The milk-cattle became an important economic alternative in the Western region of Santa Catarina State, mainly as an alternative for the swine farming excluded units. This activity, beyond the economic alternative, has been presented as an environmental-friendly alternative because it absorb, in the pastures, large amounts of the dejections generated by swine farms and poultry keeping. The simplified nitrogen masses balance was applied on 69 production units of the West of Santa Catarina, in order to identify the contribution of the milk-cattle keeping in the N excesses produced. The average results of the nitrogen balance indicate the existence N-excesses in the activity. The detailed evaluation of the N-balance clearly indicates clearly a differentiation of these systems in relation to the Nitrogen balance. There are different farming systems, specially the less intensive systems, whose N-balance reaches negative or weakly negative results, and some productions units, with more intensive systems whose balance indicates the possibility of considerable risks of Nitrogen pollution.
nitrogen balance; milk-cattle keeping; environmental management; Oeste catarinense
