Gross Nutrient balances consist of the Gross Nitrogen Balance and the Gross Phosphorus Balance.

The Gross Nutrient Balance represents the total potential threat of nitrogen and phosphorus surplus or deficits of agricultural soils to the environment. Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are key elements for plants to grow. A persistent deficit of these nutrients can lead in the long term to soil degradation and erosion.  When N and P are however persistently applied in excess, they can cause surface and groundwater (including drinking water) pollution and eutrophication.

The Gross Nitrogen Balance also includes Nitrogenous Emissions from livestock production and the application of manure and fertilizers. These nitrogenous emissions include:
- Ammonia (NH3) contributing to acidification, eutrophication and atmospheric particulate pollution), and
- Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.

The gross nutrient balance is calculated as the balance between inputs and outputs of nutrients to the agricultural soil. A balance per hectare is also presented.

The Inputs are:

-         Consumption of Fertilizers,

-         Gross Input of Manure, and

-         Other Inputs.

The Outputs are:

-         Removal of nutrients with the harvest of Crops,

-         Removal of nutrients through the harvest and grazing of Fodder, and

-         Crop Residues removed of the field.
  

The data presented in this table are calculated from basic data from multiple data sources multiplied with coefficients to derive the nutrient content. The basic data used include the consumption of inorganic and other organic fertilizers (excluding manure) (tonnes), livestock population (1000 heads), manure imports, withdrawals and stock changes (tonnes), crop and fodder production (tonnes), crop residues (tonnes), seed production (tonnes), area of leguminous crops (1000 ha), area of arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland (1000 ha). Countries may have used different types of datasources for these data. For instance some countries use estimates of  the livestock population based on data from the Livestock Surveys or they have used other datas ources like national registers on livestock. Data sources that are used available in Eurostat include:  Crop Production Statistics (production and landuse), Livestock Statistics (livestock numbers), FSS (livestock numbers).

Countries have estimated coefficients based on measurements, scientific research, expert judgment, default values etc.

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Agricultural sector

Reference Area
The area (agricultural soils) to which the balance refers is the total of arable land (L0001), land under permanent crops (L0003) and permanent grassland (L0002) as defined in the Crop Production Statistics (landuse). Extensive areas should be excluded.

Consumption of Fertilizers
Total consumption of Fertilizers is the SUM of the consumption of Inorganic Fertilizers and Other Organic Fertilizers (excluding Manure). Inorganic Fertilizers are manufactured fertilizers. Organic Fertilizers include Sewage Sludge, Urban Compost, Industrial Waste Products and Other products which are used as fertilizers on agricultural soils.

Manure Input
Manure Input is the SUM of Manure Production by livestock MINUS Manure Withdrawals PLUS Change in stocks  PLUS Manure Imports.
Manure Withdrawals are withdrawals of manure from agriculture, for instance exports of manure to other regions, non-agricultural use, processing of manure by industry etc.
Change in Manure Stocks is defined as Stocks at beginning of the year MINUS Stocks at the end of the year.

Other Inputs
These include:
- Biological Fixation of Nitrogen by Leguminous Crops and Free Living Organisms (which is only applicable to the Gross Nitrogen Balance). Leguminous plants are for instance Pulses, Clover, Lucerne, and Soybean. The leguminous fixation of clover or other leguminous mixtures in permanent and temporary grassland is not taken into account. The Nitrogen Fixation by Free Living Organisms is based on the total of arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland.
- Atmospheric Deposition on agricultural soils. The deposition of Phosphorus by all sources on arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland. The total deposition of Nitrogen from all sources on arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland MINUS the Nitrogen deposited on arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland from Ammonia emissions by agriculture in the region.
-Seeds and Planting material planted in the soil.

Removal of nutrients with the harvest of Crops:
Crops include Cereals, Dried Pulses, Root crops, Industrial Crops, Vegetables, Fruit, Ornamental plants and Other harvested crops.

Removal of nutrients through harvest and grazing of Fodder:
Fodder include Green Fodder (for instance Silage Maize) and Grasslands (hay, grass silage, fresh grass harvested and fed to animals, grass grazed by ruminants).

Removal of nutrients from crop residues removed of the field.
Crop residues include straw, head leaves and stems and other crop residuals which are removed from the field.

