Ecogan, the essential calculation tool for farmers

What is Ecogan?

Ecogan is a computer application developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the estimation of polluting emissions and resource consumption in livestock farms.

What is your objective?

The objective is to provide the livestock sector and the competent authorities with support at the national level to facilitate the notification to the General Register of the Best Available Techniques applied to each farm, as well as the calculation, monitoring and reporting of emissions from each farm.
Ecogan houses the General Register of Best Available Techniques in livestock farms, which constitutes an instrument to ensure compliance with emission reduction programs established by management regulations in the different livestock sectors.

What is this application for?

Ecogan is a computer application that allows us to:

• Record the Best Available Techniques (MTDs) applied on the farm.
• Estimate the pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption of a specific farm throughout the production process, taking into account the techniques and procedures used:
  • • In animal nutrition.
    • In the design and management of accommodations.
    • In the storage and management of manure and slurry produced.

Who is Ecogan aimed at?

This tool is designed to:

• People who own farms (pigs, chickens, chickens and turkeys) who are required by regulations.
• General public (allows simulations).
• Competent authorities responsible for the assessment and management of information.
• All communities are attached to this application except for the autonomous community of Catalonia.

Which farms are required by regulations?

In the case of the pig sector, Royal Decree 306/2020, of February 11, establishes that:

• Pig farms in an intensive production system are required.
• This regulation is exempt from this regulation and, therefore, extensive farms are not required (Article 1.3.a).

Self-consumption and reduced farms are not required, among others, to articles 9 (Manure Management), 10 (Reduction of Emissions) and 11 (Registration of MTDs). Thus, the owners of these types of farms (self-consumption and reduced) do not have to report to the competent authority of the Autonomous Community the MTDs used during the previous year to reduce polluting and greenhouse gas emissions (Article 10.3)

Not all farms have to declare the full list of MTDs:

The farms required to declare, who have to declare the entire list of MTDs, and therefore, upload data to all sections of the ECOGAN system:

• Farms with more than 40,000 poultry places;
• Farms that have more than 2,000 places for breeding pigs (weighing more than 30 kg) or
• Farms that have more than 750 places for sows.

The farms required to declare, which only have to declare MTDs related to the reduction of emissions: for the rest of the farms not included in the previous point. These MTDs are identified in the ECOGAN system with a red asterisk.

• For pig farms, those required by Royal Decree 306/2020, of February 11, which establishes basic rules for the management of intensive pig farms, and modifies the basic regulations for the management of extensive pig farms, where their criteria are included in articles 10 and 11.
• For chicken, chicken and turkey farms, those required by Royal Decree 637/2021, of July 27, which establishes the basic rules for the management of poultry farms.

For existing farms of less than 120 UGM:

• Outdoor storage autonomy: Minimum 3 months, the rest of the storage can be inside the warehouses (under the slat)
• Entry into force of external storage autonomy: Before 01/01/2023
• Frequent emptying of indoor pits: Not required
• MTDs to reduce NH3 emissions
• Existing ponds and reservoirs: NO measures required
• In case of expansion of ponds and/or tanks: If no natural crust forms that cover the entire surface, then an MTD must be adopted that reduces emissions by 40% compared to the reference value.
• In the case of newly built ponds and/or reservoirs: A technique must be adopted that reduces 80% compared to the reference value
• Entry into force of the requirements: as of January 1, 2023, provided that the measures involve a structural modification.

For newly built or expanded Farms (except small and self-consumption)

• Outdoor storage autonomy: Minimum 3 months, the rest of the storage can be inside the warehouses (under the slat).
• Entry into force of external storage autonomy: Storage autonomy must be available before the farm comes into operation.
• Frequent emptying of indoor pits: Not required.
• MTDs to reduce NH3 emissions
• Adopt a multi-phase feeding system, with reduced crude protein content
• Empty the pits once a month.
• In ships, adopt an MTD or combination of these that allow a 60% reduction in gas emissions.
• In external ponds and tanks, adopt an MTD or combination to reduce emissions by at least 80% compared to the reference value. When this technique involves covering the reservoir and when this covering may involve the accumulation of methane gas, management systems for this gas will be adopted to eliminate risks related to its accumulation or emission to the atmosphere.
  How does the procedure work?

Before starting to enter the data in ECOGAN, the following documentation must be collected, since you will need it either to consult it or to attach it in electronic format:

• Labeling of each of the feeds supplied (% moisture,% crude protein, days supplied...)
• Bills for the annual consumption of fuel, electricity and hydraulic supply.
• Production and management data on the farm: places occupied on average on the farm, categories of animals,..
• Structural data and equipment of farm facilities: animal housing, types of manure storage (ponds, reservoirs,...)
• Environmental Management System (EMS) (if applicable)
• Noise Management Plan (if applicable)
• Odor Management Plan (if applicable)
• Emergency plan (if applicable)
• Training Plan for farm personnel (if applicable)
• Maintenance Plan (if applicable)
• Dead Body Management Plan (if applicable)
• Integrated Environmental Authorization (AAI) (if applicable)

To complete the form, you can enter the data step by step. The steps included in the main menu are:

STEP 1: FARM DATA

STEP 2: ACCOMMODATIONS

STEP 3: OUTDOOR STORAGE SYSTEMS

STEP 4: MANAGING ACCOMMODATIONS

STEP 5: AGRICULTURAL USE

STEP 6: WASTEWATER CONSUMPTION AND MANAGEMENT

STEP 7: RESULTS

STEP 8: INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORIZATION (AAI) (This step is not completed)

Each answer corresponds to an internationally and/or community-recognized MTD technique included in the EC/EB.AIR/120 Guide, in the EU BREF documents (Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Intensive Rearing of Poultry or Pigs) and/or in the Commission's Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/302, of February 15, 2017, establishing the conclusions on the best available techniques (MTD) within the framework of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and the Council regarding intensive poultry farming or pigs.

Depending on the selected response, ECOGAN calculates and records the percentage of reduction associated with that specific technique and recognizes the MTD applied to report to the MTD registry.

At Ideas MedioAmbiental we have experience filling in information regarding the ECOGAN application, ensuring compliance with current regulations and establishing proposals to improve the environmental performance of your pig farm.

An estimate and record is made in the application of the emissions generated by the livestock farm and of the existing MTDs, if any, within the deadline established by each community.

Every year, the effectiveness of the measures adopted and the evolution of emissions will be evaluated through a new estimate and registration in the application.

Depending on the results, the implementation of MTDs will be proposed to reduce emissions by selecting the one that is considered most appropriate.

Figure 1. Selection of the best available techniques. Source: Guide to Best Available Techniques for the Pork Sector, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Environment

Contact us for more information.