Possibilities for Breeding in Organic Dairy Farming

In the organic sector there is an ongoing debate about the development of organic breeding methods. The debate revolves around two issues: 1) how the principle of naturalness in organic agriculture (that is, using natural processes wherever possible) can be reconciled with the increasing use of modern reproduction techniques in conventional breeding; and 2) whether animals produced by conventional breeding programs are actually suitable for organic agriculture or whether the organic sector itself should start producing animals that fit into organic production systems. Investigations into these issues gave rise to a doctorate research: “Selective breeding in organic dairy production

Selective Breeding in Organic Dairy Production

Organic dairy farming started to take off in the early 1990s, when the European Union laid down organic standards for animal production. Until now, however, only incidental steps have been taken towards organic breeding and organic farmers mainly use breeding stock from conventional breeding programmes. This thesis focuses on the possibilities for breeding in organic dairy farming. This thesis starts with describing the basic backgrounds of organic dairy farming and the results of a study that was carried out in 1999-2000 on the vision on cattle breeding. The main conclusions are that breeding in organic dairy farming should be in line with the intensions of organic farming and that farmers need animals that fit to their extensive farming system. This study is followed by describing the differences and the magnitude of genotype by environment interaction (G x E) between conventional and organic dairy production. There proved to be significant differences in levels of milk production, percentage of protein in the milk, milk cell count and fertility between Holstein heifers on organic or conventional farms. A fairly large impact of G x E was found indicating that organic dairy farmers might have difficulty with selecting the right animals from the conventional supply of breeding bulls. This effect may be caused by the lower uptake of energy by cows in organic agriculture. After this a study into organic dairy farmers’ breeding aims in relation to their farm management was carried out in 2005. This study shows that, despite differences in farm management, organic farmers had more or less the same breeding aim and many farmers were already experimenting with breeds and crosses in a quest for the most suitable type of cow for their farm. There was, however, no relationship between the farm management system and the breed or cross used, which indicates that although farmers demand suitable animals, they do not know what type of cow this would be. Based on the results of the different studies, three distinct options are formulated for breeding in organic dairy farming: (1) use of adapted conventional breeding, (2) a separate breeding programme and (3) a breeding system based on natural mating. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the three breeding options are described in relation to naturalness, technical breeding issues, societal concerns and costs and benefits. These illustrate the complexity of the breeding issue in both breeding-technology and social terms. Restricting the use of conventional breeding would effectively mean the rejection of a system with a long and successful history, and throw organic dairy breeding back on its own resources. It is concluded that ‘system innovations’ at multiple levels are needed to create new, sustainable breeding systems, stakeholders must join forces to stimulate the development towards appropriate breeding

Animal breeding in organic farming:Discussion paper

It is uncertain whether animals which have been bred for conventional production are capable of optimum performance in organic conditions. In conventional agriculture there is a movement towards maximum control of production conditions in order to optimise animals' yield in intensive production systems. By contrast, organic agriculture is based on natural processes and closed cycles, and takes into account the underlying connections between production factors. Following organic ideology, production capacity should be curtailed by acting in accordance with guiding principles such as naturalness, animal welfare, efficient use of fossil fuels in the farm cycle, and agri-biodiversity (IFOAM, 1994). Organic production should be tied to the land, with farms preferably being self-sufficient mixed farms with closed cycles. An additional point of concern are the reproduction techniques used in conventional breeding. Artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET) are commonplace in conventional animal breeding. But these techniques are 'artificial' and they deprive animals of natural mating behaviour and negatively affect the animals' welfare and integrity. By bringing in animals from conventional agriculture, organic farmers are indirectly making use of these techniques. These and other concerns have led to the project 'Organic breeding: a long way to go', which aims to lay down clear visions and an action plan for an organic breeding system

Kansen voor pluimveemest in de gehele biologische productieketen

Deze brochure schetst de mogelijkheden voor verbetering van de afzet van pluimveemest in de biologische productieketen. Basis hiervoor vormt het project Kippenmest en Kringloop dat in de periode 2007 - 2011 door het Louis Bolk Instituut is uitgevoerd. Pluimveehouders in Nederland zijn vaak weinig grondgebonden. Daarom moet de mest worden afgevoerd. Afzet is echter niet altijd eenvoudig. Dit komt omdat de samenstelling van pluimveemest niet optimaal is. Vooral de relatief lage N/P- verhouding speelt een goede afzet naar de akker- en tuinbouw parten. Kansen voor Pluimveemest toont dat er goede mogelijkheden zijn om tot een gunstiger N/P-verhouding te komen via de voersamenstelling. Ook via andere wegen kan de afzet van pluimveemest worden verbeterd. Dat kan bijvoorbeeld door middel van (zo snel mogelijk) drogen, pelletteren en opmengen met andere mestsoorten

