"Even though it's not producing or importing any
highly-available nitrogen material, a general beef, sheep and
arable farm will still need to do this calculation," saysAndersons
' consultant Oliver Lee.
"This shouldn't be as worrying as for a dairy unit - generally
these farms are much less intense in terms of nitrogen produced and
beef cattle and sheep are much lower producers than dairy cows, so
the implications are not as great as for a dairy farm."
- The calculation begins by working out the total nitrogen output
of the livestock on the farm. The DEFRA booklets provide the
information needed.
- First, establish the total N output from livestock manures each
year.
- Divide this by the total farm area to give the Whole Farm N
loading level.
- Compare this to the 170kg/ha limit. "As you can see, our
example is way under the limit," says Mr Lee.
Back to front page of guide
