A spatially explicit representation of conservation agriculture for application in global change studies

Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted as a sustainable agricultural management strategy with the potential to alleviate some of the adverse effects of modern, industrial agriculture such as large-scale soil erosion, nutrient leaching and overexploitation of water resources. Moreover, agricultural land managed under CA is proposed to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation through reduced emission of greenhouse gases, increased solar radiation reflection, and the sustainable use of soil and water resources. Due to the lack of official reporting schemes, the amount of agricultural land managed under CA systems is uncertain and spatially explicit information about the distribution of CA required for various modeling studies is missing. Here, we present an approach to downscale present-day national-level estimates of CA to a 5 arcminute regular grid, based on multicriteria analysis. We provide a best estimate of CA distribution and an uncertainty range in the form of a low and high estimate of CA distribution, reflecting the inconsistency in CA definitions. We also design two scenarios of the potential future development of CA combining present-day data and an assessment of the potential for implementation using biophysical and socioeconomic factors. By our estimates, 122–215 Mha or 9%–15% of global arable land is currently managed under CA systems. The lower end of the range represents CA as an integrated system of permanent no-tillage, crop residue management and crop rotations, while the high estimate includes a wider range of areas primarily devoted to temporary no-tillage or reduced tillage operations. Our scenario analysis suggests a future potential of CA in the range of 533–1130 Mha (38%–81% of global arable land). Our estimates can be used in various ecosystem modeling applications and are expected to help identifying more realistic climate mitigation and adaptation potentials of agricultural practices

Review of obstacles to meeting the Defra Action Plan targets for organic cereals

The Defra ‘Action Plan to Develop Organic Food and Farming in England’ identifies cereals as the organic commodity farthest from meeting demand from UK production. The project quantified the extent and nature of this deficit and collected information on constraints from research projects and reviews, from advisers & farmers and from cereal buyers & end users. The obstacles to increased organic cereal production were identified and suggestions made on what Defra and the industry could do to help overcome them. The study focused on England but, as the main buyers of cereals operate across the UK, the supply and demand modelling was of necessity done on that basis. As identified by the Defra Organic Action Plan and by the Scotland and Wales plans, there is a lack of collated and reliable data on organic and in-conversion crop areas across the UK. Our calculations are based on best estimates, where possible confirmed from more than one source. There is a very limited scope for an increase in total grain production from existing organic farms due to rotational limitations. It is clear from consultations with grain buyers that their overwhelming requirement is for wheat for breadmaking and animal feed. Triticale and barley will continue to be difficult to sell to the feed compounders. There may be some scope for changing the balance of cereal species grown on existing organic farms. However, this is likely to be limited by constraints of location and soil type as the majority of the organic land in England, and in the UK, is on soils unsuited to wheat production. It may be more productive to seek direct sale to other farmers for these grains. The fragmented nature of supply with many farms selling small quantities of grain makes sourcing supply of consistent quality difficult for the large purchasers. Co-operation, with regional cleaning and storage facilities, has been suggested by many as a way to more effectively compete with imports. Work in this area has been started by Organic Grain LINK with Defra support under the ERDP. Our consultations show that the dominant constraints to further conversion to organic methods are concerns about marketing and profitability. These concerns are not specific to cereals which have remained relatively profitable, but are more related to falling prices for other products such as potatoes, and some vegetables. These potentially high gross-margin crops are the key to farm profitability in stockless arable systems where they balance the high levels of set-aside employed. With slowing retail growth and still more land coming through conversion, this situation is unlikely to improve in the short term. Although technical constraints are not dominant in decisions of conversion, they are limiting yield and quality of organic cereals and hence also the saleability and value of the grain. A better understanding of N availability should come from Defra project OF0316 but further work on agronomy and grain quality is necessary. We recommend action in four areas, in line with priorities 2, 4 and 5 in the Defra Action Plan: 1. The most critical constraint on the development of the UK organic cereal supply is economic viability, particularly in the context of a 2-3 year lag between starting conversion and marketing organic produce. It is recommended that the new support system (under ELS) should be devised to deliver long-term environmental benefits (through ongoing payments) while minimising short-term market distortions (through conversion support). A higher level of annual payment than the modified OFS is needed, as £30/ha is unlikely to provide sufficient incentive for further substantial conversion of arable farms. 2. The availability of good data on supply and demand, by species, is needed. This would give buyers and sellers more confidence and help farmers plan rotations to better meet market demand. This shortcoming was identified in the Defra Organic Action Plan and action is underway. 3. Co-operation between organic cereal producers should be encouraged to allow better cleaning & storage, and bulking to create larger quantities for sale. The Organic Grain Link initiative is helping publicise the availability of support from ERDP for marketing and facilities and could be a model for wider application. 4. Whilst not the primary constraint to increase in cereal production, technical issues are limiting the yield and quality of grain, farm profitability, adding cost to the supply chain, and making produce less competitive with imports. Direct issues include improving breadmaking quality and a better understanding of the interactions of seed rate, sowing date and row width. There are also issues affecting organic livestock production that will impact on demand for cereals. These include the ending of the derogations on feeding synthetic amino acids, non-organic feed inclusion and pullet rearing. These will all add substantially to livestock production costs and are likely to require further research to find innovative technical and management solutions to maintain and expand these sectors and their associated demands for cereals. Defra funding may be necessary to make immediate progress on these issues in view of the current stop on new projects by the HGCA. Future changes in supply and demand for organic cereals will be influenced by a range of complex and interacting factors which make precise predictions of the likely impacts of these actions impossible. However, together they should help maintain current organic cereal production and create the best environment for the industry to respond to future market needs

