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Silvopastoral systems combine wood perennials with forage and livestock. These multipurpose wood-pasture habitats represent an important part of European bio-cultural and ecological heritage. However, their gradual disappearance due to processes of farm abandonment and intensification as well as forestry abandonment threatens biodiversity conservation and bio-cultural heritages. The behaviours of forest owners and livestock farmers determine the success of silvopastoral systems since a productive coherence between forest management and livestock grazing is required for their optimal functioning. In this study, we investigate the livestock farmers’ and forest owners’ attitudes and opinions towards wood pasture grazing and their relationship with structural factors and farming objectives in two Spanish regions. We used data collected through surveys to identify opportunities, synergies, and barriers in the integration of these actors in joint silvopastoralism. The results reveal a relationship between production objectives and positive attitudes towards silvopastoralism and the environmental functions provided by this activity, in both farmers and forest owners. Cattle farmers express a greater economic interest in wood pastures, as compared to sheep farmers who perceive more difficulties in using them. Acknowledgement of the role of grazing in landscape maintenance is positively correlated with a wide spectrum of objectives of forest owners, from the economic-productivist to the more altruistic profiles. The most synergies are found between cattle farmers and small forest owners for joint silvopastoral management. However, the incorporation of sheep grazing is advisable for the sustainable management of these systems, and hence additional efforts may be required to integrate such farming systems into silvopastoral management. As it currently stands, the EU Common Agricultural Policy appears to be inadequate for maintaining silvopastoral systems. The research leading to these results received funding from the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) (Spain) under Grant Agreement No RTA-2017-00036-C01-02

El objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en el conocimiento de la sostenibilidad de la producción ovina de carne en Aragón. Para ello se ha analizado una muestra de 37 explotaciones diferenciadas en 3 sistemas productivos en función de las características agronómicas de su finca agrícola y de la disponibilidad de recursos pastorales (Secano, Mixto Secano/Regadío y Montaña). Se han analizado indicadores económicos, sociales y ambientales, y la información obtenida a través de la realización de procesos participativos (focus groups) con diferentes agentes implicados en esta actividad: ganaderos, técnicos y representantes de la población rural (alcaldes y concejales). Los resultados han demostrado que las ganaderías analizadas son sostenibles ambientalmente, pero se encuentran al límite de su sostenibilidad económica y social. El sistema Mixto Secano/Regadío presenta la mayor sostenibilidad económica y el sistema Montaña la mayor sostenibilidad ambiental. Estos resultados contribuyen a mejorar el conocimiento de los diferentes retos a los que se enfrenta el sector ovino, a predecir su evolución en el futuro y pueden contribuir al diseño de políticas que aseguren la continuidad de los sistemas más sostenibles. The aim of this work was to perform a comprehensive assessment of sustainability of sheep meat production in Aragon. For this purpose, a sample of 37 farms differentiated into 3 production systems based on their agronomic characteristics and the availability of pastoral resources (Rainfed, Mixed Rainfed/Irrigated, and Mountain) was analyzed. Economic, social and environmental indicators, as well as the information obtained through a participatory process (focus groups) with different actors involved in this production: farmers, technicians and representatives of the rural population (mayors and councilors) were used. The results showed that the studied farms are environmentally sustainable, but they are at the limit of their economic and social sustainability. The Mixed Rainfed/Irrigation system presents the greatest economic sustainability and the Mountain system the greatest environmental sustainability. These results contribute to improve knowledge of challenges faced by sheep meat systems, to predict its evolution in future, and can contribute to the design of policies that ensure the continuity of the most sustainable ones. Published

There is an increasing interest in assessing livestock breed contributions to ecosystem services (ES) and including this knowledge in decision making. However, this task has been limited due to the complexity of the multidimensional relationship between livestock diversity and ecosystem services. In this work, we elaborate on the livestock breed characteristics central to developing a comprehensive approach to livestock breed inclusion in the ecosystem services framework. Thus, we explore the multidimensional nature of livestock breeds, i.e., as eco-cultural entities, biodiversity components, and drivers of livestock system heterogeneity and functioning. First, anthropogenic and natural factors have acted jointly to develop breeds as eco-cultural entities. This fact represents an opportunity to move toward farming system sustainability by Nature-Based Solutions and Nature’s Contribution to People paradigms. Second, livestock breeds are components of biodiversity, and as such, can be framed as goods, as final ecosystem services, and as regulators of ecosystem processes. Third, livestock breeds contribute to livestock system heterogeneity and resilience. By integrating these aspects, we might better understand how livestock breeds provide and modulate ecosystem service provision and, therefore, how to improve breed conservation and livestock policies toward farming system sustainability

