Model of nitrogen management on farms specializing in livestock production

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the efficiency of agricultural production and selected parameters of farms and data describing the flow of nutrients on the farms. An analysis model was developed for nitrogen management on farms specializing in livestock production. The study was conducted on 20 farms located in 12 municipalities of the Mazowieckie province in central Poland in 2009.2012. The model was developed using multiple linear regression analysis in accordance with the backward stepwise method. Based on the regression analysis, the farm parameters that did not determine the dependent variable were eliminated. In the end, there were 10 independent variables included in the model. The model indicates that the efficiency of nitrogen management, expressed in cereal units per 1 kg of nitrogen (CU·kg-1 N), is significantly affected by: crop rotation, the demand for purchasing animal feed, the intensity of livestock production, the nitrogen content of farmyard manure, the nitrogen doses applied in mineral and natural fertilizers, and nitrogen outflow from farms with the sale of plant and animal products. The developed model explains 70% of the variation in the coefficient of efficiency expressed in cereal units per 1 kg N.