Examining the trade-offs between agri-environmental and manure policies in Dutch dairy farming

Figures & data

Table 1. Dutch meadow bird scheme measures.

Meadow bird packages	Restriction manure	Details
Clutch management	No	Searching for and protecting nests. Not often applied alone, since it does not provide a suitable habitat.
Grassland with resting period	No, but slurry and chemical fertiliser discouraged	Mowing the grass is postponed until a certain date in June (usually the 15th of June). The longer the resting period, the more the grass harvest is reduced.
Chick fields	Yes, 100 kg N per ha solid manure (no slurry)	Can be combined with “clutch management”, but not with “grassland with resting period” or “herb-rich”.
Herb-rich grassland	Yes, solid manure obligated	For some packages no manure at all is allowed during the bird season.
Solid manure	Yes, solid manure obligated	Can be combined with “grassland with resting period” and “herb-rich”.

Table 2. Technical coefficients that are the same for all farms.

Variable	Data/assumption	Source
Farm type	Conventional (not organic), cow type Holstein Friesian black (mean weight 650 kg)	General practice, Remmelink et al. (2019)
Grazing system	In stable at night	General practice
Crops	Silage maize and silage grass	General practice
Calves and heifers per dairy cow	0.64 and 0.29 respectively	Blanken et al. (2019)
Labour hours production grassland and maize	Grass: 7.2 per ha per year Maize: 4.8 per ha per year	Meetjesland (2016)
Labour hours for maintaining AES land	1.7 per ha per year	Remmelink et al. (2019)
Maintenance costs per cow, calve and heifer	€420.36, €116.28 and €264.08, respectively	Blanken et al. (2019), Remmelink et al. (2019)
Maintenance costs grassland	€301.75 per ha (sand, peat) €346.75 per ha (clay)	Blanken et al. (2019)
Maintenance costs maize	€357.25 per ha	Blanken et al. (2019)
Hired labour hourly wage rate	€37.72	Blanken et al. (2019)

Table 3. Three representative farms.

Parameters	Small	Medium	Large
Economic size (1000 standard output ^a)	0–300	300–600	>600
Total utilised agricultural area (ha)	33	59.4	113.6
Grassland (ha)	26.1	47.1	81.7
Dairy cows	49	99.3	207.5
Nature management (ha)	1.99	1.68	1.98
Milk production (kg per cow)	8021	8550	9060
Energy need per dairy cow (1000 VEM)	6491	6728	6989
Protein need per dairy cow (1000 DVE)^b	583	621	658
Labour hours per 100 kg milk	0.85	0.53	0.36
Grazing hours	2256	1617	1547
Replacement rate dairy cows by young cattle (%)	33.04	29.28	29.89
N surplus (kg per ha)	157.6	147.2	132
Weight agri-environmental services^b	0.060	0.028	0.017

Source: Vrolijk et al. (2020). ^a Standard Output refers to a standardized yield in euros per ha or per animal that is achieved on average per year with a crop or animal category, in this case with dairy. ^b Calculation by authors.

Figure 1. Overview model simulations.

Figure 2. Role of the weight for agri-environmental services (base model). (a) Farms on sand and clay, (b) Farms on peat.

The graphs show that once the weight, or preference, for agri-environmental services production, is above a certain value the farm type contracts more land for the AES. The linear model jumps from one outcome to the next, increasing the weight beyond a certain threshold does not change the amount of land entered under contract.

Table 4. Nitrogen allowance.

	Grazing livestock allowance (kg N)	All fertilisers allowance (kg N)
Base scenario, small farm size
Sand	4290	7524
Peat	5626	8745
Clay	4290	10 164
Scenario I, small farm size
Sand	4686	6072
Peat	4385	8745
Clay	4686	7722

Source: calculations on manure allowances are from the farm model, based upon calculation rules as prescribed by RVO (n.d.) and explained in section 2.1.

Table 5. Outcomes scenarios versus base model, for soil types sand and clay (shown for weights $\le 0.09)$.

