Intensification of animal productions
in the respect for agri-environmental standards

General context

Since few last years, the size of the Belgian farm increases and in the same time its number of animals by labor unit and\or by surface unit. Of course, we assist of an increase of the quantity of manure to be distributed on the all the parcels of the farm.
The livestock pressure by surface unit (fodder only) maybe analyzed thanks to an European recognized unit : the livestock unit (LU)

Environmental pressure exercised the livestock, expressed in LU/ha, is different from one agricultural region to another according to the type of animal breeding, the agricultural techniques and the feeding techniques.

Besides the LU, the intensification of animal productions can be detailed by a second parameter : the rate of the manure spreading capability or LS (for Liaison au Sol). This parameter expresses the ratio between the quantity of organic nitrogen fertilizer (including the nitrogen brought by the animals in pasture) and the limit fixed by the Program of Sustainable Management of the Nitrogen in Agriculture (application of the Directive Nitrate European at Walloon regional level).

The indicator

This indicator can play several roles :