%R https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.agron.2025.01.003
%K plant growth, nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen loss reduction, manure management, feeding strategies, Abacus, FiBL50064
%J Advances in Agronomy
%T Optimizing nitrogen use efficiency in European livestock systems: From feed to plant growth
%P 273-358
%X Nitrogen (N) is a crucial nutrient for agriculture. Its unlimited provision by the Haber-Bosch process has led to high N surplus in agriculture, causing severe negative environmental externalities. The reduction of N losses in livestock systems and consequent enhancement of their nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) represents a key lever to substantially reduce the N surplus to meet European environmental policy targets. This review evaluates the potentials to improve the NUE of European cattle and pig livestock systems from feed to plant N use along the whole livestock system cascade. It discusses options to improve feed NUE and the current measures to reduce N losses at housing, manure storage and application as well as crop N recovery. The findings are synthesized at the overall livestock system level using exemplary case-study farms from selected European regions, to highlight potentials for livestock system NUE improvements in the context of the current and future European legislations. All case- study farms have already implemented measures for N loss mitigation, and their livestock system NUE reaches values between 55 % and 75 %. With the implementation of additional measures such as liquid manure acidification, low emission technologies and best field management, livestock system NUE can reach values between 75 % and 85 %. In order to achieve such high livestock system NUE and meet environmental goals, a scaled implementation of best available technologies is essential, and has to go hand in hand with a legislative harmonization and a targeted development of additional reduction measures and auxiliary tools for farmers.
274 Carole A. Epper et al
%D 2025
%V 191
%L orgprints56647
%A Carole A. Epper
%A Laura Zavattaro
%A Gerard L. Velhof
%A Laurent Thuriès
%A Thomas Steinsberger
%A Peter Sorensen
%A Karl Richards
%A Astrid Oberson
%A Kurt Möller
%A Lutz Merbold
%A Harald Menzi
%A Frank Liebisch
%A Florent Levavasseur
%A Florian Leiber
%A Thomas Kupper
%A Dominika Krol
%A David Janke
%A Maximilian Hofmeier
%A Nyncke J. Hoekstra
%A Thomas Guillaume
%A Anina Gilgen
%A Shiva Ghiasi
%A Hanna Frick
%A Frederico Dragoni
%A Xabier Diaz de Otalora
%A David R. Chadwick
%A Daniele Cavalli
%A Daniel Bretscher
%A Wolf-Anno Bischoff
%A Luca Bechini
%A Francesco Argento
%A Barbara Amon
%A Christof Ammann
%A Jochen Mayer