Mountain regions are characterized by complex interrelations between human and natural systems. Political and socioeconomic drivers at various scales affect mountain farming systems functioning, resulting in farm structural changes (management, structure and economic performance). Longitudinal studies help fully understand the dynamics of these systems, identify their main drivers of change, and prepare for foreseeable future events. This study aimed to (i) analyse the main changes of cattle farming systems in the Pyrenees from 1990 to 2018, (ii) identify the different trajectories of farm evolution and (iii) to determine the key drivers of those trajectories at global, regional and household levels. We monitored 50 cattle farms in three valleys with different socioeconomic contexts, which were surveyed in 1990, 2004 and 2018. We observed clear changes regarding land and labour production factors. Over the 1990–2004 period, farming systems experienced a land use extensification (one-month increase of grazing season) and capital intensification (55% increase of livestock units (LU) per work unit (WU)) processes, coinciding with a switch from dairy to beef farming with on-farm fattening. Over the 2004–2018 period, land use stabilised but the capital intensification process went on (17% increase of LU/WU) while farms reduced their inputs (43% decrease of feeding costs per LU), in parallel to the decreasing importance of fattening. These changes allowed to globally maintain stable farm economic margins (around 40,000 €/WU). Multivariate statistical analyses enabled to identify four trajectories of evolution, three of them specific to each valley under study and a common across-valleys trajectory. These trajectories resulted from the interaction between global and regional drivers and household particularities. The CAP played a major role at the global level (representing an average of 70% of farm gross margin in 2004 and 2018), while tourism development and household characteristics were the main drivers at the regional level. Several farms responded by maximising their output related to the most limiting production factor (i.e. agriculture land or labour) in each valley. However, the across-valleys trajectory, which comprised 44% of farms, showed limited changes during the studied period. The ability of farms to maintain their adaptation capacity while keeping economic and social viability will determine the future of cattle farming in the region. Our findings highlight the need of reorienting agricultural policies towards promoting new entrants into mountain farming, better integrating CAP instruments with other EU sectorial policies and improving farm monitoring by disaggregating follow-up processes by agroecosystem and management regimes.

International audience; Pasture-based and small-scale livestock farming systems are the main source of livelihood in the mountain primary sector, ensuring socioeconomic sustainability and biodiversity in rural communities throughout Europe and beyond. Mountain livestock farming (MLF) has attracted substantial research efforts from a wide variety of scientific communities worldwide. In this study, the use of text mining and topic modelling analysis drew a detailed picture of the main research topics dealing with MLF and their trends over the last four decades. The final data corpus used for the analysis counted 2 679 documents, of which 92% were peer-reviewed scientific publications. The number of scientific outputs in MLF doubled every 10 years since 1980. Text mining found that milk, goat and sheep were the terms with the highest weighed frequency in the data corpus. Ten meaningful topics were identified by topic analysis: T1-Livestock management and vegetation dynamics; T2-Animal health and epidemiology; T3-Methodological studies on cattle; T4-Production system and sustainability; T5-Methodological studies; T6-Wildlife and conservation studies; T7-Reproduction and performance; T8-Dairy/meat production and quality; T9-Land use and its change and T10-Genetic/genomic studies. A hierarchical dustering analysis was performed to explore the interrelationships among topics, and three main clusters were identified: the first focused on sustainability, conservation and socioeconomic aspects (T4; T6 and T9), the second was related to food production and quality (17 and T8) and the last one considered methodological studies on mountain flora and fauna (T1 ; 12; T3; TS and T10). The 10 topics identified represent a useful and a starting source of information for further and more detailed analysis (e.g. systematic review) of specific research or geographical areas. A truly holistic and interdisciplinary research approach is needed to identify drivers of change and to understand current and future challenges faced by livestock farming in mountain areas.

