How much nitrogen is emitted at livestock farms?

Twenty-nine percent of nitrogen from livestock feed was converted by cattle into products such as meat, milk and eggs. The rest of the nitrogen disappears into the manure. There has been hardly any improvement in animals’ ability to process nitrogen since 2000.

Nutrients in livestock feed, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are absorbed by cattle to a limited extent. This is referred to as use-efficiency. The nitrogen thus absorbed ends up in meat, milk or eggs. What animals do not absorb disappears largely with the manure in the soil or the air. In the early 1990s, nitrogen use-efficiency stood at 21 percent, and increased to 26 percent in the years 2000–2001. After that, use-efficiency improved only slightly.

Use-efficiency rose to 27 percent in 2004–2006, to 28 percent in 2007–2010 and to 29 percent in 2011. There has been no improvement since then.

Show tableNitrogen emissions at livestock farms (%)Hide tableNitrogen emissions at livestock farms (%)

Nitrogen emissions at livestock farms (%)

	Cattle (meat and milk)	Pigs (meat)	Poultry (meat and eggs)	Other animals
2000	19	35	41	10
2001	19	36	42	10
2002	20	37	42	11
2003	20	36	41	11
2004	21	38	40	13
2005	21	36	40	12
2006	22	35	39	13
2007	22	36	40	13
2008	22	36	39	13
2009	23	36	39	13
2010	23	37	39	13
2011	23	37	39	13
2012	24	37	41	13
2013	24	37	41	13
2014	23	38	42	13
2015	23	39	43	13
2016	24	39	43	15
2017	23	39	44	14
2018	23	40	42	15

Not all animals convert nitrogen equally efficiently. Nitrogen use-efficiency was highest in poultry at 42 percent. In the case of pigs, use-efficiency is 39 percent and in beef cattle only 23 percent. Use-efficiency rates have improved very moderately since 2000. Beef cattle use-efficiency was still 19 percent in 2000; in pigs this was 35 percent and in poultry 41 percent.

Nitrogen use-efficiency depends on composition of feed

Cattle feed consists of concentrates and roughage. The amount of nitrogen in concentrates was 420 million tonnes in 2018, i.e. 3 percent less than a year earlier. Grass, hay and silage maize contained 274 million kg of nitrogen, basically as much as in 2017.

The supply of nitrogen to livestock farms depends on both the size of the herd and the ratio of concentrates to roughage. For example, a kilo of grass or a kilo of concentrates contains up to almost three times as much nitrogen as a kilo of silage maize. If less maize is harvested, due to a disappointing harvest or a smaller maize acreage, as was the case in 2018, and the animals are fed more concentrates and grass, the roughage will contain more nitrogen.

Show tableNitrogen levels in concentrates and roughage at livestock farms (million kg)Hide tableNitrogen levels in concentrates and roughage at livestock farms (million kg)

Nitrogen levels in concentrates and roughage at livestock farms (million kg)

Year	Concentrates for cattle	Concentrates for pigs	Concentrates for poultry	Concentrates for other animals	Roughage for cattle	Roughage for other animals
2000	130	186	106	7	291	23
2010	129	168	107	7	257	17
2018	153	159	98	10	274	17

Less nitrogen lost

According to the nutrient budget, 711 million kg of nitrogen were supplied to livestock farms in 2018. Of this, 207 million kg was converted into animal products. The unused nitrogen – 504 million kg or 71 percent of all nitrogen supplied – disappeared into plants (352 million kg), the soil, the air, outside agriculture or they were part of inventory movements. In 2000, this was still 549 million kg, or 74 percent of the used nitrogen. The decrease is partly due to the more efficient application of fertiliser in arable farming. In addition, less nitrogen volatilised from animal houses and manure storage. The fact that less nitrogen was volatilised is also the result of a stricter manure policy that prescribed use standards for nitrogen.

Nitrogen emissions under production ceilings

In 2019, nitrogen excretion in livestock manure was 490 million kg. This is 14 million kg below the established nitrogen ceiling of 504.4 million kg. Last year, nitrogen excretion at dairy farms amounted to 281 million kg, just under the output ceiling (281.8 million kg) for this sector. Nitrogen excretion in the pig farming sector came to 94 million kg in 2019. This is also well under the nitrogen output ceiling of 99.1 million kg. Last year, the Dutch poultry sector produced 54.5 million kg of nitrogen excretions, well below the output ceiling of 60.3 million kg.

The questions

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