sustainability

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Trindade H.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Milk production is responsible for about 11% of global agricultural output in Portugal. Two regions, which together represent less than 10% of the land area of the country, contribute to 80% of Portuguese milk production: the Azores islands and the Northwest (NW) mainland area. The two systems are strongly specialized on milk production, but differ in terms of land use and intensity of inputs applied. The Azores dairy farming system houses 33% of national dairy livestock and is responsible for 30% of the annual 1,900,000 Mg Portuguese milk production. In this system, four-fifths of the surface area of dairy farms are occupied by permanent grasslands which are grazed all year round. Grazing is complemented by maize and ryegrass silage obtained from the remaining one-fifth of the farmland area. The more intensive NW dairy system is based on a double-cropping forage system (zero-grazing) that uses maize as a summer crop and Italian (annual) ryegrass as a cover crop in winter. This region is responsible for more than 50% of national milk production and holds 45% of national total of dairy cows. The high silage yielding potential and the annual use of up to 3.5 Mg concentrate feed per dairy cow allow animal stocking rates of 4-7 LSU ha‑1. This farming system may generate large N losses, particularly by nitrate leaching. Environmental issues currently play an important role driving changes and adaptation measures to improve system sustainability to comply with legal regulations. These modifications are being accompanied by very fast changes in farm structural characteristics; between 1993/1994 and 2009/2010 the number of dairy holdings has been reduced by more than 85% and the number of cows per farm has increased proportionally. The main problems affecting the Portuguese dairy sector at present are evaluated and possible solutions are suggested to face the upcoming challenges.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Mandaluniz N., Arranz J. and Ruiz R.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Land use and grazing management practices have changed during the last decades as a result of the intensification of traditional pasture-based systems. These changes have potential adverse environmental consequences. Dairy sheep production in the Basque Country has been based traditionally on a pasturebased farming system with a local dairy breed. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of two grazing management regimes, differing in the number of grazing and rest days per paddock, on pasture and dairy sheep production variables. There was no difference in herbage mass or dairy production variables between the two regimes but the regime with the longer rest periods resulted in greater amounts of herbage being harvested for conservation. The longer rest periods could also reduce the carbon footprint and benefit carbon capture by the pastures.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Elsaesser M., Jilg T., Herrmann K., Boonen J., Debruyne L., Laidlaw A.S. and Aarts F.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Dairyman was an EU-Interreg IVB project for Northwest Europe which ran from 2009 to 2013 involving 10 regions. A pilot farm network was set up, comprising 127 dairy farms covering the partner regions. The farms were optimized regarding economic, ecological and social aspects, to provide a measure of sustainability. The collected data provided a clear overview of current production systems and the future potential in Northwest Europe. This paper describes the application of a multi-annual data-set used to assess and analyse development of sustainability of an individual farm. A multi-criteria assessment tool has been developed, the Dairyman sustainability index, incorporating economic, ecological and social indicators to describe and comprehend the complexity of the farm as a production system. Moreover this tool can visualize individual farm development and differences in milk production systems over time and between regions.