Objective The aims were to clarify the changes of livestock and poultry breeding scale and the quantity of manure and urine resources in Shanxi Province, in order to establish the matching pattern of crops and livestock in county-level, and to provide theoretical basis for promoting the sustainable development of crop-livestock cycle in the local area.

Method Based on the Shanxi Statistical Yearbook and the Technical Guidelines for Calculating Cultivated Land Carrying Capacity of Livestock and Poultry Excrement, this paper analyzed the dynamic changes of livestock and poultry farming scale and excrement resources in Shanxi Province from 2012 to 2021, as well as the spatial distribution characteristics of excrement nutrient resources at the county level in 2012 and 2021, and further comprehensively evaluated the matching relationship between crop nutrient demand and livestock and poultry excrement nutrient supply at the county level.

Result The scale of livestock and poultry farming and the resource quantity of excrement in Shanxi Province showed an overall upward trend from 2012 to 2021. Among them, the stocks (slaughter) number of cattle, sheep, pig, and poultry in 2021were 54.2%, 40.6%, 56.2%, and 144.9% higher than in 2012, respectively. However, the stocks (slaughter) number of horses, donkeys, mules, and rabbits in 2021 were 40%, 56.4%, 86.2%, and 64.4% lower than in 2012, respectively. In 2021, the total manure and urine generated by livestock and poultry in Shanxi Province was 40.9 million tons, an increase of 47.6% over 2012, and the total nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient quantities were 264,000 tons and 68,000 tons. During the statistical period, the manure output accounted for about 65% of the total excrement, while the urine output accounted for about 35%, among which the manure resources were mainly from cattle and sheep (39.2% and 25.6%), and the urine resources were mainly from pigs (50.5%). In 2012, there were 24 counties (districts) with nitrogen carrying capacity index > 1.0, 19 counties with phosphorus carrying capacity index > 1.0. In 2021, the counties (districts) with nitrogen carrying capacity index > 1.0 were increased to 40 and the counties (districts) with phosphorus carrying capacity index > 1.0 were increased to 33. among which Yingze District had the highest nitrogen and phosphorus carrying capacity index, which were 15.2 and 12.8 respectively. From the perspective of the whole province, the cultivated land carrying capacity index of nitrogen and phosphorus were 0.68 and 0.59, respectively, and were not overloaded.

Conclusion Overall, the scale of livestock and poultry farming in Shanxi Province showed an upward trend, but the matching degree between livestock and poultry farming and crop production at the county level was not high. In the case where 30% of chemical fertilizer nitrogen (phosphorus) nutrients are replaced by livestock and poultry manure nitrogen (phosphorus) nutrients, one-third of the counties have a situation where the supply of nitrogen (phosphorus) nutrients from livestock and poultry manure exceeds the nutrient demand for local crop production. Therefore, it is suggested that the local government should formulate relevant policies to support the integration of agriculture and animal husbandry and promote the green development of circular agriculture.