Countries report the balances following the OECD/Eurostat Handbook on Gross Nitrogen Balance and Gross Phosphorus balance at NUTS0 level. Some countries also provide data at lower regional level.

The data are collected in countries through various data sources and delivered to Eurostat at aggregated level (NUTS0). In some cases data have also been provided at a lower regional level.

EU27 Member States, Norway and Switzerland, and their regions down to NUTS3 level where appropriate.

1985-2009

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Variables are measured in tonnes of nutrients. Except for the balance per ha, the inputs per ha and the outputs per ha which are expressed in kg of nutrient per hectare.

Calendar year.

On agri-environmental indicators:
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the development of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy (COM(2006) 508 final)

OECD:
Agreement between OECD and OECD Member States on the provision of data relating to nutrient balances.

Data of EU Member States and Norway and Switzerland are collected, validated and verified solely by Eurostat. Data are shared with OECD.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

No confidential data is involved.

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In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through Eurostat's database and website.

Data are disseminated when available.

News releases on-line.

Pocketbook on Agricultural Statistics 2009-2010 available at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/publications/collections/pocketbooks

Please consult free data on-line or refer to contact details.

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OECD Nitrogen Balance Handbook
OECD Phosphorus Balance Handbook

Detailed information is available at Circa.

Eurostat Quality Assurance Framework

The balance is estimated from several inputs and outputs. The in- and outputs are estimated from basic data multiplied by coefficients to convert the data in nutrient contents. The most significant basic in- and output data are fertiliser consumption, crop production, livestock number, agricultural area.

Data on fertiliser consumption is available in many countries from country specific data sources (surveys, trade/production statistics), for countries where such data was not available data from Fertilizers Europe have been used. Data on fertiliser use for MT was only available from the FAO. Due to different data sources used (farmer surveys vs trade/production statistics) and inherent problems of data sources used (for instance inclusion of non-agricultural use in statistics based on trade and production) the quality of data cannot be sufficiently verified. There is need for a common methodology to estimate Fertiliser consumption by agriculture to ensure reliable and consistent estimations and comparability across MS. 

Data on crop production, livestock number, and agricultural area are available in all countries from harmonised and regulated European statistics (FSS, Livestock Surveys, Livestock registers, Crop Production Surveys). Livestock numbers have been checked with statistics in Eurostat. These data can be considered to be of good reliability.

Excretion coefficients delivered by the country have been used together with the livestock numbers reported by the country to estimate manure production. The excretion coefficients represent the amount of N, repectively P, in manure at the time of excretion. No reductions have been made for N volatilisation from the moment of excretion till the application to the land. Verification and validation of the coefficients requires expert knowledge. A sufficient structure to verify and validate these coefficients is missing.  In the case a country did not deliver N excretion coefficients, the N excretion has been estimated by animal numbers and excretion coefficients as reported in the 2010 country submissions of to UNFCCC GHG Inventory (http://unfccc.int/national_reports/annex_i_ghg_inventories/national_inventories_submissions/items/5270.php) In the case a country did not deliver P excretion coefficients, the P excretion coefficients have been estimated by Eurostat. The reliability and accuracy of these estimations are limited and as manure is a major input of the balance, this impacts the quality of the estimated balances.  A European uniform methodology and validation procedure to estimate excretion coefficients is necessary to ensure reliable and consistent estimations and comparability across MS.  At present the estimation of coefficients vary between countries in methodology (expert judgement vs complex models based on statistical data) and in updating procedures (to take into account the effect of mitigation actions (other than reducing the level of production) in the estimations, coefficients need to be updated regularly to reflect these changes in farmer practices (mitigation actions)). Because excretion is a large part of the balance, the data (especially the level of surplus) cannot be compared between countries as these are largely depending on coefficients used which are based on varying methodologies.

Manure withdrawals, manure stocks and imports are not available in most countries but are likely not significant with the exception of a few countries (NL, BE, DK) who already submitted such data. HU reports that annually 20% of manure is not used in agriculture. This amount is however not verifiable. Not taking into account the non-agricultural use would increase the balance per ha for HU with ca 5 kg N/ha.

