Eurostat activities concerning regional nutrient balances

Eurostat’s multiple roles Coordinator In the AEI system, Eurostat will coordinate work on GNB. This means that we should be aware of the main developments. Financer Eurostat is together with DG AGRI financing pilot projects. Data provider Eurostat is responsible for data collection in “normal” agricultural statistics, which could/should be the main source for the harmonised GNB Data collector Eurostat is setting up a system for collecting the nutrient balances from the member states

Coordinator Coordination is needed within the EU AEI framework, because 5 institutions are involved: AGRI, ENV, Eurostat, JRC from the European Commission and the EEA Each AEI will be assigned a “lead” institution, carrying out: Drafting the indicator fact sheets Compiling the indicator (data acquisition might be task of others) Consulting other partners Consolidating the indicators, extending them to new member states Coordinating: conceptual and methodological improvements methodological improvement and/or further validation of the models used improving availability of the data, in particular at regional level Establishing a permanent and stable arrangement

Financer Eurostat and DG AGRI are cooperating around a legal framework “Technical action plan for improving agricultural statistics (TAPAS) In 2006, Eurostat suggested to finance actions to improve regional nutrient balances, so that the availability of data, the methodology and the coefficients used would be improved 8 countries applied for actions: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. The overall costs for these actions are ca €, and the EU contributions ca €

Data provider Eurostat collects and publishes harmonised agricultural statistics that can be used as input for the nutrient balance calculations The main sources today are: The Farm Structure Surveys (FSS) (every three years) Crop statistics (annual) Livestock statistics (annual) Supply balance sheets (annual) New surveys are under preparation: Survey on agricultural production methods Fertiliser statistics

Data provider (2) Survey on agricultural production methods Planned for 2011, referring to 2010 Data to be sent to Eurostat per individual farm, linked to FSS 2010 Suggested to contain data on tillage methods, soil cover, landscape features, animal grazing, animal housing, manure application, manure storage, plant protection, irrigation Fertiliser statistics New survey suggested, under initial discussion Would be linked to individual farms Would provide data on total volumes N,P, K per farm and regional use per crops

Data collector Eurostat is responsible for collecting nutrient balances in the EU (due to resource problems this role has temporarily been handled by the OECD the last years) There are several possibilities for data collection: 1. Eurostat collects the data through the normal agricultural statistics (previous slide), asking for more data only where needed (coefficients, fertiliser use, feedstuff, etc.) 2. The countries set up their own systems for calculating the balances, and only the final figures are transmitted 3. The countries set up their own systems for calculating the balances but send the data to Eurostat that then calculates the balances, using an agreed formula Eurostat prefers the last option, gives maximum flexibility and transparency, allows to take into account local conditions and available data, allows users to analyse components

Method 1 Fertilisers Livestock Manure Volatilisation Biological N-fixation Leguminous Free living soil organisms Atmospheric deposition Removed crop residues Marketed and non-marketed crops NUTS 3 SURPLUS or DEFICIT INPUTS OUTPUTS RESULT

Method 2 Bought animals Bought fodder FARM Manure Yield Fields Live animals Bought dryers Animals Animal products Manure export Manure import Crop products Fertilisers Seeds Biological N-fixation Leguminous Free living soil organisms Atmospheric depositions INPUTS OUTPUTS SURPLUS or DEFICIT Volatilisation Denitrification Nitrification Leaching RESULT

Current sources of data Livestock –Number of animals –Coefficient kg N/head in manure Leguminous –Hectares –Coefficient of N-fixation kg N/hectare Land use –Hectares of UAA, arable land, permanent crops, grassland and meadow –Coefficient of N-deposition rate of atmosphere kg N/UAA –Coefficient of N-fixation of free living organisms Crops –Hectares –Yields t/ha –Coefficient of kg/N/tonnes of a crop and crop residues –Crop residues removed from the field t/ha Fertilisers –Application rates kg/N/crop ha FSS, animal statistics No harmonised source FSS, crop statistics No harmonised source FSS, crop statistics Crop statistics No harmonised source

Data flow (1) Result Basic data Member StatesEurostat Data entry tool Calculation tool NewCronos W W W Analysis Simple calculation tool

Data flow (2) Basic data needed, not final figures –Gives possibilities to make further analysis between regions and countries –Ensures transparency into the calculation processes Simple calculation tool will be provided to countries –Allows countries to make their own calculations the same way as Eurostat does Calculations made by ESTAT on NUTS 2/3 level –Results and basic data in the AEI www-pages & NewCronos Basic data possible to use also in other AEI’s –Use of fertilisers –Models for energy use, ammonia emissions, GHG emissions, water quality

Data flow (3) Optimal situation –One contact body per country – all the data on the NUTS 3 level 2 nd best –FSS, livestock and crop data from Eurostat’s databases –Other data from diverse sources Statistical Offices Ministries Research institutes Meteorological institutes EFMA and other similar organisations

Calculation tool The method for collecting data was discussed in a Working Group in June 2006 Most Optimal situation –One contact body per country – all the data on the NUTS 3 level 2 nd best –FSS, livestock and crop data from Eurostat’s databases –Other data from diverse sources Statistical Offices Ministries Research institutes Meteorological institutes EFMA and other similar organisations

Quality problems Coefficients –Is there an agreed and applied methodology? –Is the data they are based reliable and comparable? –Results are depended on coefficients. NUTS 3: are the data/ coefficients available? Horses outside agriculture, deer, fur animals, etc not in FSS, nor in livestock statistics One counting day, what about seasonal changes? Data for method 2 even more difficult to obtain