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

Potential of multi-species livestock farming to improve the sustainability of livestock farms: A review.

Diversified farming systems are proposed as a major mechanism to address the many sustainability issues of today's agriculture. Multi-species livestock farming, i.e. keeping two or more animal species simultaneously on the same farm, is an option that has received little attention to date. Moreover, most studies of multi-species livestock farming are limited, usually focusing on selected dimensions of farm sustainability and addressing lower organizational levels (i.e. within the farm) and rather limited time horizons (e.g. a few weeks in a grazing season). Thus, a comprehensive assessment of multi-species livestock farming in terms of farm sustainability is lacking. In this context, we outline and discuss potential benefits and limitations of multi-species livestock farming for livestock farm sustainability from existing literature and list issues on multi-species livestock farming requiring further research. We show that multi-species livestock farming has the potential to improve the three dimensions of sustainability reviewed - economic viability for farmers, environmental soundness and social acceptability by being respectful of animals and humans - as long as locally relevant farming practices are implemented, especially an appropriate stocking rate during grazing. If relevant practices are not observed, multi-species livestock farming may produce undesirable effects, such as competition for resource acquisition during grazing, parasitic cross-infection and more intense work peaks. Therefore, we identify four focal research areas for multi-species livestock farming. First, characterizing the management of multi-species livestock farms. To do this, we suggest considering the integration of production enterprises (e.g. cattle and sheep enterprises) within the farm from three perspectives: farming practices (e.g. grazing management), work organization and sales. Second, exploring the complementarity of livestock species on multi-species livestock farms. This is especially true for species combinations that have been largely ignored (e.g. ruminants and monogastrics), even though they may have potential due to complementary diet compositions and resource-acquisition strategies. Third, assessing the sustainability of multi-species livestock farm scenarios (current or alternative) according to the management practices and production conditions, which requires adapting existing methods/models or developing new ones. Fourth, characterizing conditions for success and obstacles for multi-species livestock farming along the value chain from production to consumption, considering stakeholders' objectives, work habits and constraints. Increasing understanding should help prioritize actions and organize them to scale up multi-species livestock farming

Organic livestock farming – a critical review

Based on production guidelines, organic livestock farming has set itself the goal to establish an environmentally friendly production, to sustain animals in good health, to realise high animal welfare standards, and to produce products of high quality. By striving for these goals, organic livestock farming meets the demands of an increasing number of consumers, which are critical towards the conventional production methods. The paper gives an overview of the present state of the art in the different issues. Possibilities and limitations to perform the self-aimed goals under the basic standards of organic farming are discussed. Concerning environmental protection, the basic standards of organic farming are suited to reduce environmental pollution and nutrient losses on the farm level markedly. With reference to the health situation of dairy cows in both organic and conventional dairy farms, comparative studies show that currently there seem to be no fundamental differences between the production methods. In relation to animal welfare, organic livestock farming, based on minimal standards that go beyond the legislation standards, provide several preconditions for good living conditions of farm animals. Concerning product quality, there is little evidence for a system-related effect on product quality due to the production method. It is concluded that the benefits of the basic standards are primarily related to environmentally friendly production and to the animal welfare issue while the issues of animal health and product quality are more influenced by the specific farm management than by the production method. There is evidence to support the assumption that organic livestock farming creates stronger demands on the qualification of the farm management, including the higher risk of failure. As a consequence, quality assurance programs should be established to ensure that the high demands of the consumers are fulfilled. (SUNDRUM, A. (2001): Organic livestock farming - A critical review. Livestock Production Science 67, 207-215

Livestock farming with care : summaries of essays

Wageningen UR is the country’s major research organisation in the field of livestock farming, providing the knowledge base for innovative livestock farming in our country and beyond and, as such, keen to play a role in the above mentioned debate. To this end an interdisciplinary task force was formed embodying a range of expertise, from livestock technology to system analysis and from economics to public administration. As one of the task force activities, Wageningen UR colleagues were invited to write an essay with their vision on specific aspects of this debate, based on their views and expertise. The result was a series of 30 essays, providing a wide overview of relevant issues with possible directions for solutions

"Mirandesa" cattle breed: farm structure, management and marketing

In spite pof losses suffered in the last decades, the "Mirandesa" cattle breed still plays an important economic and social role and the carcass is famous for the quality of the "posta mirandesa", a very appreciated dish by the rich gastronomy of Portugal. The area studied is the highlands of Northeast of Portugal (Trás-os-Montes) which range from 700 to 1000 metres. The farming systems adopted by farmers are very low intensity animal production systems and the meat of the "Mirandesa" cattle breed has benn marketed as PDO since 1996, within the meaning of the EU rules adopted under the reform of the CAP. This paper reveals the results of soft systems approach to the farmers of the "Professional Association of Mirandesa Breed" which present a diversity of characteristics in what is referred to the types of family-farm systems, sources of family income, level of education and vocational training, animal management practices and supply chains of "Mirandesa" calves

Precision livestock farming

PòsterFebre

Mirandes cattle breed: genetic base and breed improvement

The "mirandês cattle breed has had a herd book since 1913 and the agricultural service has implemented a programme of genetic improvemment since the 70's. However, in spite of what has been expected, positive results weren't found on that programme and the "mirandês" cattle breed has gone into a decline. This paper analyses the strategies of several cattle breeder types and the genetic demographic structure of cattle within a community in northeast of Portugal.The present organization of the breed improvement, centered on cattle breeders of pure breed and on farms whith a great number of cows, does not permit genetic improvement. The alternative to the present situation consists of expanding the selection basis, integrating a conceptual level with all farmers. implementation of a process to work within the middle of a population of many breeders in the community

Intensive Livestock Farming: Does Farm Size Matter?

Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,