Crop production is available from reliable statistics for most of the significant crops cultivated except grassland. The harvest and grazing of grassland is estimated in some countries based on feed requirement models (for example the NL) while in other countries expert judgement is used. As grassland production is estimated on average as 40% of total N output in the EU27 (in 2005-2008) the estimation of grassland determines to a large extent the outcome of the N balance. It is necessary to develop a uniform European method to estimate grassland production to ensure reliable and consistent estimations and comparability across MS. Only the N uptake by crops and fodder harvested and crop residuals removed from the field are included in the output of the balance. For permanent crops a part of the N uptake is stored in the plant (which is not harvested) and is therefore not at risk to run-off, leaching or volatilisation, this is not taken into account in the balance estimations. Many countries do not have coefficients (used to convert the production in nutrient content) available and reliability varies due to the method used (scientific research vs expert judgement). Verification and validation of these coefficients requires expert knowledge. A sufficient structure to verify and validate these coefficients is missing. Improvements in the coefficients used are therefore necessary.

Seeds and planting material have been estimated when data were available. Quality of data depends on the datasources and assumptions made, as well as the availability and quality of coefficients. This item is however not of large significance to the final balance. It could be considered to drop this item from the balance, or invest in improvements of the estimation of the most significant seed inputs.

Biological fixation coefficients are limited available and determined using different methods across MS (scientific research vs expert judgement). Verification and validation of these coefficients requires expert knowledge. A sufficient structure to verify and validate these coefficients is missing. Estimation of the most important item grass/clover mixtures is currently not possible by most MS and has therefore not been included in the current balance estimations. Received data from DK on biological fixation by grass/clover mixtures show that this item would be on average 5% (in the period 2000-2008) of total inputs in DK. The biological fixation by free living organisms is in most countries based on an assumption, as this item is not of major significance it could be dropped in the future from the balance. Improvements are needed in the estimation of biological fixation especially including the estimation of grass/legume mixtures.

Deposition rates have been obtained from MS and when country did not have data available from EMEP (http://webdab.emep.int/Unified_Model_Results). The deposition rates delivered by the MS have not been verified. In the future to ensure reliable and consistent estimations and comparability across MS, it is proposed to use data of EMEP for all MS. The current methodology prescribes a correction for N deposition for the Nitrogen deposited on arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland from Ammonia emissions by agriculture in the region. At the moment only the NL has corrected N deposition.

Reference area: The balance should in principle relate to the potential fertilised area, excluding very extensive unfertilised areas, to make comparisons between regions where agricultural production takes place in Europe useful and to identify the potential risks of agricultural production to the environment in respect to N surplus and deficits. To illustrate the necessity of identifying the correct reference area to make useful comparisons between regions in Europe:  As an example suppose a country has 200.000 ha of very extensive area where 5% of production takes place and 200.000 ha of high intensive livestock and crop production. Though the N surplus of the high intensive area which produces 95% of total production could be high (for instance 100 kg N per ha), this would not show up in the balance for the whole country as including the large extensive area would reduce the surplus by almost half, masking the environmental problem that exists in part of the country. Extensive areas to be excluded from the balance have not been defined yet. Some countries however have identified and excluded certain extensive areas in their balance estimations (UK, CH).  At the moment the reference area has been based on the landuse statistics in Eurostat and is the total of arable land, land under permanent crop and permanent grassland. Note that this area is not equal to the UAA, as the UAA also includes a.o. area under glass and kitchen gardens. Some countries have excluded identified extensive areas as well.

Main users are the general public and policy-makers interested in the integration of environmental concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy (see COM (2006) 508 final).

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Data have been received, validated and approved from AT (1985-2009), CH (1990-2008), CZ (1985-2009), DE (1990-2008), DK (P: 1985-2009), EE (2004-2008), FI (1985-2009), HU (1990-2008), IE (1985-2009), NL (1985-2008), NO (1985-2009), PL (1985-2009), PT (1995-2008), SE (1985-2009), SI (N: 1992-2008), SK (1985-2009), UK (1990,1995,2000-2009).

