Minerals Policy Monitoring Programme report 2019–2022 : Methods and procedures

Samenvatting

RIVM issues a report every four years, on the methods and procedures used in the Minerals Policy Monitoring programme (LMM). The results of the LMM provide the government with insight into the impact of the Min-erals policy on farm management practices and water quality, amongst others. As such, the LMM is crucial for evaluating Dutch and European policies on the use of fertilisers (specifically nitrate and phosphate). This report describes the methods used between 2019 and 2022. The LMM also monitors the effects of derogation on water quality, farm management practices and crop yields. Derogation entails that the Neth-erlands is allowed to apply more nitrogen from animal manure than is allowed by the European Nitrates Directive, under specific conditions. Countries with derogation are required to submit an annual report on the effects of applying an increased amount of nitrogen from animal ma-nure. Since 2023, steps have been taken to gradually phase out deroga-tion, with complete cessation scheduled for 2026. In the period between 2019 and 2022, the LMM underwent some minor changes. The most notable change was the exclusion of farms recruited into the Derogation monitoring network from two research programmes. Additionally, since 2020, water samples have been analysed by a differ-ent laboratory. Wageningen Economic Research and RIVM cooperate to collect infor-mation on farm management practices and water quality on Dutch farms. Wageningen Economic Research collects financial, economic and environmental data from more than 600 farms, while RIVM measures the quality of groundwater, soil moisture, ditch water and/or drainage water on approximately 450 of these farms. The participating farms are spread across the four Dutch soil regions (Sand, Clay, Peat, Loess) and four farm types (arable, dairy, intensive livestock and other). Together they represent roughly 85 per cent of the agricultural area of these re-gions.