Effects of Market and Regulatory Changes on Livestock Manure Management in Southern Alberta

A spatial model of intensive livestock production for a region in southern Alberta was used to evaluate the impact of economic factors and regulation on regional returns and optimal manure management. Under current conditions, profit maximizing application of manure met nitrogen requirements but phosphorus application was about three times the crop requirements. Higher commercial nitrogen prices did not significantly alter the optimal manure application, but reduced regional returns. With a phosphorus limit regulation, it was less costly to compost about half of the beef cattle manure to remove it from the region than to truck manure long distances to meet the regulation. A $0.91/t reduction in the costs of composting, or a subsidy to reduce costs, was required to meet the phosphorus regulation. The net costs of the subsidy were slightly less than that ofphosphorus regulation. Future research needs to explore the economic market and limitations of composting for manure management before any composting policy is initiated. Nous avons utilisé un modèle spatial de la production animale intensive dans une région du sud de l'Alberta pour évaluer l'impact de la réglementation et de facteurs économiques sur les rendements économiques régionaux et la gestion optimale du fumier. Dans les conditions actuelles, l'épandage de fumier effectué en vue de maximiser les profits a respecté les exigences en azote, tandis que la quantité de phosphore était trois fois supérieure aux besoins des cultures. Le prix élevé de l'azote commercial n'a pas modifié de manière significative l'épandage optimal de fumier, mais a diminué les rendements économiques dans la région. En raison de la réglementation sur le taux d'application limite du phosphore, il a été moins coûteux de composter environ la moitié du fumier de bovins pour l'éliminer de la région que de le transporter par camion sur de longues distances. Pour respecter la réglementation sur le phosphore, il faudrait diminuer le coût du compostage de 0,91 $/tonne ou offrir une subvention équivalente pour diminuer les coûts. Les coûts nets de la subvention étaient légèrement inférieurs à ceux de la réglementation sur le phosphore. Des recherches ultérieures devront être effectuées pour explorer le marchééconomique et les limites du compostage dans le cadre de la gestion du fumier avant d'élaborer toute politique sur le compostage.     

中国畜禽粪尿肥料化利用养分平衡分析

[目的]畜禽养殖污染已经对生态环境造成了严重威胁。畜禽粪污资源化利用，是习近平总书记亲自部署推动的民生实事，而畜禽粪肥还田利用是解决畜禽养殖污染问题的根本出路，也是治本之策。基于此，文章测算分析了中国不同地区畜禽粪尿肥料化利用的氮、磷养分平衡情况，有利于掌握不同地区畜禽粪尿肥料化利用的潜力，为畜禽粪尿资源高效利用提供决策支持。[方法]在采用排污系数法计算我国畜禽养殖粪尿、全氮、全磷产生量的基础上，采用《畜禽粪污土地承载力测算技术指南》中区域植物粪肥养分需求量计算公式及其相关参数，计算了不同地区作物养分需求量，进而分析了全国不同地区畜禽粪尿肥料化利用氮、磷养分平衡情况。[结果] 2017年我国畜禽粪尿产生量为16.25亿t，畜禽粪尿中氮、磷产生量分别为899.84万t和141.22万t；在粪肥施用比例50%，施肥养分供给占比35%、45%和55%情况下，全国平均氮、磷养分供需比均低于0.5。[结论]从不同地区氮、磷养分平衡分析结果来看，我国畜禽粪尿氮、磷的消纳还有较大的空间。     

青岛市畜禽粪便排放量与肥料化利用潜力分析

在确定畜禽粪便年排放量和农田所需养分量估算方法的基础上,根据2011~2014年青岛市畜禽养殖量和农作物产量数据,估算青岛市畜禽粪便产生量及其主要养分含量和农田所需养分量,并从肥料化利用角度分析畜禽粪便资源化利用潜力及畜禽粪便中氮、磷养分的贡献率。结果表明,如果畜禽粪便能够完全实现肥料化利用,则畜禽粪便中养分的化肥替代率达60%以上,可见畜禽粪便肥料化利用潜力巨大;从青岛市各区的氮、磷养分贡献率可以看出,城阳区存在氮和磷污染风险,崂山区和莱西市存在磷污染风险。     