	Base			Scenario I			Scenario II
	Small	Medium	Large	Small	Medium	Large	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland to maize- ratio	80:20	80:20	80:20	40:60	40:60	40:60	80:20	80:20	80:20
AES contracted land	8.3 ha	15.8 ha	32.2 ha	+59%	+50%	+41%	−2.5%	−90%	−93%
Feed costs per cow	€380	€642	€848	+19%	+9%	+6%	−4%	−40%	−40%
Profit per cow	Sand: €1,295 Clay: €1,219	Sand: €1,289 Clay: €1,222	Sand: €1,316 Clay: €1,255	Sand: −1% Clay: +1%	Sand: −1% Clay: +1%	Sand: −1% Clay: +1%	Sand: +10% Clay: +11%	Sand: +18% Clay: +20%	Sand: 27% Clay: +28%
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	10.5	19.8	29.1	+35%	+18%	+11%	+103%	−46%	−54%
Manure removal costs	€4,144	€14,103	€39,687	+35%	+18%	+11%	+103%	−46%	−54%
Chemical fertiliser costs	Sand: €4,153 Clay: €6,661	Sand: €7,531 Clay: €12,045	Sand: €14,528 Clay: €23,162	Sand: −9% Clay: −20%	Sand: −10% Clay: −20%	Sand: −11% Clay: −21%	Sand: +27% Clay:+17%	Sand: −6% Clay: −8%	Sand: −7% Clay: −8%

Table 6. Outcomes scenarios versus base model, for peat (shown for weights $\le 0.09)$.

	Base			Scenario I			Scenario II
	Small	Medium	Large	Small	Medium	Large	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland to maize-ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land	16.8 ha	4.2 ha	7.9 ha	+4%	+357%	+88%	−38%	−84%	−90%
Feed costs per cow	€442	€581	€793	+1%	+11%	+2%	−17%	−21%	−27%
Profit per cow	€1,187	€1,257	€1,288	−8%	−12%	−11%	+5%	+11%	+21%
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	25.0	19.7	29.0	+40%	+112%	+67%	−29%	−30%	−43%
Manure removal costs	€9,909	€14,007	€43,016	+40%	+112%	+67%	−29%	−30%	−43%
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5,855	€8,873	€17,096	+10%	+26%	+22%	−7%	−3%	−3%

