Agriculture - manure storage statistics

Data extracted in January 2025.

Planned article update: September 2027.

Highlights

4 in every 10 holdings had manure storage facilities in 2020.

Greater likelihood of manure storage facilities on holdings with higher livestock numbers.

Decline in the share of EU holdings with liquid manure storage facilities without cover: down 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2020.

This article presents statistics on manure storage facilities in the European Union (EU) by focusing on shares rather than absolute values (see section methodology below). These facilities are found on agricultural holdings used to store manure before its application on the land to improve its nutrient content. From an environmental perspective, storage facilities represent a potential source for emissions of pollutants, such as ammonia (NH₃), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄), as well as for the leaching and run-off of nitrate (NO₃-) and phosphorus pentoxide (P₂O₅). A reduction in these adverse environmental factors can be achieved by using adequate storage facilities.

Note that a separate SE article on manure management will provide information on different types of manure application to reduce the environmental impact of incorporating solid, slurry and liquid manure on fields. This topic is not covered in this article.

Agricultural holdings with manure storage facilities in 2020

4 in every 10 holdings had manure storage facilities.

In 2020, about 40% of the EU’s agricultural holdings had manure storage facilities. For a majority of EU countries, more than one half of holdings either stored solid and/or liquid manure on the holding in facilities or stored solid dung on the field, covered or not (see Figure 1). The highest proportions of holdings with manure storage facilities were in Slovenia (99.9%), Latvia (98.8%) and Estonia (92.3%).

Figure 1: Share of agricultural holdings with manure storage facilities (%, 2020)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mp_ms)

By contrast, less than 1 in 10 holdings in Cyprus (6.8%) had manure storage facilities, with particularly low shares also in Greece (11.1%) and Italy (17.8%). It is important to consider the overall structure of agriculture in each of the EU countries when analysing the proportion of holdings with and without manure storage facilities. For example, almost 1 in 5 of the EU’s holdings in 2020 was in Romania. However, in relation to the total number of holdings in Romania, the proportion of holdings with manure storage facilities was below the EU average (40%).

Storage facilities for solid dung were found on a majority of holdings in the EU.

Given the importance of assessing emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) in agriculture, a distinction is made between solid and liquid manure storage systems.

Solid dung can be stored in unconfined piles, stacked in heaps, as dry lots in open confinement areas without vegetative cover or in compost piles which are aerated. Another practice is the deep litter method that allows the manure and bedding material to accumulate and decompose inside the stable.

Liquid manure can be stored in pits below animal confinement that have slatted floors or kept either uncovered or covered in tanks or ponds at the farm. Note that some agricultural holdings can store manure in more than one of these different types of facility. Each type of storage facility has its own characteristics that a farmer must take into consideration: among others, these concern differences in storage volume, odour level, potential run-off, retention of nutrient content, potential gas dangers and emissions levels, site requirements and suitability.

To compare the different types of manure storage facilities between countries, relative percentages are used (see Figure 2). Across the EU, 57% of holdings with manure storage facilities had facilities for storage of solid dung in 2020, 16% had covered facilities for liquid manure, 10% had deep litter systems, 6% had pits below animal confinement, 5% had liquid manure without cover and another 6% had other manure facilities.

The use of different types of manure storage facility on farms varied considerably among EU countries. Nevertheless, storage facilities for solid dung were the most common form of storage in almost all EU countries in 2020. The exceptions were in Ireland (just 36% compared to 47% for covered liquid manure facilities) and the Netherlands (30% for both solid dung and covered liquid manure facilities). Indeed, storage facilities for solid dung represented above 60% of all types of farm storage facility in 13 EU countries: there were shares above 90% in Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Greece.

Storage facilities for liquid manure with permeable or impermeable covers were found in relatively high numbers in Ireland, Switzerland (44% of all storage facilities), Austria (35% of all storage facilities), Slovenia (34%), the Netherlands (30%) and Germany (29%). By contrast, there were almost no liquid manure storage facilities with covers in Bulgaria, Greece, or Romania.

There were generally relatively few holdings in the EU with uncovered liquid manure facilities. Nevertheless, they accounted for just over 1 in every 5 storage facilities on holdings in Finland (22%), and 1 in 10 storage facilities on farms in France (13%) and Spain (11%).

Manure storage with deep litter, manure stored in pits below animal confinement and other facilities were much less common in most EU countries. The most notable exceptions were in Portugal (where together they accounted for 66% of all storage facilities), Denmark (45%) and Hungary (40%).

Figure 2: Types of manure storage facilities on agricultural holdings (%, 2020)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mp_ms)

Greater likelihood of manure storage facility on holdings with higher livestock numbers.

Holdings with more livestock, as measured by livestock units (LSU), were more likely to have manure storage facilities. Almost 90% of holdings between 100 and 500 LSU had manure storage facilities. This proportion declined with each smaller size class: about one quarter (25%) of farms with 0 to 5 LSU had manure storage facilities. There were very few EU holdings with manure storage facilities that had no livestock (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Share of agricultural holdings that have or do not have manure storage facilities by size in terms of livestock unit (%, EU, 2020)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mp_ms)

About two-thirds of farms (67%) without UAA (zero ha) had manure storage facilities but only about one third (30%) of small farms with less than 5 ha of UAA had. This reflects the fact that many farms specialising in pig or poultry production had no UAA (for example the animals are housed rather than free-range), but did have manure storage facilities.