Transaction Costs of Environmental Policies and Returns to Scale: The Case of Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans

Comprehensive nutrient management plans are being promoted to reduce excess nutrient applications on livestock farms to improve water quality. Development of these plans has been shown to exhibit increasing returns to scale but these costs did not include farmer time. Data from a farmer survey are used to characterize the magnitude and determinants of the transaction costs of comprehensive nutrient management plan development in the Midwest. The analyses confirm that the time spent by farmers exhibits increasing returns to scale. Ignoring the hours spent by farmers on plan development underestimates time requirements by approximately 10%.     

基于耕地消纳的畜禽粪便环境承载力分析——以安康市为例

[目的]选取陕西省安康市作为实例进行研究。[方法]通过文献调研与相关数据资料收集,理论上量化、分析该区域的畜禽粪便环境承载力,现实中可为优化畜禽养殖结构,推动养殖业绿色发展提供参考。依据我国有关畜禽粪污排泄的标准,运用排污系数法对安康市2014年10个区县的畜禽粪便产生量、主要污染物的产生量与流失量进行核算。科学假设区域内产生的畜禽粪便都通过当年有效耕地方式消纳,并将不同畜种产生的畜禽粪便量统一换算为猪粪当量,计算出单位耕地面积猪粪当量负荷及警报值,在此基础上,参照相关标准得到安康市各区县所对应的预警级别。[结果]2014年安康市畜禽粪便总产生量为647.79万t,其中牛粪产生量最大,产生量最少的是家禽粪;主要污染物中,COD的产生量与流失量都最大且成正比关系;所有区县中,畜禽粪便污染物产生量最多的县为旬阳县。同时,安康市2014年畜禽粪便单位耕地面积猪粪当量负荷均值是30.495 7,单位耕地面积猪粪当量负荷警报均值为0.76,总体警报值级别为Ⅲ级,表明在该区现阶段产生的畜禽粪便已对安康市整体环境有了一定影响。不同区县之间的单位面积耕地畜禽粪便猪粪当量负荷有所差异,全市警报值已经达到Ⅱ级的区县有5个,分别是汉滨区、紫阳县、岚皋县、平利县和白河县,对环境稍有影响;汉阴县、宁陕县和镇坪县警报值达到了Ⅲ级,对环境已有定影响;石泉县和旬阳县警报值最大,为Ⅳ级,对环境造成较严重威胁。[结论]针对安康市畜禽粪便对环境所产生的不同级别的威胁与压力,笔者最后提出可行地提高畜禽养殖环境承载力的建议,可能为畜禽养殖区域发展战略提供科学依据。     

On the efficiency of composting organic wastes

We develop a mathematical programming model for the analysis of a nationwide waste‐management system based on composting of organic wastes. The model integrates a wide range of engineering, environmental, and economic factors, including estimated production functions based on agronomic experimental data, as well as demand functions for vegetative agricultural products. The model is applied to the case of Israel, comprising 14 groups of municipalities as the source of organic municipal solid waste and wastewater‐treatment sludge, 8 composting plants, and 13 agricultural regions; the latter constitute the source of livestock manure and are the consumers of compost to be potentially applied to 42 crops. From a social point of view, 90% of the compost's potential production was found to be warranted. This efficient solution, however, does not emerge under the base‐year‐observed situation, largely because of the absence of source separation of organic municipal solid waste and the farmers' lack of awareness of compost's advantages as a substitute for conventional fertilizers and as a soil‐amending product. Consequently, most of the organic wastes are disposed of by landfilling, resulting in a loss of $102 million per year in terms of net social benefits. While the consumers of agricultural products are expected to benefit from a shift from the base‐year situation to the efficient solution, most of their gain is expected to come at the expense of the farming sector. Nevertheless, the appearance of the efficient solution does not depend on administrative compensation payments, but on the removal of bottlenecks. Potential government intervention strategies to promote the change are analyzed.     

