# Commission Decision of 21 December 2007 granting a derogation requested by Belgium with regard to the region of Flanders pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (notified under document number C(2007) 6654) (Only the Dutch version is authentic) (2008/64/EC), Article 6: Application of manure and other fertilisers

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. The amount of grazing livestock manure and treated manure applied to land each year, including by the animals themselves shall not exceed the amount of manure set out in paragraph 2, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraphs 3 to 11.
2. The amount of grazing livestock manure and treated manure shall not exceed 250 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year on parcels cultivated with grassland and maize undersown with grassland and 200 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year on parcels cultivated with winter wheat followed by a catch crop and with beets.
3. The total nitrogen input shall comply with the nutrient demand of the considered crop and take into account the supply from the soil and the increased manure nitrogen availability due to treatment. It shall not exceed, in any case, 350 kg per hectare per year on parcels cultivated with grassland, 220 kg per hectare per year on parcels cultivated with sugar beet, 275 kg per hectare per year on parcels cultivated with winter wheat followed by a catch crop, fodder beet and maize undersown with grass, with the exception, in this latter case, of parcels on sandy soils, for which nitrogen application shall not exceed 260 kg per hectare per year.
4. A fertilisation plan shall be kept for each farm, for its whole acreage, describing the crop rotation and planned application of manure and nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers. It shall be available in the farm each calendar year by 15 February at the latest.
The fertilisation plan shall include the following:
(a) the number of livestock, a description of the housing and storage system, including the volume of manure storage available;
(b) a calculation of manure nitrogen and phosphorus produced in the farm;
(c) the description of manure treatment and expected characteristics of treated manure;
(d) the amount, type and characteristics of manure delivered outside the farm or in the farm;
(e) a calculation of manure nitrogen and phosphorus to be applied in the farm;
(f) the crop rotation and acreage of parcels with crops with high nitrogen demand and long growing season and parcels with other crops, including a sketch map indicating location of individual parcels;
(g) the foreseeable nitrogen and phosphorus crop requirements for each parcel;
(h) nitrogen and phosphorus application from manure over each parcel;
(i) application of nitrogen and phosphorus with chemical and other fertilisers over each parcel.
Plans shall be revised no later than seven days following any change in agricultural practices to ensure consistency between plans and actual agricultural practices.
5. Fertilisation accounts shall be prepared by each farm. They shall be submitted to the competent authority for each calendar year.
6. Each farm benefiting from an individual derogation shall accept that the application referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 4, the fertilisation plan and the fertilisation accounts can be subject to control.
7. Nitrogen and phosphorous analysis in soil shall be performed for each farm at least once every four years for each parcel. At least one analysis every 5 hectares of farmland shall be required.
8. Nitrate concentration in soil profile shall be measured every year in autumn on at least 25 % of the farms benefiting from derogation. Soil sampling and analysis shall cover at least 5 % of the parcels cultivated with crops with high nitrogen demand and long growing season and at least 1 % of the other parcels. At least three samples representing three different soil layers shall be required every 2 hectares of farmland.
9. Manure shall not be spread in the autumn before grass cultivation.
10. At least two thirds of the amount of nitrogen from manure, excluding nitrogen from manure from grazing livestock, shall be applied before 15 May each year.
11. Nitrogen and phosphorus excretion factors for cattle established in paragraph 1 of Article 27 of the Flemish Manure Decree of 22 December 2006 shall apply from the first year of validity of this Decision.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2008/64/article/6 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2008-64/article-6
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.