obliges Member States to limit the use of animal manure to a maximum of 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare. A Member State may request the European Commission to deviate from this obligation under certain conditions. In December 2005, the European Commission granted the Netherlands the right to derogate from the obligation from 2006 till 2009 inclusive, implying that farmers could use up to 250 kg of nitrogen via manure of grazing livestock (particularly cows). One of the conditions is that 70% or more of the acreage available for manure application is grass. The Netherlands authorities are also obliged to set up a monitoring network and to report the results of this network to the European Commission. The 300 farms participating in the monitoring represent a sample taken from the approximately 27,000 Netherlands farms benefiting from individual derogations. The network is part of the National Programme for Monitoring the Effectiveness of the Minerals Policy (LMM).