Can organic farming help to reduce N-losses? Experiences from Denmark

This study is in two parts. In the first part, nitrogen N)losses per unit of milk and meat in Danish conventional and organic pig and dairy farming were compared on the basis of farm data. In the second part, organic and conventional dairy farming were compared in detail, using modelling. N-surpluses at different livestock densities, fodder intensities, and soil types were simulated. Finally, simulated N-surpluses were used in national scenarios for conversion to organic dairy farming in Denmark. In Part one, pig farming was found to have a higher N-efficiency than dairy farming. Organic pig production had a lower N-efficiency and a higher N-surplus per kg meat than conventional pig production. The possibilities to reduce N-loss by conversion to organic pig production therefore appear to be poor. Organic dairy farming had a higher N-efficiency and a lower N-surplus per kg milk than conventional dairy farming. Conversion from conventional to organic dairy farming may therefore reduce N-losses. In Part two, a positive correlation between livestock density and N-surplus ha−1 was found for dairy farming. For all simulated livestock densities, fodder feeding intensities and soil types, organic systems showed a lower N-surplus per unit of milk produced than conventional systems. National scenarios for dairy farming showed that the present Danish milk production could be achieved with a 24% lower total N-surplus if converted from intensive conventional farming to extensive organic farming. At the same time, N-surplus ha−1 and N-surplus (tmilk) −1 would be lowered by 50% and 25%respectively. Changing from intensive to extensive conventional dairy farming with a livestock density equal to that in the organic scenario resulted in a reduction in N-surplus ha−1 of 15%. It was concluded that a reduction in total N-loss from agriculture is possible by converting from conventional to organic dairy farming but at the cost of either lower production on the present dairy farm area, or the current production on a substantially larger area

2001 Consultation of organic farming research priorities in the UK

The following reports a consultation of organic farming research priorities in the UK in 2001. The information was collated by Organic Centre Wales, Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth on behalf of MAFF organic farming unit and UKROFS A total of 62 responses received, of which 24 from farmers, 12 from researchers and research organisations and 26 from organic producers and other farming organisations Information on ongoing research was derived from the MAFF 2001 organic farming research review, SERAD listing of organic farming projects and MAFF project OFO171, Review of current European research on organic farming

Land sharing vs. land sparing for biodiversity: How agricultural markets make the difference : Working Paper N° TSE-435

We show that between intensive and extensive farming, the production method most beneficial to biodiversity depends on the equilibrium of agricultural markets. All other things equal, as long as demand reacts to prices and extensive farming has higher production costs, extensive farming tends to be more beneficial to biodiversity than intensive farming, except when there is a very high degree of convexity between biodiversity and yield. Extensive farming is detrimental to consumers when their surplus is evaluated restrictively, as increasing in quantities consumed, while its effect on agricultural producers is indeterminate. Extensive farming has no straightforward effect on food security, but could decrease the pressure on protected areas. Any increase in demand, notably for animal feed or biofuels, decreases biodiversity, regardless of the production method employed. However, additional demand reinforces the preference for extensive farming, especially in the case of animal feed, for which price elasticity is higher. (Résumé d'auteur

Contributions of organic farming to a sustainable environment

Summary and Conclusions For each indicator organic farming is ranked at least equal to conventional farming, while in the majority of environmental indicators organic farming performs better or much better. In two cases, the subjective confidence interval could allow conventional farming to appear as the preferable system (partly due to the lack of evident data). However, when considering the aggregation level of the indicator categories, the analysis becomes more uniform. With the exception of climate and air, organic farming performs better than conventional farming in all categories. None of the indicator categories showed that organic farming performed worse. A summary assessment of all indicator categories was not carried out in the table, however, the result is clear: organic farming is, in an area-related comparison, more environmentally friendly than conventional farming. This result confirms one of the basic assumptions of the political support for organic farming, as mentioned in the introduction. On the one hand, the environmental performance of farms depends on the farming intensity, while on the other hand it depends on bio-tope management of nonproductive areas. The combination of organic farming with the conservation of semi-natural habitats and valuable field margins offers a real option to meet many environmental goals, especially biodiversity, on agricultural land

Genetic Improvement of Livestock for Organic Farming Systems

Organic farming which experienced a constant rise over the last two decades is a system based on sustainability and on a concept tending towards functional integrity. Legislation as well as the wish to produce separately from conventional farming raise the question whether organic farming should be conducted completely apart from conventional farming or not. This paper discusses the aspects that affect animal breeding under these circumstances, e.g., maintaining genetic diversity by using local breeds and possible G×E interactions which might occur when breeds adapted to conventional farming systems are used in organic farming. Ways of modelling G×E are presented, moreover examples of G×E in dairy cattle, swine, and poultry are given. Trends in selection index theory–designing multi-trait breeding goals including functional traits on one hand, and developing methods for using customised selection indices on the other hand–support breeding work for organic farming systems. It is concluded that before the technical issues can be addressed, all parties involved, farmers, consumers as well as legislators, have to agree on the socio-cultural conditions under which organic farming should be conducted

The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming.