Data were not available and have been estimated by Eurostat for GR (1990-2008), LU (1990-2008), IT (1990-2008), SI (Phosphorus:1995-2008), BG (N:1996-2008, P:2003-2008), RO (N:1992-2008, P:2003-2008), CY (2005-2008), LT (N: 1997-2008, P: 2005-2008), LV (N:2000-2008, P:2004-2008),

Due to methodological differences data have been estimated by Eurostat for BE (1990-2008), ES (1996-2008), FR (1990-2008), DK (N: 1985-2009).

Partial data was available for MT (crop production, livestock number, agricultural area, N excretion coefficients, N crop coefficients). Eurostat has estimated the balances for MT (2002-2008) based on the data received by MT and other sources.

Data are available or have been estimated for the main inputs and outputs of the balance. These include: Consumption of Inorganic Fertilizers, Manure Production of total Livestock, Biological Fixation of Nitrogen, Atmospheric deposition of Nitrogen, Removal of nutrients by the harvest of Crops, Removal of nutrients by the harvest and grazing of Fodder.

Data are less available for: Consumption of Organic Fertilizers (excluding Manure), Manure Withdrawals, Manure Stocks, Manure Imports, Seeds and Planting Material andAtmospheric Deposition of Phosphorus.

Accuracy and reliability of basic data used to construct the balance:

Inorganic Fertilizers: Most countries use data based on sales and/or production and trade statistics. Some countries use farmer surveys. Data based on sales and/or production and trade statistics may be biased due to the inclusion of fertilizers not used in agriculture (private/public sector use, explosives, intermediate products etc). Reliability and accuracy of farmer surveys depend a.o. on the sampling design and size.

Organic Fertilizers (excluding manure):Data on organic fertilizers (excluding manure) are only available in a limited amount of countries (AT, BE, DE, ES, FI, IE, NL, SE, UK, CZ, HU, SK, CH, NO, DK). Data from these countries show that organic fertilizers are not very significant in the N balance (<3% of total inputs on average between 2005-2008), the effect of missing data on organic fertilizers is therefore likely to be minor on the Gross Nitrogen Balance. 

Available data show that other organic fertilizers are of some significance in some countries for the P balance (>5% of total P inputs average 2005-2008). Missing data on organic fertilizers may therefore lead to a minor underestimation of the balance in some countries.

Manure production: Manure production is estimated from animal numbers and excretion coefficients. Animal numbers should reflect the average amount of animals present during the year. Data on cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are available from European statistics such as the annual livestock statistics, the FSS and livestock registers. Livestock surveys may not represent the average amount of animals well as they refer to a specific day, which means that offspring for instance may not be included very well, however a correction can be made in the excretion coefficients to take into account the offspring. For poultry and other livestock data is less available. Some poultry types and equidea are counted in the FSS, countries may have other data sources available to estimate poultry and other livestock types. The available data show that poultry is of some importance in some countries (UK, NL, SK,  IT, MT, HU, CY >10% of total N manure production between 2005-2008), while other livestock is not significant in most countries (<5%, except DK (6%), FI (11%), HU (6%), BG (13%)). Missing data on poultry and other livestock could lead to a minor underestimation of the balance. The available data on P show that poultry is of significant importance in some countries (UK, SK, NL, FI, PT HU, CZ and PL >10% of total P manure production, average 2005-2008), and other livestock is of minor significance in most countries (<5% except in DK (6%) HU (12%) and FI (11%). Missing data on poultry and other livestock may therefore lead to an underestimation of the estimated P balance for countries, where these livestock are significant.

As manure is a large input in the balance, excretion coefficients have a big impact on the final outcome. Excretion coefficients vary widely between countries, partly this reflects differences in farming practices and partly differences are caused due to the applied methodology and availability of data to calculate the coefficients. The used coefficients are not always consistent with coefficients reported to the UNFCCC GHG submissions. It is necessary to establish guidelines on the excretion coefficients to be used, to improve the transparency and the comparability of the balances between countries. For some countries N excretion coefficients were not available, for these countries the manure production has been estimated based on the data reported to the UNFCCC GHG Inventory 2010.Eurostat has estimated P excretion coefficients for countries (BE, BG, GR, ES, FR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, MT, RO and SI) where coefficients were not available (or in case of methodological issues), based on data supplied by the country and data of other countries. The reliability and accuracy of these estimations is limited. As manure is of significant importance to the final outcome, the reliability and accuracy of the balances estimated for these countries is also limited.

