Pilot farms in Luxembourg
In Luxembourg, milk is the main agricultural product, with 33% of the total value of agricultural production. 860 Farms produce milk and use 65% of the total agricultural land area of Luxembourg. Most of dairy farms are mixed farms with meat production and arable crops, but for 644 farms milk is the main production and counts for more than 60% of the gross product of the farm. The work (field and indoor) is mainly done by family labour. The annual decrease in the number of dairy farms is about 3,7%. Automatic milking is practiced by 10% of the farms and it is increasing fast.
Environmental regulations and main constraints
The Nitrate Directive permits the farms to apply 170kg N-org during the whole year. During the winter months farmers can apply at most 80 kg of N-org. Phosphate is not directly limited but soil analyses have to be taken to verify the phosphate content of the soil. If the phosphate content is to high, farmers don’t receive part of the landscape premium.
Land is a limited producing factor; the land price reaches up to 30,000 euros /ha. This price is also a result of the housing market.
Luxembourg has a very high reference income. As a consequence life is expensive and labour costs are very high. Farmers can hardly work with employees.
The milk quota costs are also very high (80 cts/kg in 2008).
Building costs are also very high in Luxembourg. Some reasons for this may be the regulations farmers have to follow in case of constructing new buildings, the high cost of work and the national subsidy policy which leads the farmers to invest in new technologies.
Water quality of the region
- N: medium water quality. Local problems, mainly in cleft and carst regions (sandy regions).
- P: no problem in groundwater but problems in surface water (double origin: sewage plants and agriculture)
