Description
Livestock manure, palatable and non-palatable (manure, slurry, etc.) and digestate, can be put to agronomic use through controlled spreading on agricultural land. (agronomic=greater land production).
Livestock manure or livestock effluent is understood to be all the waste produced by a livestock farm and consisting of the solid and liquid manure (faeces and urine), any solid materials of plant origin used as bedding, drinking and washing water, and the remains of unused foodstuffs.
Digestate is the product obtained from farm or intercompany anaerobic digestion plants fed with materials and substances, either alone or mixed together, such as livestock manure, bedding, agro-food residues, animal by-products, etc.
The use of these products is subject to compliance with national regulations and the provincial provisions listed below.
Following periodic checks on the quality of surface water carried out by the Provincial Environmental Protection Agency (APPA) in accordance with the relevant regulations, in 2021 it became necessary to identify three nitrate-vulnerable zones of agricultural origin (ZVN) in the territory of the Province of Trento, corresponding to the basins of the following water bodies
- Rio Moscabio in Val di Non
- Lake Serraia on the Piné Plateau;
- river Brenta in the stretch between Levico and Borgo Valsugana.
For farms and land falling within these areas, specific provisions must be respected with regard to the agronomic use of livestock effluents (manure and slurry), digestate produced in anaerobic digestion plants, organic soil improvers and other nitrogenous fertilisers, including mineral fertilisers.
In addition to the provisions and constraints related to the spreading of these materials on agricultural land, farms falling within ordinary zones (ZO) and nitrate vulnerable zones (ZVN) are required to comply with administrative obligations concerning
- submission of the communication
- submission of the agronomic use plan (PUA);
- maintenance of the fertilisation register.
Calculation of nitrogen produced on the farm
This figure is necessary to establish whether the farm falls within those subject to the submission of the communication and PUA.
It is the total nitrogen production in the farm (kg) and is obtained by adding up the nitrogen produced on average in a year by each animal category present on the farm; reference is made to the animals present in the national database and the coefficients defined in annex I of Ministerial Decree no. 5046 are applied.
The communication must be presented by the owner/legal representative of the farm at least 30 days prior to the start of the utilisation activity and, subject to the provisions regarding the Single Territorial Authorisation (AIA), must be renewed at least every 5 years from the date of first presentation or last modification.
Restrictions
The notification must be submitted by the owner/legal representative of the company at least 30 days before the start of the utilisation activity and, subject to the provisions of the Single Territorial Authorisation (AIA), must be renewed at least every 5 years from the date of first submission or last modification.