Our aim was to examine the perceptions of farmers and nonfarmers regarding the relationships between agriculture and the environment in High Nature Value (HNV) farmland. We performed content analysis of information obtained from five focus groups to derive key items (recording units such as words, phrases and concepts) and classify the derived items into a set of themes: agricultural practices, ecosystem services, and economic and social sustainability. We established the relative importance of each item and the relationships among the items. The farmers were very knowledgeable of ecosystem services (particularly regulation), the interactions among them, and their relationships with agricultural practices, particularly grazing management. Nonfarmers were less knowledgeable of ecosystem services, particularly regulation, and identified fewer relationships with agricultural practices. However, nonfarmers were highly concerned about the provision of quality food products and several cultural ecosystem services, which were discussed in bundles. The provisioning of food with particular quality attributes was revealed to be important for participants and a distinctive feature of HNV farmland. Ecosystem services were frequently interwoven with broad issues of economic and social sustainability. Therefore, a systemic view should be considered when designing agri-environmental policies.

Our aim was to examine how psychographic profiles affect willingness to pay for ecosystem services in Mediterranean high nature value farmland. We combined psychographic analysis and economic valuation to: i) identify different psychographic profiles based on attitudes towards the economy and environment, rural development and agricultural intensification, food quality and consumption, and agri-environmental policy; and ii) measure the economic value that the psychographic profiles assign to key ecosystem services in different agricultural policy scenarios. We analysed two populations in Spain (the general population and the local residents of the study area). We identified two psychographic profiles in each population focusing on productivist and conservationist attitudes. Respondents in all profiles were highly concerned about forest wildfires, followed by the availability of quality products for those with productivist profiles, the biodiversity maintenance for the general conservationists and a more human-intervened landscape for the local conservationists. The willingness to pay for ecosystem services altogether differed between the psychographic profiles, from 88€ of general productivists to 334€ of local conservationists. We demonstrated that attitudes concerning ecosystem services have a strong influence on their willingness to pay. We argued that psychographic differences should be considered when designing and legitimising EU agri-environmental and conservation policies.

The aim of the study was to analyse, using the ecosystem services framework, the sociocultural and economic value of a number of positive functions of Alpine agroecosystems (in north-eastern Italy) in a context of simultaneous processes of intensification and abandonment. Firstly, we used qualitative methods (interviews with farmers and other local stakeholders) to explore the relationships between the dairy livestock systems and the environment. Secondly, we used a choice model to rank and value the most important functions of the current agroecosystems (dairy livestock systems and permanent crops) according to the views of local (residents of the study area) and general (residents of the six neighbouring provinces) populations in three policy scenarios. We found that all the local stakeholders had a positive opinion of the outcomes of the mountain dairy livestock system. Within the current agroecosystems, regulation services (water quality) were found to be the most valuable for the well-being of society. Moreover, people were willing to compromise on production (quality products) rather than cut back on environmental services in a hypothetical sustainable development scenario. The current trend of intensification of permanent crops and dairy production, with the consequent abandonment of summer pastures, was rejected by respondents. The Total Economic Value of a set of four ecosystem services of an Alpine agroecosystem was €159.30 per person per year, which clearly exceeded current expenditure on agroenvironmental programmes.

The embodiment of resources in agricultural products depends on the way they are made, i.e., the production system. We applied emergy analysis on three contrasting sheep-crop farming systems according to different degrees of specialization, integration and intensification of production in Mediterranean Spain. We studied emergy flows, transformity values and emergy indices at the system level and per product (lamb meat; permanent crops: rainfed olive and almond; arable crops: rainfed barley, irrigated barley, alfalfa and sunflower). We found that the specialized pasture-based sheep system had the lowest intensity and efficiency and the highest sustainability, as opposite to the partially-integrated mixed system, while the fully-integrated mixed system obtained a balanced position. Lamb meat production was 1.9 and 1.3 times more intensive and efficient, respectively, in the partially-integrated mixed system than in the pasture-based sheep system, but 5.1 times less sustainable. All sheep sub-systems had comparatively lower intensity and higher sustainability than crops due to their higher capacity to use local and renewable natural resources. Our findings suggest that further support of agricultural development based on local and renewable natural resources and best practices is necessary to ensure long-term farming sustainability and social welfare.