Table

Coefficients
c1(i)	Million VEM needed per cow on farm i	6.491 (small)
		6.728 (medium)
		6.989 (large)
c2	Million VEM needed per calf	1.412
c3	Million VEM needed per heifer (cattle>1 year)	2.600
c4	maximum scale factor for if capacity increases	0.1
c5(i)	labour hours needed per 100 kg milk (per year) farm i	0.88 (small)
		0.55 (medium)
		0.37 (large)
c6	labour hours needed per ha maize land	4.8
c7	labour hours needed per ha grassland	7.2
c8	labour hours needed per ha AES	1.7
c9(i)	percentage cows too old for milk production on farm i	0.3304 (small)
		0.2928 (medium)
		0.2989 (large)
c10	reduction in VEM per ha due to AES contract	0.81
c11	Million VEM produced on a ha grassland	10.519
c12	Million VEM produced on a ha maize land	15.19
c13	kg phosphate in a million VEM from grassland	10.053
c14	kg phosphate in a million VEM from maize land	4.592
c15	kg phosphate in a million VEM purchased concentrates	11.927
c16	kg phosphate in 100 kg milk	0.2221
c17	kg phosphate in a carrying cow	0.5656
c18	kg phosphate in a young cattle<1 year	5.0014
c19	kg phosphate in a young cattle>1 year	4.4054
c20	kg nitrogen in a million VEM from grassland	29.8396
c21	kg nitrogen in a million VEM from maize land	11.5306
c22	kg nitrogen in a million VEM purchased feed	29.1667
c23	kg nitrogen in 100 kg milk	0.5502
c24	kg nitrogen in a carrying cow	0.91
c28	kg nitrogen in a young cattle<1 year	6.955
c29	kg nitrogen in a young cattle>1 year	5.7914
c25	number of young cattle<1 year per cow on farm i	0.64
c26	number of young cattle>1 year per cow on farm i	0.29
c27(i)	percentage cows replaced by young cattle farm i	0.3304 (small)
		0.2928 (medium)
		0.2989 (large)
c32	kg nitrogen in manure from cows	126.4
c33	kg nitrogen in manure from a calf	32.3
c34	kg nitrogen in manure from a heifer	66.9
c41	percentage VEM from concentrates for dairy cow	0.2
c42	percentage VEM from concentrates for calf	0.1
c43	percentage VEM from concentrates for heifer	0
c44	kg phosphate in a million VEM purchased maize	4.5918
c45	kg nitrogen in a million VEM purchased maize	11.5306
c51(i)	million DVE needed per cow on farm i	0.5833 (small)
		0.6211 (medium)
		0.6579 (large)
c52	million DVE needed per calf	0.0909
c53	million DVE needed per heifer (>1 year)	0.1374
c54	million DVE produced on a ha grassland	0.8438
c55	million DVE produced on a ha maize land	0.806
c56	million DVE in concentrates feed	0.1071
c57	million DVE in bought maize (from VEM to DVE)	0.0531
Prices
Sub	subsidy Pillar I per hectare	371.69
Pmilk	price of milk (in 100 kg milk)	36.8538
Pnat	price of AE services per hectare	709.39
Pscow	price of cows sold in euro per cow	665
Pbcow	price of cow bought in euro per cow	960
Wphos	price of removing manure in euro per 1000 kg	12
Wfert	cost of N fertiliser in euro	0.95
Whirelab	price of hired labour in euro per hour
Wkv	price per million VEM concentrates feed purchased in euro	280.6
Wrv	price per million VEM corn silage purchased in euro	145.5
wgrass(soil)	cost of maintaining one ha of grass in euro	301.75 (sand, peat)
		346.75 (clay)
Wmaize	cost of maintaining one ha of maize in euro	357.25
Wfnat	fixed costs of maintainig one ha of AES in euro (over 6 years)	35
Wcow	variable cost cow excl feed	420.358
Wcalf	variable cost young cattle<1 year per cow excl feed	116.28
Wheif	variable cost young cattle>1 year per cow excl feed	264.08
Quantities
Apgrass	kg phosphate allowed on a ha of grassland	75
Apmaize	kg phosphate allowed on a ha of maize land	40
Der	minimum share of grassland (to get derogation)	0.8
Zond	minimum share permanent grassland (without derogation)	0.4
Lim	limit maize bought (million VEM) per cow	0.3749
angrass(soil)	kg nitrogen allowed on a ha of grassland per soil type	250 (sand)
		265 (peat)
		345 (clay)
anmaize(soil)	kg nitrogen allowed on a ha of maize land per soil type	140 (sand)
		150 (peat)
		160 (clay)
Anslurry	kg nitrogen from slurry allowed on a ha of land	250
Anaes	kg nitrogen allowed on a ha of AES contracted land	100
Nfact	conversion factor from N back to 1000 kg manure	0.25
Pfact	conversion factor from phosphate back to 1000 kg manure	0.6667
Nw	nitrogen application coefficient	0.45

Table A1. Base Scenario for farms on sand and clay, for weights $\le 0.09$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	80:20	80:20	80:20
AES contracted land	8.3 ha	15.8 ha	32.2 ha
Feed costs per cow	€380	€642	€848
Profit per cow	Sand: €1295 Clay: €1219	Sand: €1289 Clay: €1222	Sand: €1316 Clay: €1255
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	10.5	19.8	29.1
Manure removal costs	€4144	€14 103	€39 687
Chemical fertiliser costs	Sand: €4153 Clay: €6661	Sand: €7531 Clay: €12 045	Sand: €14 528 Clay: €23 162

Table A2. Base Scenario for farms on sand and clay, for weights $\ge 0.10$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	80:20	80:20	80:20
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	26.4 ha (100%)	47.5 ha (100%)	90.88 ha (100%)
Feed costs per cow	€538	€777	€967
Profit per cow	Sand: €1207 Clay: €1131	Sand: €1212 Clay: €1145	Sand: €1248 Clay: €1187
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	28.4	37.7	46.4
Manure removal costs	€11 235	€26 856	€63 285
Chemical fertiliser costs	Sand: €5314 Clay: €7822	Sand: €9565 Clay: €14 079	Sand: €18 292 Clay: €26 926

Table A3. Scenario I No derogation for farms on sand and clay (all weights).

