Practical and regulatory barriers for better manure handling in Norway, Spain and Italy: Stakeholder interview report in The PRONV Project

Summary

This report, part of the PRONV project, explores practical and regulatory barriers to sustainable manure management in Italy, Spain, and Norway. Based on interviews with farmers’ organizations and regulators. It is intended to complement the abstract statistical models used in the project, by emphasizing real-world challenges and opportunities.
In Italy, farmers face high upfront costs for sustainable technologies, regulatory fragmentation across regions, and outdated EU directives that fail to account for diverse agricultural contexts. Cultural resistance and limited training also hinder progress. However, opportunities lie in modern technologies like biogas, reforming the Nitrate Directive, reward-based incentives for ecosystem services and targeted education for younger farmers.
In Spain, economic viability is also a concern, where composting infrastructure and precision technologies are seen as costly. Bureaucratic complexity, rigid nitrogen rules, water scarcity, and environmental degradation pose additional challenges. Respondents advocate for streamlined regulations, cooperative composting models, subsidies for sustainable practices, and educational outreach to foster change.
In Norway, high costs and profitability concerns are compounded by burdensome documentation systems and geographical mismatches between livestock and crop regions. Farmers also face knowledge gaps about nitrogen use and limited access to tailored training. Key solutions include subsidies for equipment, payments for ecosystem services, streamlined reporting platforms, and localized research on nitrogen dynamics and emissions.
Overall, the report identifies common barriers: economic constraints, inflexible and complex regulations, practical and geographical limitations, cultural resistance, and knowledge gaps. It recommends six strategic actions: (1) modernizing and harmonizing policy frameworks, (2) shifting to performance-based economic incentives, (3) investing in research and technology, (4) expanding farmer education and outreach, (5) fostering community and cross-country collaboration, and (6) addressing geographic nutrient imbalances and environmental limitations.
This integrated approach aims to align environmental goals with farmers’ realities, promoting sustainable agriculture that supports both ecological and economic resilience across Europe.