Generating OR model information on the manure disposal problem for governmental and farm level use

The manure disposal problem is described as the problem of getting rid of manure surpluses which occur in livestock concentration areas. Both at farm and at governmental level insights in this complex location dependent matter are needed either for planning alternative abatement measures (at farm level) or considering disposal adjustments (at governmental level). As transportation to farms that still can accept manure constitutes the main abatement option, modelling of this problem is in the main based on a transportation model framework. A state of the art of various OR modelling attempts is given. Problems that may arise with this type of modelling approach involve aggregation errors, the normative character, data availability, model complexity and economic interpretation. A simple but still OR based approach is proposed to cope with these problems. Location dependent information derived from the shadow prices of the model constraints is discussed in view of some concrete information needs at farm and governmental level.