The objective of this study was to define the value of the main market and nonmarket functions of fjord and mountain agroecosystems in Nordic countries by means of the ecosystem services framework. First, we used qualitative methods (interviews of farmers and other stakeholders in the area of study) to identify sociocultural perceptions of multifunctional agriculture. Next, we used survey-based stated-preference methods to rank and value in economic terms the most important functions (corresponding to the four types of ecosystem services) according to the local (residents of the study area) and the general (residents of a nearby area) populations. The sociocultural perceptions of multifunctionality among local stakeholders were similar, but differences in the relative importance of the functions reflected particular interests (agriculture compared with tourism). Both the local and the general populations attached great importance to the production and availability of quality foods. The general population showed very homogeneous preferences among ecosystem services, but local people rated them very differently. Local people ranked a more agricultural landscape very high. The total economic value of fjord and mountain agroecosystem was 850 € per person per year. The willingness to pay for the provision of ecosystem services under a policy scenario of further development of multifunctional agriculture clearly exceeded the current level of public support. The welfare loss that society would experience in a scenario of further abandonment of agriculture was even greater. We discuss the establishment of payments for ecosystem services for addressing the undersupply of nonmarket functions of agriculture.

Agricultural policy should recognize the farmers’ role in delivering ecosystem services (ES) to society, for which both farmers and policy makers need improved tools to set objective environmental targets and fair distribution of subsidies. We aimed to quantify the effect of beneficial agricultural practices on ES delivery, and to develop and apply a generic framework of management-based payments for ES (PES). We carried out a Delphi expert consultation (researchers and technicians/managers) on the interface agriculture-environment by which we measured the contribution of current agricultural practices at farm level to relevant ES in Mediterranean agroecosystems. Next, we designed a novel framework of PES that used these contributions to rank the practices that satisfied three agri-environmental policy objectives (equal importance of ES, focus on biodiversity and climate, and focus on social demands). We found that the relative contribution of practices to individual ES delivery was rather similar, especially for those ES influenced by many agricultural practices. However, when considering different objectives in the PES framework, differences in practice prioritization were apparent. The framework was able to reward farmers according to their objective contribution to conservation priorities. The PES system also showed that grazing management practices were multifunctional and delivered ES in bundles.

This chapter sheds some light on the controversial issue of grazing livestock and the environment, and identifies sustainable pathways of development that help to reconcile animal production, environmental preservation, and socio-cultural values that are important for society. Today, livestock farming systems differ widely in the use of natural resources and inputs and outcomes obtained. In addition, they are located in very diverse agroecological, socio-economic and market contexts all around the world. Interactions between the animal farming intensity and the environment are complex, often not unidirectional, and can originate multiple conflicts between different outcomes and across spatial and temporal scales. The concept of multifunctionality generically refers to the interconnectedness of agriculture's different roles and functions. Animal agriculture is responsible for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Efficiency is expressed most simply as the ratio of output to input, at a certain time and place.

We explore how smallholder agricultural systems in the Kenyan highlands might intensify and/or diversify in the future under a range of socio-economic scenarios. Data from approximately 3000 households were analyzed and farming systems characterized. Plausible socio-economic scenarios of how Kenya might evolve, and their potential impacts on the agricultural sector, were developed with a range of stakeholders. We study how different types of farming systems might increase or diminish in importance under different scenarios using a land-use model sensitive to prices, opportunity cost of land and labour, and other variables. We then use a household model to determine the types of enterprises in which different types of households might engage under different socio-economic conditions. Trajectories of intensification, diversification, and stagnation for different farming systems are identified. Diversification with cash crops is found to be a key intensification strategy as farm size decreases and labour costs increase. Dairy expansion, while important for some trajectories, is mostly viable when land available is not a constraint, mainly due to the need for planting fodders at the expense of cropland areas. We discuss the results in relation to induced innovation theories of intensification. We outline how the methodology employed could be used for integrating global and regional change assessments with local-level studies on farming options, adaptation to global change, and upscaling of social, environmental and economic impacts of agricultural development investments and interventions.