Manure withdrawals: Available data on manure withdrawals  show that manure withdrawals are significant in BE (Flanders region) and NL (ca 7% of total N manure production and ca 15% of total P manure production between 2005-2008), HU (20%), while non-significant (<5% ) in other countries (AT, CH, ES, UK, NO, EE (N) and CZ). Most countries however do not have data or only limited data available on manure withdrawals, in the case when there are significant withdrawals this may lead to some overestimation of the manure input.

Change in Manure Stocks: Only EE reported change in manure stocks. Under normal circumstances it can be assumed that the change in manure stocks is on average zero, and therefore the effect of missing data on the balance is negliglible.

Manure imports: Data on manure imports were only available from NO, CH, AT, NL and BE (Flanders). Manure imports were insignificant (<1% of total manure N input and <3% of total manure P input, average 2005-2008) for these countries. Trade of manure occurs mainly from high surplus countries to neighboring countries. It is known that there are exports from for instance the NL to FR and DE. It is likely that countries with a high nutrient surplus like BE and DK may export manure as well. The exact amounts which goes to which country are not available, however from the size of the exports of the Netherlands it can be assumed that the effect on the balance of DE and FR is very limited, the manure imports are likely to be less than 5% of the total N manure input.

Biological fixation: Biological fixation by leguminous crops is calculated based on the area of leguminous crops and fixation coefficients. Biological fixation by free living organisms is calculated by the area of arable land, permanent grassland and land under permanent crops multiplied with a coefficient. Data on areas of leguminous crops are generally available from landuse statistics. There is a wide variation in coefficients of biological fixation by leguminous crops between countries, partly this reflects differences climate and partly differences are caused due to the applied methodology (measurements, scientific research, expert judgements). It is necessary to review the coefficients used in relation to climate and crop N uptake.

Estimation of fixation by clover (and other leguminous plants mixtures) in pastures have not been included in the current version of the nutrient balances. This is because methodological improvements are necessary for the estimation of fixation by leguminous crops in pastures and not all Member States are able to estimate the fixation by leguminous crops in pastures at the moment. Data available from DK show that N fixation by grass-clover mixtures by DK contributes to ca 5% of total inputs in 2000-2009 of DK.

Atmospheric deposition: Atmospheric deposition is estimated from landuse data and deposition rates. Some countries annually update deposition rates. Countries use different methodologies to estimate deposition rates (models, measurements, expert judgment, scientific research). Data on national N deposition should be available for all signatories to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air pollution. Modeled data is also available from EMEP at http://webdab.emep.int/Unified_Model_Results. The present methodology prescribes the correction of the deposition rate of Nitrogen for N-deposits from domestic agriculture. Only the NL has made this correction. Most countries do not have data available on P deposition. Available data (AT, DE, FI, IE, SE, UK, CZ, PL, SK, CH, NO) show that it is significant only in AT and CZ (> 5% of total inputs, average 2005-2008). For some countries where atmospheric deposition of P is of significance the exclusion of P deposition could therefore result in a minor underestimation of the P balance.

Seeds and Planting materials: Data on Seeds and planting material are not available from all countries. Data available show however that seeds and planting material are <2% of total N input and also of minor importance for the P balance (<5% of total P input ). 

Harvested Crop production: Data on harvested crops are available from European statistics, the annual crop production statistics. Coefficients of nutrient contents of crop production vary between countries, partly this reflects differences in farming practices and climate and partly differences are caused due to the applied methodology (measurements, scientific research, expert judgements). It is necessary to review the coefficients used in relation to fertilizer and manure input and climate.

Crop residuals: Data on crop residuals removed from the field are limited available. Available data shows that the share of crop residuals in total N output ranges from <1% till ca 15% (average 2005-2008). Missing data on crop residuals could therefore lead to an overestimation of the N balance outcome. Data on crop residuals removed from the field are limited available. Available data show that the share of crop residuals in total P output is negliglible (<2%).

