Download Focus on nutrients

Focus on nutrients
2013
Description
› Based on individual advice and on-farm education.
› 45 000 farm visits have been made by 270 advisors to
reduce nutrient losses and improve environmental
sustainability
› Farmers (and farm-advisors) are included in decisions
on all levels of the campaign
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The objective is to Increase awareness and
knowledge in order to change behaviour.
Goal
To meet government environmental objectives...
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Zero Eutrophication
Good-quality groundwater
A non-toxic environment
Thriving wetlands
Reduced climate impact
…and at the same time increase farm revenue
Project is characterized by
› Voluntary participation
› Repeated farm visits
› Farm-specific measures
are identified
› Follow-up on each farm
Co-operation is key
The project is run as a co-operation between:
› Swedish Board of Agriculture
› Federation of Swedish farmers
› County administrative boards
› Advisory firms
Regions included
Agriculturally
intensive areas
included
Farmer members
› 10 500 farmers have a membership
› Covers 36% of the arable land in included
regions
› The goal is not 100% membership - the target
group is only full-time farmers
Money
› 3-4 million Euro per year
› From Swedish Rural Development Program and
Swedish environmental taxes
Topics during farm visits 2011
Nutrient balance
Fertilization
Precision farming
Soil structure
Plant protection
Ley production
Climate change
Barn environment
Feed
Wetlands
Results
› 75% of farmers
experience that they
become more
environmentally friendly
after advisory visit
› outstanding compared to
other competence
building efforts in
Swedish RDP
Results
Results
Farms become more resource efficient
› Lead to less farm surplus of nutrients
› Lead to less nutrient leaching to air and water
› Lead to lower impact on eutrophication and climate
change
› Nitrogen leaching decreases by 800 tonnes per year
› Phosphorous leaching decreases by 15-30 tonnes
per year
4 important experiences
1. Repeated visits are key to influence changed
behaviour
2. The advisor always have to relate to how measures
taken will influence farm economy
3. It is important to inform farmers about the progress
and make them proud of their achievements –
preferably through the press
4. To inspire change the visits need to be voluntary for
the farmer
Contact
Communications manager:
Josefin Kihlberg
+46-8- 787 51 54
[email protected]