Nitrogen Turnover on Organic and Conventional Mixed Farms

Separate focus on crop fertilization or feeding practices inadequately describes nitrogen (N) loss from mixed dairy farms because of (1) interaction between animal and crop production and between the production system and the manager, and (2) uncertainties of herd N production and crop N utilization. Therefore a systems approach was used to study N turnover and N efficiency on 16 conventional and 14 organic private Danish farms with mixed animal (dairy) and crop production. There were significant differences in N surplus at the farm level (242 kg. N/ha. vs. 124 kg. N/ha. on conventional and organic dairy farms respectively) with a correlation between stocking rate and N surplus. N efficiency was calculated as the output of N in animal products divided by the net N import in fodder, manure and fertilizer. N turnover in herd and individual crops calculated on selected farms showed differences in organic and conventional crop N utilization. This is explained via a discussion of the rationality behind the current way of planning the optimum fertilizer application in conventional agriculture. The concept of marginal N efficiency is insufficient for correcting problems of N loss from dairy farms. Substantial reductions in N loss from conventional mixed dairy farms is probably unlikely without lower production intensity. The concept of mean farm unit N efficiency might be a way to describe the relation between production and N loss to facilitate regulation. This concept is linked to differing goals of agricultural development — i.e. intensification and separation vs. extensification and integration. It is discussed how studies in private farms — using organic farms as selected critical cases — can demonstrate possibilities for balancing production and environmental concern

Research, values, and ethics in organic agriculture - examples from sustainability, precaution, nature quality, and animal welfare

Agricultural systems are characterised by involving both natural and social systems. Organic farming, in particular, has developed as part of a wider organic movement incorporating producers, manufacturers and consumers. The organic movement is based on explicit rules as well as broader formulated principles and goals for farming and manufacturing, which are connected to underlying values and perceptions of the relationship between human and nature. This paper is concerned with the challenges to research entailed by the ethical issues in organic farming and the interplay of values and facts in agricultural research

Towards a systemic research methodology in agriculture: Rethinking the role of values in science

The recent drastic development of agriculture, together with the growing societal interest in agricultural practices and their consequences, pose a challenge to agricultural science. There is a need for rethinking the general methodology of agricultural research. This paper takes some steps towards developing a systemic research methodology that can meet this challenge – a general self-reflexive methodology that forms a basis for doing holistic or (with a better term) wholeness-oriented research and provides appropriate criteria of scientific quality. From a philosophy of research perspective, science is seen as an interactive learning process with both a cognitive and a social communicative aspect. This means, first of all, that science plays a role in the world that it studies. A science that influences its own subject area, such as agricultural science, is named a systemic science. From this perspective, there is a need to reconsider the role of values in science. Science is not objective in the sense of being value-free. Values play, and ought to play, an important role in science – not only in form of constitutive values such as the norms of good science, but also in the form of contextual values that enter into the very process of science. This goes against the traditional criterion of objectivity. Therefore, reflexive objectivity is suggested as a new criterion for doing good science, along with the criterion of relevance. Reflexive objectivity implies that the communication of science must include the cognitive context, which comprises the societal, intentional, and observational context. In accordance with this, the learning process of systemic research is shown as a self-reflexive cycle that incorporates both an involved actor stance and a detached observer stance. The observer stance forms the basis for scientific communication. To this point, a unitary view of science as a learning process is employed. A second important perspective for a systemic research methodology is the relation between the actual, different, and often quite separate kinds of science. Cross-disciplinary research is hampered by the idea that reductive science is more objective, and hence more scientific, than the less reductive sciences of complex subject areas – and by the opposite idea that reductive science is necessarily reductionistic. Taking reflexive objectivity as a demarcator of good science, an inclusive framework of science can be established. The framework does not take the established division between natural, social and human science as a primary distinction of science. The major distinction is made between the empirical and normative aspects of science, corresponding to two key cognitive interests. Two general methodological dimensions, the degree of reduction of the research world and the degree of involvement in the research world, are shown to span this framework. The framework can form a basis for transdisciplinary work by way of showing the relation between more and less reductive kinds of science and between more detached and more involved kinds of science and exposing the abilities and limitations attendant on these methodological differences

Investigations of organic food and health

Numerous studies have attempted to elucidate if there is a difference in the effect on human health, between food produced according to the organic standards compared with conventionally produced food. While many studies support a few general trends of differences in food composition, none have provided any conclusive evidence for differences in the effects on human health. Most of the studies have been inadequate in size or focus to allow any definitive conclusions. The major problem is the complexity of the issue, and the general paucity of knowledge about the impact of food on health, which means that it is virtually impossible to tackle all relevant uncertainties in any one study. Instead a whole range of different types of studies are needed to provide a conclusion. Presently, a study is in progress, which attempts to provide some of the missing key information on this issue. This study comprises controlled cultivation of plants in three different models of growing systems for two years, and feeding rats for 3 generations on diets composed of these plants. It will show if food from different growing systems can result in differences in health of rats, and if so, which aspects of health are affected. However, if differences are found, subsequent studies will be necessary to determine the applicability and possible consequences for human health. Still, together with other existing and planned studies it might soon be possible to determine some of the consequences for human health of the methods used for food production. This could result in increased demand for organic food, and it could at the same time lead to changes in the farming methods in either organic or conventional production systems. In any case, this type of research will improve crucial aspects of the knowledge base, which is needed also in other contexts, to support the efforts to improve food safety and quality

