Smart nitrogen cycle as a booster of the cost-effectiveness, competitiveness and operating conditions of livestock farming (N-Fiksu)

Cattle production in Finland plays a crucial role in ensuring our country's security of food supply. The underutilization of nitrogen (N) in milk and beef production has drawn criticism, prompting the need for improvement due to its ecological and economic impacts. However, it is essential to recognize that many environmental factors affecting the Finnish cattle industry differ from those impacting global production. Therefore, presenting facts specific to the Finnish context is imperative to facilitate informed societal discussions.To reinforce the security of food supply, reducing dependence on nitrogen imported from Russia is essential. In this context, N-Fiksu has been devised as a strategic solution to address these challenges.

Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in ruminant production can be achieved through various strategies, such as precise estimation of nitrogen release from manure, utilization of forage legumes in feed production, optimization of crude protein content in animal diets, and improved precision in nitrogen fertilization on peatlands. Collectively, these approaches could lead to a potential reduction in fertilization costs by approximately 40 to 90 million euros annually in Finland, and 5 to 10 million euros per year in the North Savo region.

It is imperative to study nitrogen utilization under realistic conditions within the typical Finnish grass cycle, as numerous soil and growth processes, including greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen leaching, become apparent only after the long-term application of livestock manure. Achieving system-level optimization necessitates comprehensive modeling of the entire nitrogen cycle.

The N-Fiksu project, together with its partner projects N-Teho and ViiMa, forms a "Wise N cycle" project entity that covers all critical aspects of the nitrogen cycle within cattle production, including improving the utilization of nitrogen in cattle manure, leaching of nitrogen, carbon and other nutrients and gaseous emissions, better utilization of legume grasses, development of clover seed production, and refinement of peatland fertilization. In addition, the collaboration is strong with the FarmGas PS3 project. The projects under this theme complement each other and the implementers benefit from the whole, especially in terms of nitrogen model development and communication resources.

The project work packages are:

TP 1 a) Alternatives to the technique of establishing red clover grass

TP 1 b) The use of cattle manure as a fertilizer for red clover grass

TP 1 c) Promotion of clover seed cultivation

TP 2 Optimization of N and K fertilization of peatlands

TP 3 Effect of cattle manure acidification on ammonia emissions and nitrogen recovery

TP 4 Leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus in livestock farm crop rotation

TP 5 Nitrogen cycle entity modeling

TP 6 Communication

TP 7 Project coordination

The project is coordinated by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). Savonia University of Applied Science and the National Land Survey of Finland participate in the work package 1 c) Promotion of clover seed cultivation. N-Fiksu has been designed together with key companies in the industry who also fund the whole.