Several insecticides (including different active substances and formulations) were applied to sewer shafts to control Periplaneta americana (LINNAEUS, 1758) populations in Valencia (eastern Spain). Results show that the best products for cockroach control were the paints (with and without insecticide), which provided an optimal reduction of P. americana populations for up to three months (P < 0.001). Therefore, it is important to note that the reduction of cockroach populations as well as the persistence of the insecticide effect in sewers was similar in both types of paints. A product combining two pyrethroids (Tetramethrin and Alfacipermetrin) and piperonyl butoxide also gave excellent results with cockroach control during one month. Two organophosphate insecticides (Clorpyrifos and Diazinon) significantly reduced cockroaches for only one week. Finally, our work indicates that the Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs) we tested are not recommendable active substances for the control of P. americana in sewers.

Intensifying animal production is generally advocated to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions associated with production of animal-source food. Sheep farming systems (SFSs) in Spain are generally considered to be pasture-based and extensive, but large differences in input utilization, land use and intensification level exist. Their environmental impacts, therefore, are expected to differ also. We used life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions of three contrasting meat-sheep farming systems in Spain, which differed in their degree of intensification (reproduction rate, land use and grazing management). The GHGs emissions of these systems varied from 19.5 to 25.9 kg CO2-eq per kg of lamb live weight, or 39.0–51.7 kg CO2-eq per kg of lamb meat, with highest values referring to the pasture-based livestock system. In addition to meat, however, these SFSs also provide other services to society (e.g. public goods such as biodiversity and landscape conservation). We valued these services for each SFSs based on agri-environmental subsidies of the EU and used farm economic values to allocate GHGs emissions of SFSs between meat and cultural ecosystem services. When accounting for multifunctionality, GHGs emission per kg of lamb live weight among the SFSs was reversed: with lowest values for the pasture-based system (13.9 kg CO2-eq per kg of lamb live weight) and highest for zero-grazing system (19.5 kg CO2-eq per kg of lamb live weight). A comparison of GHGs emissions among SFSs should account for the multifunctionality of pasture-based livestock systems.

Food consumption patterns in general and those of meat in particular are constantly changing. These changes are due to wide-ranging, socio-economic and cultural trends but also to the specific lifestyles of increasingly diversified groups of consumers. One of the main trends in meat consumption relates to convenience orientation and meat avoidance. We have used a modified food-related lifestyle (FRL) framework to analyse the current state of lamb meat consumption in a region of Spain, where this has steadily decreased over the past few years. We have focused on two aspects of the FRL framework: cooking habits and consumption situations, in order to establish customer convenience orientation. Other aspects of the FRL, referring to consumers’ perception of quality and shopping methods, together with various socio-economic features, are used to characterise the convenience profiles of consumers and analyse their differences. Data were collected by means of a probabilistic stratified postal survey and analysed with multivariate techniques (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis). The objective was to identify, characterise and compare profiles of lamb meat consumers according to their convenience orientation. These consumer profiles could be termed traditional, uninvolved, adventurous and careless. Satisfaction derived from cooking and time spent on cooking, tendency towards eating out, preference of foreign vs. traditional recipes and for the diversification of meals, were the most important factors to distinguish between consumer profiles. Other factors relating to eating out on working days, the importance placed on planning meals, celebration meals, or a preference for informal dinners, did not discriminate between consumer profiles. In relation to the perception of intrinsic quality attributes, no differences were observed for the importance placed on fat content and type of animal, although a fresh appearance and light colour of the meat were more highly valued by traditional consumers. With regard to extrinsic quality attributes, easy cooking was very important for uninvolved consumers. In general, the presence of a quality label, the local origin of the meat and a feeding system based on pasture or green forages rather than on grains were highly valued by most consumer profiles. In socio-economical terms, convenience orientation was more related to age, place of residence and level of studies than to income and gender. The identification of different convenience orientations towards lamb meat and the associated perceptions of different quality attributes and socio-demographic features may provide an opportunity for the industry to develop consumer-led products, especially in highly undifferentiated meat products such as lamb.