新疆畜禽粪污排放时空演变特征及预警分析基于85个县市数据

目的 探究新疆县市畜禽粪污空间分布与时空演变特征,并对农用地（包括耕地、园地、人工牧草地）畜禽粪便氮磷污染风险进行预警,为优化新疆农牧业空间布局,科学开展畜禽粪污资源化利用整县推进工作提供理论依据。方法 文章采用1988—2017年统计数据,选用排泄系数法估算新疆85个县市畜禽粪污产生量,并利用ArcGIS分析空间分布及时空演变特征,进一步根据2017年新疆县市农用地作物粪肥养分需求来进行环境风险预警。结果 （1）1988—2017年新疆县市畜禽粪污产生总量变化呈现出上升—下降交替波动的特征,牛、羊为粪污产生量主要来源。（2）从分布与演变看,粪污在北疆县市及南疆部分县市分布较多,且在向北增加,南疆县市分布变化不大,东疆县市一直以来分布较少。（3）以氮、磷为计,分别有44.7%、40%的县市预警值均大于1,实际畜禽养殖总量都超过了环境容量,环境风险为较严重或严重。结论 应根据不同县市粪污分布及预警情况选择不同的种养优化与布局方案,多途径提高牛羊养殖效率,提升牛羊粪污资源化利用水平,因地制宜选择粪污资源化利用模式。     

基于种养结合的畜禽养殖环境承载力研究*——以舒兰市为例

[目的]种养结合有利于促进农作物秸秆和畜禽粪便的资源化利用,进而减少农业面源污染,促进农业绿色发展,当前确定区域种养的匹配问题是发展种养结合的关键。[方法]文章根据农田氮养分平衡理论,基于农作物秸秆和畜禽粪便就地就近利用的原则,结合种植和养殖业年度统计数据,利用修正的氮养分平衡法估算舒兰市畜禽养殖环境承载力,并分析全市各乡镇的种养平衡状况。[结果]2015年舒兰市单位农用地面积的实际畜禽养殖量为17.3头/hm~2(猪当量),理论估算出的单位农用地面积畜禽养殖环境承载力为14.6头/hm~2(猪当量),实际畜禽养殖量已经超出畜禽养殖环境承载力的上限;在17个乡镇中,有8个乡镇的实际养殖量还没有达到畜禽环境承载力的上限;如果考虑到畜禽粪便加工成有机肥可销往外地的情况,当全市有20%的畜禽粪便加工成有机肥,就能实现全市的种养平衡。[结论]在将来县域发展种养结合过程中,通过发展有机肥产业是缓解实际畜禽养殖量超出畜禽养殖环境承载力上限的可行办法,同时,应加强各乡镇的种养匹配的量化估算,科学规划各乡镇种植与养殖结构使之实现种养平衡,减少因种养不匹配带来的环境承载力负荷过大的问题。研究结果为舒兰市养殖业的可持续发展提供科学指导,为"南畜北移"战略的实施提供参考依据,对推动县域农业绿色发展具有一定的启示意义。     

