Background for introduction of BAT system in intensive dairy farming in Russia

Currently Russia is realising the transition to the BAT system in different spheres of economy. Russian BAT reference books on intensive rearing of pigs and intensive rearing of poultry have been developed and come into force on June 1, 2018. The paper presents the study outcomes of dairy farming in Leningrad Region in terms of its environmental impact. The main features of current dairy farming are large-scale enterprises and concentration of livestock on separate sites. This results in accumulation of animal manure near the farms and increases the risk of nutrient leakage into the water sources and ammonia emissions into the atmosphere. The top-priority environmental challenge in animal farming in Leningrad Region is manure utilisation on big farms with substantial manure output. Manure processing technologies applied on dairy farms in Leningrad Region were estimated by the BAT criteria, namely, the least environmental effect, high economic efficiency of implementation and operation, and the use of resource and energy saving practices. Ecological estimation of cattle farms was based on indicators of nitrogen use efficiency. The list of required initial data to develop the BAT reference book on intensive rearing of cattle and to select the key technologies to be identified as BAT candidates was compiled. Introduction of BAT technologies for manure processing, storage and field application will allow reducing atmospheric ammonia emissions by, at least, 20 % and consequently cutting down the nutrients loss.