Over the past 50 years, the scale and intensity of livestock farming have increased significantly. At the same time, Western societies have become more urbanised and fewer people have close relatives involved in farming. As a result, most citizens have little knowledge or direct experience of what farming entails. In addition, more people are expressing concerns over issues such as farm animal welfare. This has led to increasing public demand for more sustainable ways of livestock farming. To date, little research has been carried out on the social pillar of sustainable livestock farming. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming systems. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research about the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006, 2008, 2010a and 2010b) and synthesises the implications for sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. This study argues that the (sociocultural) sustainable development of livestock farming is not an objective concept, but that it is socially and culturally constructed by people in specific contexts. It explains the social pillar of the economics/ecological/social model sustainability in terms of the fields of tensions that exist between modernity, traditions and naturality – ‘the MTN knot’ – each of which has positive and negative faces. All three angles of vision can be seen in people's attitudes to dairy farming, but the weight given to each differs between individuals and cultures. Hence, sociocultural sustainability is context dependent and needs to be evaluated according to its local meaning. Moreover, sociocultural sustainability is about people's perceptions of livestock farming. Lay people might perceive livestock farming differently and ascribe different meanings to it than experts do, but their ‘reality’ is just as real. Finally, this study calls for an ongoing collaboration between social and animal scientists in order to develop livestock farming systems that are more socioculturally sustainable

Organic Farming: Policy and Prospects

Food retailers in Europe, including supermarkets, have responded to rapidly rising demand for organic produce. The organic sector has moved from a marginal production fad to a serious subject of policy concern for politicians and public servants involved in European agricultural policy. Drawing on a huge body of scientific research, this book - reviews the organic farming sector today and the policies developed towards it - assesses its contributions to the environment, food quality, farmers' incomes, and rural development - explains the key factors impinging on the organic farming sector in future - makes a detailed range of recommendations for future organic farming policy Contents 1 Organic farming: A grassroots movement taken over by policy? 2 Organic farming in Europe at the dawn of the new millennium 3 Organic farming's contribution to policy objectives 4 A Changing Policy Environment 5 Recommendations for future organic farming policy from: Dabbert, S. und Häring, A. M. und Zanoli, R. (2003): Organic Farming: Policy and Prospects. Zed Book

Organic farming policies and the growth of the organic sector in Denmark and the UK: a comparative analysis

There has been little systematic analysis of the extent to which organic farming policies have influenced growth in the organic sector. Analyses of organic farming policy instruments, for the most part, provide extensive and detailed reviews of instruments applied either in a single country or across countries. Hence, there is a great need to examine systematically whether there is a relationship between the introduction of organic farming policies and the growth of the organic food sector, and whether particular designs of organic farming policies are more effective than others. In this paper, we take the first step in the endeavour of analysing the effects of organic farming by undertaking an econometric analysis of the relationship between organic farming policies in Denmark and the UK and their effects on the number of farmers and growers converting to organic production

Exploring the multifundtional role of farming systems

Farming business is like any other business constantly challenged by the changing demands and expectations from the surroundings – farming even may be more explicitly due to the comprehensive regulation and public support through subsidies within the Europe Union. The development of sustainable farming system has been a main challenge until now, where particular focus has been put on the environmental impact and how to farm without unacceptable environmental impacts. Research and developments efforts included decision support tools for farm management in relation to environmental impact (c.f. Halberg et al., 2005), and the interaction between land use for farming, landscape and ecological services has been subject to considerable efforts (c.f. Gibbon, 2005). At present the societal expectations to farming is moving from a demand for “environmental sustainable farming practise” to an expectation that farming should be able to contribute significantly (more) to the development of rural areas. This can be translated into an expectation of multifunctionality of farming. At the same time European food production, as it takes place now is, under heavy pressure from food production in other parts of the world. Therefore, it is also in the interest of at least some farmers to look for other ways of generating income. So, for several reasons it will be important for many farmers to adapt to such expectations and opportunities. This calls for efforts to better understand development possibilities of farms in relation to multifunctionality and understand the possible role of different farming’s practises in relation to rural development. Until now such efforts have only been given little attention in mainstream agricultural research. May be because multifunctionality to a high degree needs to be considered site-specific and includes a major normative component. However, also “environ-mental sustainable farming” includes a major normative component due to the variety of (complex) impacts of farming on the environment (i.e. if the impact is considered local or global, or considered in the short term or the long term). Therefore, it seems appropriate to draw on the past experiences of methods to improve the environmental performance of farming in exploring the multifunctional performance of farming. The purpose of this paper is to present our experiences in researching farmers possibilities and motivation to adapt to more environmental sustainable systems and – based on these experiences – to suggest how an intensified effort in researching multifunctional farming systems appropriately could take place