Fodder: The estimates of grassland production and consumption have a big impact on the balance outcome (40% of total N output and 31% of total P output in the EU27, average 2005-2008). At the moment approaches to estimate grassland production and consumption varies significantly between countries and the uncertainty in the estimates is significant. Grassland production includes fresh matter, grass silage, hay and grass grazed by ruminants. The yield and nutrient content of grassland can be estimated from measurements, scientific research, and expert judgements. Grassland consumption can also be estimated from a fodder balance, based on feed requirements and statistics on other feed. The estimation of grass grazed is particularly difficult. Data are in many countries only limited available (in respect with grassland areas and products taken into account). There is a need to improve the estimation of grassland production and consumption.

Reference Area: Data on arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland are available from Eurostat Crop Statistics (landuse). In principle only potential fertilized areas should be included in the balance and very extensive areas should be excluded from the balance. Only the UK and CH have identified extensive areas and excluded these from the balance. A clear definition of the areas to be excluded from the balance is lacking. Improvement in the definition of the reference area is needed as well as the methodology to correct for agricultural production taking place on these areas.

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The data are requested by gentlemen's agreement. The data received are validated and uploaded in Eurostat database.

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Geographical comparability is limited due to the different methodologies applied to calculate coefficients and differences in data sources used.

In general good comparability within countries over time.

Inorganic Fertilizers: Data are coherent with available data from the Joint Eurostat/OECD Questionnaire on AEI, which will be published in the AEI domain on the Eurostat website.

Livestock numbers reported in the GNB should reflect the average amount of animals present during the year. Livestock surveys may not represent the average amount of animals well as they refer to a specific day. Data on cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are available from the annual livestock statistics. Data received in the GNB are coherent with data availble from the Livestock Surveys. Some poultry types and equidea are counted in the FSS, data received from countries with the GNB are coherent with data in FSS.

Landuse of leguminous crops, arable land, permanent grassland and land under permanent crops received with the GNB have been compared to data on landuse from crop statistics. Data are coherent with landuse statistics of crop statistics.

Harvested Crop production: Data on harvested crops and fodder received with the GNB have been compared to data from the annual crop statistics, data are coherent with crop statistics.

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Cost and burden are mainly related to the compilation of the balances. Data are mainly derived from existing data sources and reporting requirements.

Revisions are made if and when countries revise the balance estimations or new data come available.

Variables might be added and/or revised in the future.

The balance is the final outcome of a set of calculations provided by the countries. Countries use several data sources to estimate the balances.. The basic data used include the consumption of fertilizers (tonnes), livestock population (1000 heads), manure imports, exports and treatment (tonnes), crop and fodder production (tonnes), crop residues (tonnes), seed production (tonnes), area of leguminous crops (1000 ha), area of arable land, land under permanent crops and permanent grassland (1000 ha). Countries may have used different types of data sources for these data. For instance some countries use estimates of the livestock population based on data from the Livestock Surveys or they have used other data sources like national registers on livestock. Data sources that are used available in Eurostat include:  Crop Production Statistics (production and landuse), Livestock Statistics (livestock numbers), FSS (livestock numbers).

Countries have estimated coefficients based on measurements, scientific research, expert judgment, default values etc.

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The transmission file for the gross nitrogen balance consists of 27 interconnected excell worksheets and the transmission file for phosphorus balances of 20 interconnected excell worksheets. The transmission files are pre-described and discussed in advance of data collection with countries in the Working Group meeting on AEI.

The methodology of the balances are described in a Handbook. Te balance is estimated from total nutrient inputs minus total nutrient outputs. Inputs include Fertilisers, Manure, Seeds and planting material, biological nitrogen fixation and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Outputs include removal of nutrients with the harvest of crops, harvest and grazing of fodder, removal and burning of crop residues. The nutrient input or nutrient output is estimated by multiplying basic data of amounts with coefficients to convert the data into nutrient contents. Basic data (fertiliser consumption, crop production, livestock number, agricultural area) are mostly derived from agricultural statistics. Coefficients are mainly estimated by research institutes and can be based on models, statistical data, measured data as well as expert judgements. The final sheets of the transmission files calculate the results which are disseminated in Eurobase. There are no confidential data involved.

Data validation includes checks with data from available data sources in Eurostat, Fertilizers Europe, data from other countries and sources, checks for internal coherence, aggregates, completeness etc.

Missing data in the balance calculations are imputed by countries.

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See for country specific notes Annex in concept 21.3.