Phosphorus and nitrogen losses to water from a forested feedlot (10 000 m 2 ) for 10 bulls was studied for 2 years in northwestern Finland. The nutrient loading was estimated by monitoring nutrient accumulation and migration in a feedlot soil profile and run-off to a nearby ditch. Ditch water was sampled for total phosphorus (TP), dissolved reactive P (DRP), total nitrogen (TN), NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N analyses. The concentrations of ammonium acetate extractable phosphorus (PAAA c ), NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N in the soil were measured before and during the study. The mean PAAA c rose in the surface soil layer (0-5 cm) from 5.0 to 13.8-21.3 mg L )1 , being the highest in the areas where bulls congregated. Also the mean contents of NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N in the 0.6-m soil layer rose from 5.4 and 0.5 kg ha )1 up to 270 and 30 kg ha )1 , respectively; an approximately 50-to 60-fold increase. Although the annual losses of DRP, TP, NH 4 -N, NO 3 -N and TN (0.6, 0.9, 1.4, 0.3 and 3.5 kg ha )1 , respectively) increased only moderately in ditch water during the study period, our results suggest that forested feedlots may represent a long-term source of increased nutrient loading to water if cattle rearing with high stock numbers continues for a long time in the same place.