基于种养平衡的成都市畜禽养殖环境效应分析

[目的]文章以成都为实例,旨在科学估算畜禽养殖产排污总量和耕地承载负荷,准确评价畜禽养殖潜在环境风险状态。[方法]通过收集成都市农业统计数据,依据我国有关畜禽的产排污系数,根据计算公式估算了2015年成都畜禽养殖粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的产生量,估算了成都各区(市)县畜禽粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的耕地承载负荷和警报值,采用畜禽粪便耕地负荷警报值分级方法评价了畜禽粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的潜在环境风险状态。[结果]2015年成都畜禽粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的产生总量分别为1 031.90万t、5.69万t、1.09万t,其中生猪粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的产生量分别为707.49万t、3.24万t、0.77万t,贡献率最大,为65.51%,其次分别为家禽20.25%,牛8.63%,肉兔2.96%和肉羊2.65%;全市平均畜禽粪便、粪便氮和粪便磷的耕地承载负荷分别为20.40t/hm~2、112.51kg/hm~2、21.47kg/hm~2,均低于耕地负荷限量值,警报值均低于0.7,属于Ⅱ级,处于低风险状态,环境容量总体可接受,但大邑县、新津县和邛崃市略超耕地负荷限量值,存在微超载现象。[结论]2015年成都畜禽养殖粪便、粪便氮、粪便磷的耕地承载负荷总体上处于低风险状态,其中有8个区(市)县处于无风险状态,7个区(市)县处于低风险状态,2个区(市)县处于中等风险状态,3个区(市)县处于较高风险状态,没有出现高风险和极高风险状态的区(市)县;从区域布局来看,西南片区有3个区(市)县养殖比重稍大,应该果断调减养殖量;针对成都市畜禽养殖潜在环境风险状态,提出降低环境风险的对策建议,可为成都市调整优化畜禽养殖区域布局,制定畜禽养殖污染防治规划和政府宏观决策提供科学参考。     

The Manure Hits the Land: Economic and Environmental Implications When Land Application of Nutrients Is Constrained

The discharge of manure nutrients into area waters from confined animal feeding operations is considered a leading contributor to U.S. water quality impairments. An option to mitigate these impairments is to constrain land application of manure. When these constraints are particularly binding, due to minimal acceptance of manure as a substitute for commercial fertilizer, potentially large and unanticipated changes in returns to agricultural production and water quality may occur. Moreover, some of the cost of meeting the constraints is passed on to consumers through higher prices and to a portion of rural economies through lower production rates and labor expenditures.     

Integrated assessment of water framework directive nitrate reduction measures

This article illustrates a statistical approach for deriving farm economic impacts of policy options aiming to reduce nitrate diffuse pollution. Building upon Fezzi et al. (2008) , who assess the costs of Water Framework Directive‐related measures on farm accounts data, we estimate regression models allowing such costs to be predicted for any region for which land use patterns and livestock numbers are known. We derive economic impacts in terms of changes in farm gross margin for (a) reducing inorganic fertilizer application, (b) reducing livestock stocking rates, and (c) converting arable land to ungrazed grassland. A case study of the agriculturally diverse Yorkshire Derwent catchment, in the North of England, demonstrates the overall approach. In addition, for this illustration, we combine these cost estimates with prediction of the water quality changes arising from each measure, derived via an integrated hydrological model of the Derwent. This allows a comparison of cost‐effectiveness. Finally, we implement our spatially explicit approach to target the measures to specific subcatchments identified as being of particular environmental policy interest.     

Cost of Meeting Manure Nutrient Application Standards in Hog Production: The Roles of EQIP and Fertilizer Offsets

The Environmental Protection Agency requires concentrated animal feeding operations to develop and implement a comprehensive nutrient management plan. Changes in manure management to meet nutrient application standards will increase production costs. Some of these costs can be offset by savings from replacing commercial fertilizer with manure nutrients, and through financial assistance programs such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). A manure application cost model was used to examine the costs to confined hog farms of meeting nutrient application standards, and the ability of fertilizer offsets and EQIP to reduce these costs.     

ValorE: An integrated and GIS-based decision support system for livestock manure management in the Lombardy region (northern Italy)