Figure 4: Share of agricultural holdings that have or do not have manure storage facilities by size in terms of utilised agricultural area (%, EU, 2020)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mp_ms)

Change in holdings with manure storage facilities between 2010 and 2020

Decline in the share of EU holdings with liquid manure storage facilities without cover: down 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2020

Liquid manure storage without cover, such as uncovered anaerobic lagoons, tanks, or ponds, present an environmental risk with regards to ammonia (NH₃) emissions and nutrient leaching or run-off into surface and ground waters.

There was a decline (5 percentage points) in the share of EU holdings with liquid manure storage facilities without cover between 2010 and 2020. Indeed, there were no longer any holdings in the Netherlands and Malta, as well as Iceland, that had these facilities in 2020. In many others, like Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland, the proportion of holdings with uncovered liquid manure storage facilities decreased by more than 30 percentage points. However, in a handful of EU countries, such as Spain (+5pp), Estonia (+3pp), Czechia (+0.4 pp), Bulgaria (+0.2 pp) and Italy (+0.1 pp), the use of uncovered liquid manure storage facilities became more common.

Map 1: Change of liquid manure storage facilities without cover (percentage points, 2010-2020)
Source: Eurostat (ef_mp_ms)

Source data for tables and graphs

Agriculture and the environment – manure storage statistics: tables and figures

Data sources

Integrated Farm Statistics Survey (IFS) data are collected from agricultural censuses every ten years and from sample surveys every 3 or 4 years in between. Manure storage indicator is derived from data collected in the 2010 survey on agricultural production methods and the animal housing and manure management module of the 2020 agricultural census.

Context

Manure storage is one of 28 agri-environmental indicators established by the European Commission to monitor the integration of environmental concerns into the Common agricultural policy (CAP).

Through its resource use, agriculture changes rural landscapes and contributes to resource depletion and degradation. Via substance emissions into the wider environment, agriculture may contribute to a complex series of ecological impacts, including human health effects, biodiversity loss and climate change. Policy responses to environmental and climate concerns have included the introduction of: resource use constraints and limits; emission and concentration limits; best available techniques, methods and practices. Nature conservation policies have also been implemented that set various agricultural constraints.

Agri-environmental indicators can be used to analyse over time the effects of agriculture on the environment and the interaction between the two, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural and environmental policy measures. To reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient leaching and run-off to ground and surface waters, EU policies address manure storage facilities. The most important policies include the Nitrates Directive 0676/1991, the Water Framework Directive 0060/2000 and Emission Directive 2284/2016, which aim to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters. Farmers are also encouraged to install new manure storage facilities with adequate coverage preventing leaching run-off of nitrates and phosphorus as well as reducing ammonia emissions.

Explore further

Database

Agriculture (agr), see:

Farm structure (ef)

Management and practices (ef_mp)

Manure storage facilities by utilised agricultural area, size class of livestock, farm type and NUTS 2 region (ef_mp_ms)

Utilised agricultural area fertilised by manure application technique, farm type and NUTS 2 region (ef_mp_ma)

Import and export of manure by farm type and NUTS 2 region (ef_mp_mne)

Methodology

The table ef_mp_ms contains the population covered by the module animal housing and manure management sent to Eurostat in 2020 detailed in item 3.6.3 in the metadata file for each country. Virtual entities (common land units without a farm manager) are excluded from the table as they are not agricultural holdings according to the definition set in Art 2(a) of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018.

The dimension STATINFO refers to the thresholds laid down in Annex II of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1091. ABVTH (above threshold) corresponds to the agricultural holdings that meet at least one of the physical thresholds listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 with regards to the size of agricultural land or the number of livestock units. BLWTH (below threshold) corresponds to the agricultural holdings that fall below all physical thresholds listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 with regards to the size of agricultural land or the number of livestock units. TOTAL corresponds to all agricultural holdings. For a few countries (namely Spain, Slovenia, and Lithuania), the data of this table do not cover the agricultural holdings accounting for at least 98% of the total utilised agricultural area (without kitchen gardens) and at least 98% of the total livestock units of the country and the data cover only the ABVTH (above threshold) category. While this complies with Regulation (EU) 2018/1091, it limits the comparability across all countries in 2020.

For this reason, the figures in this article are only presented for the coverage above threshold (ABVTH). Further details about the coverage and limitations in the comparability of the data across and within years can be found in the latest IFS handbook in Section 9.7.

External links

Agri-food data portal

Legislation

Main legislation

Regulation 1116/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods (farm structure survey from 2010 to 2016).

Regulation 1091/2018 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011.

Implementing legislation

Implementing Regulation 1200/2009 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods (farm structure survey from 2010 to 2016).

Implementing Regulation 1874/2018 of 29 November 2018 on the data to be provided for 2020 under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011, as regards the list of variables and their description.