This indicator shows categories of agricultural land and soil coverage in the period 1992-2008, along with distribution of livestock farms in terms of storage capacity for organic manure, and the analysis of soil samples in Slovenia for the period 1995-2005.

Types of farming on agricultural holdings are defined as decisions and practical measures that determine farm management. They include the technology of production like crop rotation, types of soil tillage and the related plant coverage of soil, as well as the types and capacity of storage for organic manure*.

*Definition is taken from: H. P. Piorr, U. Eppler (University of Eberswalde) in the framework of the PAIS project (Proposal on Agri-Environmental-Indicators), financed by ESTAT (from 2000 to 2004).

The types of farming on agricultural holdings have a direct impact on various processes of soil degradation, such as erosion, reduced organic substance in soil, compaction of soil and various types of pollution. These processes are reduced by covering of soil with crops and harvest residues and depend primarily on the structure of the crops in rotation.

Among the categories of agricultural land in Slovenia, permanent grassland prevails, while the share of fields and kitchen gardens is the lowest. Nevertheless, the basic feature of Slovenian agriculture is that it is primarily focused on the production fodder. Maize heavily dominates among forage crops, as its production is the most economical. Narrow crop rotation results in relatively low coverage of land, a very large share of maize and few legumes in crop rotation. All these factors speed up soil degradation processes. The increasing proportion of land coverage and the increasing percentage of legumes in seed composition after 2000 is mainly a consequence of the introduction of certain measures within the Slovenian Agri-Environmental Programme and the Agricultural and Environmental Programme. Narrow crop rotation is a reflection of specialised agricultural production; therefore no significant changes can be expected within a short period of time. From this perspective, the period 1992–2008 can be seen as relatively short.

Adequate storage capacity allows good management of livestock manure and reduces the risk of polluting natural resources. Slovenian regulations stipulate that there must be a 3.5 m² manure facility with an associated pit of 2 m³ for each livestock unit (LU), or an 8 m³ pit or lagoon for slurry. Among dairy-oriented cattle farms, the dominating types of farms are those where livestock manure is stored as solid dung. According to a survey conducted in 2005, about 85% of farms have manure facilities with slurry pits, 2% have only manure facilities with no pits, and 13% have only slurry.

The storage capacity of the facilities on farms that only have slurry is at the EU average. About 70% of Slovenian farms can store slurry for more than six months. The dominating type of storage area is a concrete pit outside the cowshed (55%), while there are sometimes storage facilities for slurry under the bars in the cowshed (39%). The rest are open overhead tanks and lagoons. In farms with combined storage facilities, the capacity is relatively large, sufficient for more than six months storage of livestock manure – the total capacity is above the EU average. The prevailing type of manure facilities are those with uncovered manure on an impermeable or concrete base (> 90%). As regards the type and capacity of manure facilities, the situation in Slovenia is comparable to the one in Finland and Sweden.

Neither the EU, nor Slovenia has past data relating to slurry and manure storage, so the assessment of trends is not possible. Recently, the number of soil analyses has been increasing, which allows adaptation of fertilising to the needs of the plants. An exceptional increase in these analyses in 2004 and 2005 is due to the introduction of payments for the implementation of the Nitrate Directive, which, among other conditions, prescribes fertilisation based on a soil analysis fertilisation plan.