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of their fertilisation management selected for the situation of their own
farm. It is a very complex matter to analyse how the farmers synthesise
their personal motives and drives with the external opportunities and
threats they perceive and the strengths and weaknesses of their farm into
specific management measures. Each farmer has a unique set of personal
and farm-specific characteristics, and the complex production process is an
extra complicating factor. This diversity can be taken into account with an
interactive simulation model (Baarda 1999). Each individual farm can then
be visualised by the computer using data from the FADN, so each farmer
makes decisions for his specific situation.
The model registers nutrient surpluses, costs and returns at both
crop and farm level. Included in the simulation model are the most
important relations between nutrient level and crop yield; it is therefore an
appropriate tool for analysing the yield and nutrient surplus effects of
different fertilisation tactics. The farmers were able to adjust their
fertilisation tactic on the computer by adjusting the level of fertiliser
application, the type, period and manner of manure applied and the use of
catch crops in order to achieve higher yields, higher margins and/or lower
taxes on surpluses.
The data on input-output relations used in the simulation model
were derived from agronomic insights and experiments from agronomic
research institutes. The basic assumption was that optimal yield would be
realised if the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus applied equalled the
fertiliser recommendations (Van Dijk 1999). At higher nutrient doses, yield
levels would not increase and at lower doses, yields would fall.
The farm-specific output levels and the input and output prices are
derived from the FADN. These data were normalised for prices and
influences of weather. The model has been tested on 10 farmers from the
Dutch Central Clay Area in an earlier workshop. The reactions of these
farmers were very positive; they felt very comfortable with the basic
assumptions and the input-output relations included. The content of the
simulation model was not modified, except for some modifications to
improve its user friendliness.
3.4 DEA analysis
DEA was employed to quantify the efficiency of nitrogen applied to Dutch
arable farms in the Southwest of the Netherlands. The basic standpoint of
productive efficiency, as applied in DEA, is to individually compare a set
of decision-making units (farms). DEA constructs a frontier representing
the most efficient farms and the method simultaneously calculates the
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