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	40:60	40:60	40:60
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	13.2 ha (100%)	23.8 ha (100%)	45.4 ha (100%)
Feed costs per cow	€452	€700	€897
Profit per cow	Sand: €1275 Clay: €1231	Sand: €1273 Clay: €1234	Sand: €1304 Clay: €1268
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	14.1	23.4	32.2
Manure removal costs (euro)	€5594	€16 702	€43 866
Chemical fertiliser costs (euro)	Sand: €3765 Clay: €5333	Sand: €6777 Clay: €9599	Sand: €12 961 Clay: €18 357

Table A4. Scenario II Low-protein feeding for farms on sand and clay (all weights).

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	80:20	80:20	80:20
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	25.7 ha (78%)	1.5 ha (3%)	2.2 ha (2%)
Feed costs per cow	€366	€383	€510
Profit per cow	Sand: €1428 Clay: €1352	Sand: €1526 Clay: €1463	Sand: €1669 Clay: €1612
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	21.3	10.6	13.5
Manure removal costs	€8432	€7581	€18 403
Chemical fertiliser costs	Sand: €5272 Clay: €7780	Sand: €7076 Clay: €11 130	Sand: €13 533 Clay: €21 242

Table A5. Base scenario for farms on peat, for weights $\le 0.09$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	16.8 ha (51%)	4.2 ha (7%)	7.9 ha (9%)
Feed costs per cow	€442	€581	€793
Profit per cow	€1187	€1257	€1288
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	25.0	19.7	29.0
Manure removal costs	€9909	€14 007	€39 504
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5855	€8873	€17 096

Table A6. Base scenario for farms on peat, for weights $0.10-0.11$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	16.8 ha (51%)	4.2 ha (7%)	18.7 ha (16%)
Feed costs per cow	€442	€581	€810
Profit per cow	€1187	€1257	€1278
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	25.0	19.7	31.6
Manure removal costs	€9909	€14 007	€43 016
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5855	€8873	€17 656

Table A7. Base scenario for farms on peat, for weights $0.11-0.12$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	16.8 ha (51%)	19.1 ha (32%)	18.7 ha (16%)
Feed costs per cow	€442	€645	€810
Profit per cow	€1187	€1221	€1278
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	25.0	28.1	31.6
Manure removal costs	€9909	€20 000	€43 016
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5855	€9829	€17 656

Table A8. Base scenario for farms on peat, for weights $0.12-1$.

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	17.5 ha (53%)	19.1 ha (32%)	18.7 ha (16%)
Feed costs per cow	€448	€645	€810
Profit per cow	€1183	€1221	1278
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	25.8	28.1	31.6
Manure removal costs	€10 198	€20 000	€43 016
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5903	€9829	€17 656

Table A9. Scenario I no derogation for farms on Peat (all weights).

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	16.8 ha (51%)	19.1 ha (32%)	18.7 ha (16%)
Feed costs per cow	€448	€645	€810
Profit per cow	€1097	€1110	€1152
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	35.2	41.6	48.3
Manure removal costs	€13 920	€29 677	€65 796
Chemical fertiliser costs	€6433	€11 208	€20 902

Table A10. Scenario II low-protein feeding for farms on peat (all weights).

	Small	Medium	Large
Grassland-Maize ratio	100:0	100:0	100:0
AES contracted land (share of grassland)	10.3 ha (31%)	0.6 ha (1%)	1.0 ha (1%)
Feed costs per cow	€366	€462	€583
Profit per cow	€1246	€1399	€1554
Manure surplus (1,000 kg N per ha)	17.7	13.7	16.6
Manure removal costs	€6997	€9790	€22589
Chemical fertiliser costs	€5442	€8648	€16524

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