Brittany: nitrogen managed by residuals instead of the fertilization plan

Decree No. 2026-823 of August 27, 2026, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic No. 0200 of August 28, 2026, establishes a five-year experiment in the Brittany Region that derogates from the national fertilization balance system. It removes the obligation to establish a provisional fertilization plan for farms in vulnerable zones and replaces it with a system based on the analysis of residual nitrogen at the start of drainage. The experiment runs for five consecutive growing seasons starting from September 1, 2026.

The text, signed by the Minister for Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, and International Climate and Nature Negotiations and the Minister of Agriculture, Agri-Food, and Food Sovereignty, is supplemented by an order of August 27, 2026 (NOR TECL2621732A) which specifies the implementation procedures. It is based on Article R. 211-81 of the Environmental Code, of which paragraph 4 of section I is waived for the concerned operators.

A system based on residual nitrogen

The experiment applies to agricultural operators and natural or legal persons spreading nitrogen fertilizers on land located in vulnerable zones of the Brittany Region. The regional prefect establishes an annual list of farms subject to the system, based on the available monitoring capacity:

• a sample representing the highest risks with regard to the nitrogen management objective;
• a randomly selected sample;
• farms whose residual control from the previous year revealed non-compliance.

The obligations to maintain a spreading log and compliance with the principle of fertilization balance remain applicable. State services establish a network of reference plots representative of Breton pedoclimatic and agronomic situations, where sampling follows a harmonized protocol. The measured values are corrected to estimate residuals at the start date of drainage, then compared to the expected residuals; a deviation beyond a threshold validated by State services qualifies the level of non-compliance.

Control and support for farms

The control of fertilization balance is carried out by comparing the quantities actually spread, recorded in the practices log, and the provisional doses calculated according to the regional framework of the prefectural order of March 29, 2023. In dairy farms, the control may include the “Grazing Presence Day” (JPP) indicator. In the event of an exceedance, the farm is added the following year to the list of farms required to perform residual analyses.

The experiment is accompanied by skill-reinforcement measures:

• a simple and free tool for calculating projected doses, provided by State services by November 1, 2026, and used in inspections starting September 30, 2027;
• the coordination by the regional chamber of agriculture of a regional network dedicated to residual nitrogen at the start of drainage;
• mandatory training on fertilization, organized at least once a year, at the participants’ expense.

Sanctions and evaluation

If the results do not meet expectations for two consecutive years, the farm will be subject to more restrictive limitations on its nitrogen inputs. Beyond two consecutive years of non-compliance, mandatory fertilization training is imposed. The regional “nitrates” expertise group (GREN) of Brittany meets every year to evaluate the relevance of the reference farm network and the evolution of residuals.

The experiment is subject to an annual evaluation and then a final report, produced by the regional prefect no later than six months before the end of the scheme. The indicators focus notably on the evolution of nitrogen pressure, the results of residual analyses, the non-compliance rate, and the potential link between the absence of a fertilization plan and over-fertilization. The final report is transmitted to the ministers in charge of ecology and agriculture, as well as to the national water committee.

For Breton farmers, this text marks a shift from a documentary logic to a field-measurement logic: nitrogen management will now rely on residual analyses at the start of drainage, with reinforced controls and mandatory training in the event of insufficient results. The challenge is to reconcile the reduction of nitrogen pollution in vulnerable zones with a simplification of obligations for farms.

Official source: Decree No. 2026-823 of August 27, 2026 (NOR TECL2614684D) and order of August 27, 2026 (NOR TECL2621732A), published in the Official Journal of the French Republic No. 0200 of August 28, 2026.