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Modelling the Gross Cost of Transporting Pig Slurry to Tillage Spread Lands in a Post Transition Arrangement within the Nitrates Directive.
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2012
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R. Fealy, C. O’Donoghue, K. Hanrahan, M. Martin and R. P.O. Schulte.(2012) Modelling the Gross Cost of Transporting Pig Slurry to Tillage Spread Lands in a Post Transition Arrangement within the Nitrates Directive. REDP Working Paper Series 12-WP-RE-04
Abstract
The context of this paper is in the phasing out of the transitional arrangement under
the Nitrates Directive. As there is relatively little grassland capable of taking
significant amounts of pig slurry available in the vicinity of the main pig production
areas, in this paper we attempt to quantify the cost of transporting this slurry to the
nearest available tillage land. The approach taken was to examine the geographic
structure underlying the pig sector in Ireland using Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) technology. The study highlighted the differential cost with, amounting to 10%
of gross margin on average and as high in major pig producing areas as 21.5% in
Longford and 16.6% in Cavan, while lower at 7-9% in South Tipperary and Cork.
Thus while the problem is significant, the impact is not constant across the country,
highlighting the value of a spatial analytical approach. Future work should assess the
existing cost of spreading manure in order to be able to ascertain the net cost of
spreading on tillage lands. The robustness of the results also need to be tested to
assess the implications of changes in the prices of fossil fuels and fertilisers, both in
terms of the cost function and in terms of the cost of substitutable mineral fertiliser