Europe is falling short of its goal to achieve good water quality by 2027. Only a third of surface waters currently meet good quality standards. The status of groundwater is better, with 80% classified as good quality.
Agricultural emissions, from both crop protection products and nitrates, are a diffuse source of pollution. Diffuse sources are the third-largest pollution pressure on surface water and the largest pressure on groundwater quality.
Zooming in on water quality issues related to crop protection products and nitrates in major agricultural EU member states, Poland and Romania are in relatively good shape. Other countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, face serious challenges.
Water quality policies aimed at farming affect many sectors. Some examples include:
Livestock farming: Pork, poultry, and dairy farmers in countries with nutrient-related water quality issues face additional costs for manure disposal or acquiring more land to spread manure, as there are limits on the amount of livestock manure farmers can apply per hectare. The phasing out of derogations of the nitrates directive, as seen in Ireland and the Netherlands, exemplifies this challenge. Crop farming: Farmers growing permanent crops (not replanted after each harvest) and those involved in horticulture face significant challenges due to emissions of crop protection in France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. Over recent years, the European Commission has restricted the use of many crop protection products that exceed water quality threshold levels. Beyond the farm: Water quality policies also impact farm input companies, as well as downstream players like processors. For instance, in the dairy sector, the decrease in milk volumes forces processing companies to restructure their production facilities.
There are opportunities to reduce agricultural emissions into water. These include using precision technologies for applying fertilizers and crop protection products, mechanical weeding, and disease inspection robots to reduce the use of crop protection. New crop varieties that require fewer inputs (fertilizers and crop protection) can also help reduce agricultural emissions. There is also potential in the adoption of different farming practices, like the use of cover crops, which can be used for scavenging unused fertilizer and releasing nutrients back into the soil to prevent nutrient leaching to water bodies.
