agreste

Agreste cahiers n° 4 - décembre 2000

Since 1994 there has been a general increase in agricultural investment.

The grasslands in the Northwest of France are those that produce the most grass in 1998. The farmers in these regions exploit their pastures more intensively, using more nitrogen fertiliser, carrying out more annual mowing and obtaining higher yields than elsewhere in France. Since 1982, French grassland management practices have changed substantially. Mineral fertilisation is becoming generalised, but the average doses of mineral fertiliser are decreasing. Organic manuring, the spreading of livestock effluents, has decreased noticeably. The level of nitrogen fertilisers depends first on the type of pastures, artificial, temporary or permanent. Temporary pastures receive the greatest quantities of nitrogen fertilisers, whatever the type of grass harvest during the year : mowing for the production of dehydrated or silage fodder, grazing by animals, or a combination of the two.