Investigating organic agriculture in a global perspective

The Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming has initiated a knowledge synthesis that will provide an overview of the potential role of organic agriculture in a global perspective. The investigation will be performed by a group of Danish experts from a wide range of relevant fields in cooperation with international experts, and it is to provide a basis for launching a new research effort in this area. Organic agriculture can be seen as a tangible effort to create a sustainable food production. But modern European organic agriculture is undergoing a technological and structural modernisation and it is faced with a growing globalisation. And, even though there are large differences, the same is true for agriculture in development countries. The knowledge synthesis will have to consider the different meanings of globalisation and sustainable development and the different normative positions involved. The width of the field can be indicated by three positions on globalisation and sustainable development: A. Growth and free trade without ecological borders (market liberalism) B. Growth and free trade within certain limits (ecological economy) C. Growth and free trade as a recipe for ecological injustice (political ecology

Values in organic farming and their implications

Research in organic farming should involve reflections on the values and aims of organic farming, and on how these values and aims correspond to the choices and delimitations that are a necessary part of making 'objective' research. Value discussions and value inquiry is an essential element in systemic research; this is not least true in relation to organic farming where the future development depends heavily on values that are, to some degree, unspecified and open to discussion

CORE Organic country report. Report on Danish Research in Organic Food and Farming. December 2005

The aim of the country report is to present an overview of Danish research in organic food and farming. The overview includes descriptions of History, Organisation , Research programmes, Financing, Research facilities, Initiation of research and stakeholder engagement, Selection criteria and evaluation procedures, Utilisation of research, Scientific education & research school

Organic agriculture in a global perspective

Organic agriculture is a tangible effort toward a more sustainable food production. However, modern European organic agriculture is faced with growing globalisation and it is undergoing a continuous technological and structural modernisation. And, even though there are large differences, the same is to some degree true for agriculture in developing countries. This chapter is the first step in an investigation of the role that organic agriculture may play in relation to sustainable development and global food security. We outline a global perspective on the development of organic food systems in consideration of different understandings of globalisation and sustainable development, as found in market liberalism, ecological economy and political ecology. This involves issues such as the place of non-certified organic agriculture, pros and cons of free trade, the possibilities for fair global trade with organic products, commons and ecological justice, and the need for a cooperative dialogue between North and South

Energy Utilization in Crop and Dairy Production in Organic and Conventional Livestock Production Systems

Searching for livestock production systems with a high energy utilization is of interest because of resource use and pollution aspects and because energy use is an indicator of the intensification of production processes. Due to interactions between crop and livestock enterprises and between levels of different input factors and their effects on yields, it is proposed to analyze agricultural energy utilization through system modelling of data from farm studies. Energy use in small grains, grass-clover and fodder beets registered in organic and conventional mixed dairy farms was analyzed and used together with crop yields in order to model energy prices on three Danish soil types. Conventional crop yields were higher but they also used more indirect energy with input factors, especially fertilizers. The conventional yields were not sufficiently higher to compensate for the extra use of energy compared with the organic crops. The organic crops had lower energy prices on all soil types, with the smallest difference on irrigated sandy soils. Sensitivity analyses were made for the effects of changes in irrigation and fertilizer levels. One conclusion was that better energy utilization in grain crops might be found at intermediate levels of fertilizer use, especially on irrigated soils. Actual farm diesel use was on average 47% higher than expected from standard values, suggesting that care should be taken when basing energetic analysis of farming methods on experimental data alone. On the same farms, the energy use in dairy production registered in organic and conventional mixed dairy farms was analyzed and used together with milk and meat yields in order to model energy prices for three different feeding strategies and two soil types. Conventional dairy production is more intensive with a greater feeding ration and a higher proportion of high-protein Seed, but has also higher yields. The conventional yields were not sufficiently higher to compensate for rite extra use of energy compared with the organic feeding ration. However, the loll er energy price in organic dairy production is dependent on the composition of the feeding strategy. Substitution of 500 SFU of grain with grass pellets makes an ordinary organic feeding ration based on conventional crop production competable. In general, the crop energy price models car? be used together with the dairy production to model the effects of different feeding and crop rotation strategies on the overall energy utilization in mixed dairy production systems

Does organic farming face distinctive livestock welfare issues? - A conceptual analysis

The recent development and growth of organic livestock farming and the related development of national and international regulations has fuelled discussions among scientists and philosophers concerning the proper conceptualisation of animal welfare. These discussions on livestock welfare in organic farming draw on the conventional discussions and disputes on animal welfare, which involve issues such as different definitions of welfare (clinical health, absence of suffering, sum of positive and negative experiences, etc.), the possibility for objective measures of animal welfare and the acceptable level of welfare. It seems clear that livestock welfare is a value-laden concept and that animal welfare science cannot be made independent of questions of values and ethics. The question investigated here is whether those values that underpin organic farming, in particular, also affect the interpretation of livestock welfare and, if so, how. While some of the issues raised in connection with organic farming are relatively uncontroversial, others are not. The introduction of organic farming values seems to introduce new criteria for what counts a good animal welfare, as well as a different ethical basis for taking moral decisions on welfare. Organic farming embodies distinctive systemic or communitarian ethical ideas and the organic values are connected to a systemic conception of nature, of agriculture, of the farm and of the animal. The new criteria of welfare are related to concepts such as naturalness, harmony, integrity and care. While the organic values overlap with those involved in the conventional discussion of animal welfare, some of them suggest a need to set new priorities and to re-conceptualise animal welfare – for example, with respect to 'naturalness', in relation to the possibilities for expression of natural behaviour and in relation to animal integrity as a concept for organismic harmony. The organic perspective also seems to suggest a wider range of solutions to welfare problems than changes in farm routines or operations on the animals. The systemic solutions include the choice and reproduction of suitable breeds, changes in the farm structure, and changes in the larger production and consumption system - including consumer perceptions and preferences. But the organic values may also call for sacrifices of individual welfare in a conventional sense in order to advance welfare from the perspective of organic farming. Whether this is good or bad cannot be decided without entering into an inquiry and discussion of the values and ethics involved