Economic Performance of Organic Farms in Europe

Economic aspects are increasingly determining the acceptance and further expansion of organic farming in Europe. Drawing on data and studies from the 15 EU member states and three non-EU countries (Norway, Switzerland and Czech Republic), this book provides a comprehensive overview of the economic performance of organic farms in Europe. The analysis of yields, costs, prices and support payments offers an insight into the profits of organic farms of various types and in different countries. Specific attention is paid to the impact of the 1992 CAP reform on the profitability of organic farming. This book is aimed at policy makers, the private sector, researchers and students in the field of organic farming

An interactive approach to policy impact assessment for organic farms in Europe

Organic farming has increasingly become an integral part of the European Common Agricultural Policy. This book analyses the impact of possible future EU policy options on typical organic dairy and arable farms in the EU. A novel methodological approach is tested in terms of applicability and feasibility of using it for international comparative policy impact analysis for organic farms. This approach links focus groups, consisting of farmers and advisors, with a policy impact assessment simulation model in an interactive manner

Integrated pest management portfolios in UK arable farming: results of a farmer survey.

Farmers are faced with a wide range of pest management (PM) options that can be adopted in isolation or alongside complementary or substitute strategies. This paper presents the results of a survey of UK cereal producers, focusing on the character and diversity of PM strategies currently used by, or available to, farmers. In addition, the survey asked various questions pertaining to agricultural policy participation, attitude towards environmental issues, sources of PM advice and information and the important characteristics of PM technologies. The results indicate that many farmers do make use of a suite of PM techniques, and that their choice of integrated PM (IPM) portfolio appears to be jointly dictated by farm characteristics and government policy. Results also indicate that portfolio choice does affect the number of subsequent insecticide applications per crop. These results help to identify the type of IPM portfolios considered to be adoptable by farmers and highlight the importance of substitution in IPM portfolios. As such, these results will help to direct R&D effort towards the realisation of more sustainable PM approaches and aid the identification of potential portfolio adopters. These findings highlight the opportunity that a revised agri-environmental policy design could generate in terms of enhancing coherent IPM portfolio adoption

Driver-pressure-impact and response-recovery chains in European rivers: observed and predicted effects on BQEs

The report presented in the following is part of the outcome of WISER’s river Workpackage WP5.1 and as such part of the module on aquatic ecosystem management and restoration. The ultimate goal of WP5.1 is to provide guidance on best practice restoration and management to the practitioners in River Basin Management. Therefore, a series of analyses was undertaken, each of which used a part of the WP5.1 database in order to track two major pathways of biological response: 1) the response of riverine biota to environmental pressures (degradation) and 2) the response of biota to the reduction of these impacts (restoration). This report attempts to provide empirical evidence on the environment-biota relationships for both pathways

Organic farming enhances parasitoid diversity at the local and landscape scales

1. The magnitude of the benefits derived from organic farming within contrasting managed landscapes remains unclear and, in particular, the potential scale-dependent response of insect parasitoids is relatively unexplored. Identifying the scale at which parasitoids are affected by organic farming will be an important step to enhance their conservation. 2. We sampled tachinid parasitoids at the centre and margin of arable and grassland fields on paired organic and conventional farms located in landscapes with different proportions of organic land. A total of 192 fields were sampled in two biogeographical regions of the UK. 3. We found that the positive effect of organic farming on tachinid parasitoid diversity can be observed at multiple spatial scales. At the local scale, we found higher abundance and species richness of tachinid parasitoids on organic than on conventional farms and on field margins than on field centres. At the landscape scale, the diversity of tachinids was higher in landscapes with higher proportions of organic land. At both scales, the positive effect of organic farming was clear for arable fields, while it was almost neutral for grasslands. 4. Synthesis and applications. Any attempt to enhance parasitoid diversity in agricultural landscapes needs to consider the local management in relation to the habitat type, location within the field and agricultural management in the surrounding landscape. To restore parasitoid diversity, the promotion of organic agriculture should aim to increase both the total extent of organic farming and the connectivity of individual farms. As the benefits of organic farming to biodiversity clearly spread beyond individual farm boundaries, any assessment of organic farming should consider these positive externalities

Designing socially sound poultry farming : matching hen ethology, farm management and landcape quality

Abstract: In order to receive a licence to produce, poultry farmers have to take into account societal demands, among others: animal welfare, healthy working conditions for the workers and landscape quality. A way to reach a combination of these goals is to create a design for the poultry house and outdoor run. We propose a methodology based on five steps, which enables us to create a design that takes into consideration societal demands and that can be tested on its effects. These five steps are: 1. Giving a theoretical background on the societal demands (hen ethology, farm management and landscape quality) and based on this; 2. Giving a set of design criteria. 3. Describing the current state of the farm, in order to know its current qualities, 4. Making a design of the farm using the sets of criteria as guiding principle. 5. Reflecting on the design, to show whether the different criteria can be combined and where compromises are needed. A case study on an organic farm in the centre of the Netherlands showed that hen welfare, farm management and landscape quality can be improved together, although some measures do not add to all design criteria. Especially the effect on landscape quality and farm management is variable: the latter is also depending on the personal motivation of the farme