Intensive agriculture and livestock breeding represent critical factors in the Lombardy region since the nitrate vulnerable zones are 62% of utilised agricultural plain area. The aim of reducing the environmental risk caused by agriculture activities (e.g. nitrogen losses into groundwater and atmosphere) can be only achieved through a critical and scientific analysis of livestock manure management in a whole-farm perspective. Keeping in mind this objective, the decision support system (DSS) ValorE was developed. It can be described as a tool able to evaluate from the environmental, technical, agronomic and economic points of view the main components of manure management (production, storage, treatment and land application) for a variety of livestock types (i.e., cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats and horses), under different scenarios adopted at farm and territorial scale. ValorE consists of three main components: data management subsystem, model management subsystem and two versions of user-interface, both for farm and territorial scale. Most of the inputs to the DSS comes from external databases, while a software tool developed in the .NET environment and implemented using object oriented programming (C# language), provides the logic to manage the scenario simulation of agronomic and environmental farm-scale models. Users and stakeholders can carry out comparative analysis, starting from the knowledge of the current perspective, in terms of manure management system at farm or territorial scale by interrogating the available databases. Moreover, they can generate different alternative scenarios thanks to different options for the manure handling and cropping system simulation. Then they can finally evaluate and compare different scenarios through multidisciplinary and synthetic indicators but also visualise spatial effects exploiting the coupled webGIS. ValorE is therefore an attempt to offer a comprehensive tool for improving both farm strategy and decision making process, which is particularly important in a very intensive agricultural area, with one of the highest livestock density in the world, as Lombardy.     

考虑奖惩分配机制的畜禽粪污第三方治理演化博弈分析——基于“无过错责任原则”

目的 为了有效推动我国畜禽养殖粪污治理,促进农业的可持续发展。方法 文章基于组织行为视角,采用演化博弈的方法,构建畜禽粪污治理中养殖企业、第三方治理公司和地方政府的三方演化博弈模型,依据“无过错责任原则”,对养殖企业与第三方治理公司的责任进行界定,并引入奖惩分配机制,通过求解三方复制动态方程均衡点,对各主体的渐进式稳定条件进行了分析,运用MATLAB软件仿真了相关参数对系统稳定性的影响。结果 奖惩力度、奖惩分配系数以及声誉收益的提高均对养殖企业和第三方治理公司的行为产生正向影响,且养殖企业较第三方治理公司表现出更强的收益敏感性,上级政府的政策支持和行政问责力度的增大以及地方政府监管成本的降低均可以有效避免地方政府监管缺位现象的发生。结论 建议落实养殖企业和第三方治理公司的主体责任,设置合理的奖惩力度和分配系数。     

Raising offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in sub-Saharan Africa: a transaction cost economics approach

Farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa are constrained by large transaction costs associated with marketing of their livestock. However, transaction costs are often not taken into account in the analysis of factors hampering the development of livestock marketing in this region. This article empirically measures the influence of transaction costs on the offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in Uganda. The study is based on the monitoring of 696 cattle transactions in three districts of Uganda from August 2004 to August 2005. The estimated models suggest that proportional transaction costs represented by the state of roads, distance to markets, and time taken to reach the market are important variables constraining market participation. In order to raise offtake from the national herd, it is essential to explicitly address these costs. One potential solution is collective action in marketing of livestock in which proportional and fixed transaction costs are reduced and shared among the group members.     

Economics of an Integrated Manurial Biogas and Protein Recovery System for Beef Cattle

Fermentation of livestock manure for the production of biogas is not economically viable given current and prospective energy prices, as long as the residue from the fermentation process is used on agricultural land as a source of crop nutrients. An alternative use of the residue is to separate out the solid fraction for use as a source of protein and minerals for livestock. This alternative was evaluated for a commercial beef feedlot in Ontario, and was found to provide attractive returns using feed replacement values for the residue solids, even when a zero value was attributed to the biogas, and when real interest rates reached 7 percent. Economies of size were also found.     

Costs and benefits of livestock systems and the role of market and nonmarket relationships

In developing countries livestock are kept not only for their physical products, but also for insurance, financing, and to display status. Though this range of purposes is acknowledged, livestock policies nevertheless often emphasize physical production: a limited perspective that hampers the formulation and implementation of effective livestock policies. This article presents a comprehensive appraisal of costs and benefits of livestock systems that takes into account the institutional environment of livestock keepers. Indicators are developed that capture, quantify, and organize not only the benefits resulting from the physical production, but also those from the intangible functions. The method is illustrated by an analysis of cattle in the Western Province of Zambia. The results indicate that the perspective on livestock systems developed more closely reflects the observed decisions of the livestock keepers.     

