Agricultural Businesses Reduce Nitrogen Surplus

(CONNECT) The Strickhof Competence Center at the Office for Agriculture and Nature and the Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air in the Canton of Zurich and the Zurich Farmers' Association present the results of their resource project "Increasing individual farm nitrogen efficiency and reducing the risk of nitrogen loss". The project, which runs from 2018 to 2025, involves 19 farms for dairy cattle and arable farming, dairy cattle and grassland as well as processing (pigs, poultry), the project partners announced in a joint press release. Depending on the type of farm, they had set targets of 5 or 10 percent for reducing the nitrogen surplus and increasing nitrogen efficiency.

A nitrogen surplus occurs when more nitrogen is added to the farm than is released in the agricultural products or farmyard manure. It therefore carries the risk of nitrogen being released into the environment. Nitrogen efficiency, on the other hand, is a measure of how much yield is achieved per unit of nitrogen.

In the project, 17 of the 19 farms achieved their targets for reducing the nitrogen surplus. In contrast, only 7 farms were able to meet the nitrogen efficiency targets. Most participants want to continue with the most important measures from the project.

Andreas Buri points out in the press release that the project participants were given freedom in the choice of measures and the path to the goal. "This took into account the creative potential of the farm managers and incorporated their knowledge of the farm and location," says the board member of the Zurich Farmers' Association. ce/hs