Manure Management : An Overview and Assessment of Policy Instruments in the Netherlands
This working paper provides an overview and assessment of Dutch manure management policy instruments from 1984 to 2016. The most successful and cost effective measures have included restrictions on manure spreading, the creation of a national Manur...
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| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/183511516772627716/Manure-management-an-overview-and-assessment-of-policy-instruments-in-the-Netherlands http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29250 |
| Summary: | This working paper provides an overview
and assessment of Dutch manure management policy instruments
from 1984 to 2016. The most successful and cost effective
measures have included restrictions on manure spreading, the
creation of a national Manure Bank as an offtake of last
resort, the requirement to inject manure into soil, support
for flagship farms, and limits on farm size managed under
the mineral input registration system. The various quota
systems that have been implemented have proven costly for
industry and the public sector alike, but have prevented
livestock numbers and related pollution problems from
increasing further. Ever stricter limits on the application
of manure to soil, for example, have imposed costs but shown
positive results. Applications of manure nitrogen decreased
from 447 kg per ha in 1980 to 326 kg per ha in 2010, and
applications of manure phosphate decreased from 160 kg per
ha to 84 kg per ha over the same period. Dutch manure
management policies have generally increased farmers’
incentives to seek valuable uses of manure. The costs of
manure policy to the public sector have also been relatively
high, with monitoring, enforcement, and registration
averaging around 900 euro per farm per year. Part of the
effectiveness of Dutch manure policy has been owed to its
incrementalism. Restrictive measures have generally been
designed to increase in stringency over time and allowed
industry to adapt. Dutch manure policy has, however, cost
the life of many of the country’s less-efficient farms. The
number of pig farms in the Netherlands decreased from 34,000
in 1984 to 5,000 in 2015. Lessons learned include the
effectiveness of gradually tightening standards, using
combinations of sticks and carrots, and regularly evaluating
policies. Promising approaches include the coupling of land
and animals, and manure processing. |
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