Tool for Monitoring and Evaluating the On-farm Environment Management and Nutrient Use on Finnish Cattle Farms - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 286

classes are about the same in the cattle and manure balance so that in the class
“satisfactory” the nitrogen loss in cattle balance is 121-140 kg/ha and the utilisation rate
is under 60%. In the class “good” the figures are 101-120 kg/ha and 60-79%.

Figure 2. Nutrient balances on farms assessed by CFEAT

Values of nutrient balances and utilisation, 137 farms

100 %

50 %

0 %

Farm-gate balance of
nitrogen, utilisation % and
loss, kg/ha

Nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium quantities spread

Assessment of cattle and
manure balance

Soluble nitrogen and usable
phosphorus in field balance

Excellent 1 1 % 1 7 % 8 % 3 2 %

26 % 45 % 39 % 42 %

Good

61 % 31 % 45 % 20 %

Satisfactory

Poor 2 % 5 % 7 % 3 %

Discussion

As a general result we can say that on the cattle farms included in the project the level
of the environmental impacts of plant production, environmental management and animal
welfare is satisfactory or good. The farms take care of their environment, animals and
cultivation practices better than required by the statutory obligations in almost all sections
of the assessment. Development needs concern in most cases the management of the
nutrient flow on cattle farms; i.e. purchases and use of nutrients and quantities sold. The
care of the young cattle should also be developed.
The most important element in terms of the environment is the nutrient balances,
which also give information on the impacts of the activity on waters and the environment,
and the level of the activities in general. The analysis of the nutrient balance results
showed that that the efficiency of the use of manure on cattle farms and estimation of the
quantities of nutrients to be purchased should be improved. The results also showed that
balance calculations, especially the manure balance values, are seldom used in the
planning of fertilisation, even if the balances would be quite readily available to assist in
planning and as basic data for the following season.
On the farms included in the assessment the field balance values were slightly lower
than the manure balances. Most of the farms belonged to the classes “good” and
“excellent”, which shows that the average losses of nitrogen from arable lands was under
70 kg/ha and the phosphorus loss was under 20 kg/ha.