Vision of breeding for organic agriculture

This report describes the results of research into the vision of breeding systems within organic agriculture in the Netherlands. The purpose of the research was to arrive at a vision for breeding in organic agriculture by means of interviews and discussions with organic livestock farmers and social organisations. The research was prompted by the fact that, as things stand, organic livestock farmers generally have to rely on the conventional breeding supply. Neither the breeding method not the animal type produced meet the requirements of organic agriculture. Interest in breeding has increased because organic agriculture is expanding, and as yet too little attention has been paid to the development of specific organic breeding programmes and associated legislation. In recent decades conventional agriculture and breeding have tended more and more towards industrialisation and uniformity with breeding becoming a multinational concern. The breeding organisations have no incentive at present to provide special services for organic agriculture as the market is too small and the costs are too high. Taking the current breeding situation as the starting point, a number of scenarios are described for each animal sector which could gradually lead to a system of breeding which is more organic both in its aims and in the chain-based approach. The naturalness of the breeding techniques is an important factor in considering the available options. The different scenarios served as a basis for the interviews and discussions with livestock farmers and social organisations. We have established that the farmers and organisations consider it important for organic agriculture to work on developing a breeding system which follows the principles of organic agriculture. The most important reasons for this are that: (1) consumers expect all production factors in the chain to be of organic origin, (2) most livestock farmers currently use conventional breeding techniques which fall short of the organic requirements on a number of points, such as the use of artificial reproduction techniques and mono-functional breeding for production. For the development of organic breeding, livestock farmers feel that in the first instance the use of artificial reproduction techniques, including cloning and transgenic techniques, should be restricted. Next the livestock farmers and social organisations want breeding to be adapted to or based on the organic environment. There is a suspicion that owing to genotype-environment interaction (G x E) conventionally-bred animals cannot adapt well to the organic environment, and this leads to health and welfare problems. The farmers would like to see this development taking place within 5 to 10 years. It must however proceed one step at a time since the farmers cannot yet form a complete picture of the impact of all the different factors. Most of the people involved see the ideal form of breeding, with natural reproduction and regional or farm-specific selection, as a standard to be achieved in the distant future. At the moment most livestock farmers have neither the knowledge nor the socio-economic means to set up such breeding programmes. The development of breeding and the associated legislation require an international approach, for which suitable contacts must be sought in other countries. The final chapter of this report looks in more detail at the steps to be taken in each sector. Ideally developments should probably be initiated and supervised by a central body, such as an organic breeding foundation, which could be set up to govern the breeding of all farm animals

Aanpassing voer vergemakkelijkt de toepassing van pluimveemest: Eerste resultaten van pilotstudies naar effect van biologische fytase positief

In Nederland zijn er nu ruim 1 miljoen biologische legkippen die jaarlijks bijna 300 miljoen eieren produceren maar ook 25.000 ton mest. De meeste legkippenhouders hebben zelf weinig grond en moeten de mest afvoeren. Het project ‘Kippenmest en Kringloop’ streeft er naar deze mest zo goed mogelijk in te zetten en te benutten binnen de biologische landbouw. Om de mest aantrekkelijker te maken voor bijvoorbeeld de akkerbouw is het belangrijk dat de mestkwaliteit en daarbij met name de verhouding tussen stikstof en fosfaat verbetert. In 2009 en 2010 zijn pilots uitgevoerd om het effect van aanpassingen in het kippenvoer op de mestkwaliteit te onderzoeken

FARM BASED BREEDING OF DUAL PURPOSE POULTRY - Experiences from a biodynamic poultry farm in The Netherlands

Since 2009 a small scale breeding and selection project started on a biodynamic farm in The Netherlands. The overall goal is to breed stronger hens that do well under organic conditions and show lower rates of mortality and at the same time have roosters that can be reared for meat production. In this paper results concerning egg and meat production are given, as well as thoughts about economic aspects

Combining on-farm, participatory research methodologies with modelling in order to create a regionally based organic agriculture in Holland

Like conventional farming, organic agriculture in the Netherlands is highly specialized. Both livestock and arable farmers have optimised production independent of each other which has led to a high use of external inputs from conventional agriculture (manure and other fertilisers and straw) and feedstuffs (mainly concentrate feed) from abroad. This situation conflicts with important principles of organic agriculture such as a balance between livestock and arable farming, closing nutrient cycles and regionally based production. In an attempt to find solutions for this dilemma, the Louis Bolk Institute (LBI) started with a series of projects called “Partner Farms” in which the LBI cooperated closely with leading edge farmers (Wit et al, 2003). In these projects the cooperation between specialised livestock and arable farmers was stimulated, in some cases ultimately leading to “mixed farms at a distance”. Later the LBI became involved in a combined research programme together with various research institutes of the Wageningen University and Research aimed at studying “intersectoral cooperation” and nutrient cycles on a national level, using both modelling and participatory research (Enting et al. 2005). In both cases it became clear that the simultaneous use of both types of research methodology is necessary to get credible and practically viable results

How organic breeding adds value to the food chain - online event

- Monika Messmer, FiBL Switzerland: Need for Organic Plant Breeding to secure integrity of organic food - Herbert Völkle, gzpk Switzerland: Sowing the future! Challenges and Chances for Biodynamic crop breeding - Wytze Nauta, Dutch Foundation for Organic Breeding: Breeding program for dairy cattle and chickens in the Netherlands - Sigmund Walbaum, NATURATA: Added value of products from organically bred cultivars for processors and consumers - Freya Schäfer, FiBL Germany: Current situation of breeding financing schemes - Mitja Seyffert, BÖLW e.V.: A cross-sector pool-funding strateg

The taste of diversity: Organic breeding for biodiversity increase and high-quality organic food

The taste of diversity: Organic breeding for biodiversity increase and high-quality organic foo