Estimating the range of economic impacts on farms of nutrient leaching reduction policies

Declining agricultural incomes, increasing concern over rural poverty and sporadic crises such as those of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease mean that the imposition of further costs on U.K. agriculture are likely to be politically and socially sensitive. Such additional costs are however on the agenda with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD; European Commission, 2000 ). The WFD aims to achieve “good ecological status” in EU water bodies reducing, inter alia, diffuse pollution from agriculture. In this study, we assess four possible WFD measures proposed to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs: reducing inorganic fertilizer application, conversion of arable land to ungrazed grassland, reducing livestock stocking rates, and reducing livestock dietary N and P intakes. For each measure, changes in farm gross margins (FGMs) are estimated using a dataset of over 2000 farms. In contrast to previous analyses, which have focussed upon mean responses on stylized farms, our approach allows the analysis of the range of impacts across a wide variety of real‐world farms and farm types. Findings reveal high variability in impacts. Cost‐effectiveness analysis indicates that, on average, cropping farms seem capable of reducing nutrient leaching in a more cost‐efficient way than livestock or dairy enterprises.     

Characterization of urban and peri-urban agroecosystems in three West African cities

Systems of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) take many forms in terms of integration of different activities, production intensities and production orientations. The present study is aimed at a refined characterization of the diversity in terms of production orientation, resource endowments and production strategies of the different types of farm households involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture in three West African cities. A total of 318 UPA households were surveyed using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire in the West African cities Kano (Nigeria), Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Sikasso (Mali). Through categorical principal component analysis and two-step cluster analysis, six distinct household clusters were identified based on resource endowments and the degree of integration of vegetable, field crop and animal production. Three clusters appeared in all three cities; the remaining three were specific for one of the cities each and comprised (i) commercial gardening plus field crop–livestock (cGCL) keeping, (ii) commercial livestock plus subsistence field cropping (cLsC), (iii) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial field cropping (cGscC), (iv) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial livestock (cGscL) keeping, (v) commercial field cropping (cC) and (vi) commercial gardening (cG). Production constraints were similar across the cities, that is, high costs of inputs, water shortages and lack of fertilizers in the garden and field crop production systems, while feeding constraints and animal diseases were the main constraints in livestock production. UPA remains an important economic activity to livelihood strategy for urban and peri-urban farmers. Appropriate policies should be formulated that efficiently target the site-specific constraints for improving the quality and sustainability of UPA production systems.     

新疆畜牧养殖经济效益与碳排放脱钩关系的实证研究

党的十八大提出"把推动发展的立足点转到提高质量和效益上来"。新疆作为我国五大牧区之一,研究畜牧养殖业发展质量效益,对第一产业的健康可持续发展有重要的现实意义。畜牧养殖经济效益与碳排放动态关系的研究作为检验畜牧养殖业发展质量效益的前提和重点。因此,笔者根据1997年以来新疆畜牧业增加值作为衡量经济效益指标,根据9类反刍动物肠道发酵和粪便排放所产生的温室气体作为衡量碳排放指标,并利用Tapio脱钩模型,探讨新疆畜牧养殖经济效益与碳排放的脱钩情况,并对其脱钩状态进行分析。结果表明:(1)新疆畜牧养殖碳排放量由1997年的649.71万t增加到2014年的747.33万t,增幅15.03%,年均增长0.83%,呈现"持续上升-快速下降-缓慢上升"3阶段特征。碳排放量和碳排放结构空间差异明显;(2)新疆畜牧养殖经济效益与碳排放呈现"弱脱钩平稳-扩张负脱钩与强负脱钩交替-强脱钩转型"的演进关系,以弱脱钩、强脱钩为主。据此,提出相应建议。