In the European Mediterranean basin, pasture-based sheep farming systems are mostly located in marginal/High Nature Value areas. These production systems are multifunctional, and their economic, environmental and social roles are equally important and recognised by policy makers and by society. However, the number of animals and holdings is decreasing, and there is great uncertainty regarding the reproducibility of these farming systems, which depends on many internal and external farm factors and their interactions. The aim of this paper was to perform a comprehensive assessment of sustainability in different sheep farming systems in north eastern Spain using the MESMIS framework. We followed a case-study approach to perform an in-depth investigation of 4 sheep meat and dairy farms with different intensities of reproduction management. Critical points of sustainability, including weaknesses and opportunities, were obtained using a participatory process with stakeholders (farmers and technical advisers) that resulted in the selection of 37 sustainability indicators that were classified according to the systemic attributes defined by MESMIS (productivity, stability, self-reliance, adaptability, equity) and according to the classical sustainability pillars (social, economic and environmental). Some underlying patterns could be observed when analysing sustainability pillars, attributes and indicators. A positive relationship between productivity and intensification level in meat farms was observed; however, economic sustainability was determined not only by on-farm but also by off-farm activities. The economic efficiency of farming (without considering subsidies) was mainly explained by the capture of added value in the dairy systems and the combination of high animal productivity as well as high forage and feed self-sufficiency in the meat systems. Social issues were also central to explaining sustainability at the farm level, including the prospects of generational turnover and the manner in which farmers perceive and rate their activity. A clear trade-off between economic and environmental indicators was observed, i.e., the higher the economic sustainability, the lower the environmental sustainability. Each farm scored differently for diverse attributes, pillars and individual indicators. The scores differed according to size, structure, resource availability and managerial skills, which implies that it would be difficult to apply a holistic sustainability analysis to farming systems instead of individual farms. A number of methodological questions arose during the evaluation process relative to the stakeholders perception of these indicators, their relevance and meaning, the reference values for comparison, or their validity to assess sustainability across spatial and temporal scales. These questions are discussed in the paper.

The sustainability of livestock farming systems (LFS) in relation to global concerns about climate change, population dynamics and the quality of the agro-ecosystem services that are provided to society and their trade-offs has become a fundamental issue for public and scientific debate. However, LFS differ widely in terms of the use of resources, degree of intensification, species and orientation of production, local/regional socio-economic and market context, cultural roles, etc. Therefore, we need to disaggregate livestock farming systems when analysing any aspect of sustainability. This paper discusses low-input pasture-based farming systems (meat sheep and beef cattle) located in mountainous and other less favoured areas of the European Mediterranean basin. We first describe their recent evolution in terms of the level of intensification and structural, economic, social and environmental factors at the farm level, paying special attention to critical points of sustainability. Despite the diversity encountered, there are some common factors that threaten their future, such as an excessive dependency on premiums, the lack of generational turnover due to a number of increasingly influential social factors and a continuous process of abandonment of large marginal areas and concentration in more favourable areas. Next, we depict some relevant synergies and trade-offs between a number of factors that we have previously described, taking into account the wider socio-economic environment in which farms operate. Pasture-based LFS can satisfy societal demands (for public goods such as landscape and biodiversity or ethical concerns about food production) and are less vulnerable to market changes. However, they are not paid for the environmental services they deliver, they suffer displacement by other economic activities, and they are very sensitive to climate change scenarios. We also point out a number of options for designing and implementing more sustainable pasture-based LFS under very uncertain circumstances; the concepts of resilience, adaptive capacity and self-sufficiency are discussed within this context. Finally, we summarise some areas for future research: –valuation and integration of positive externalities of pasture-based LFS in an analytical sustainability frameworks and management tools, –assessment of the diversity of systems, the impact they generate and the public goods they deliver, –analysis of complex relationships between intensification of production, dependence on off-farm/on-farm inputs, productivity and working conditions, –consideration of the social factors that determine continuity and working conditions, –and the necessity of performing dynamic studies that allow the understanding and anticipation of change.

European mountain farming systems have changed considerably in recent years. These changes are due to factors related to the following: internal characteristics of the farm and household; local and regional conditions; and economic and political environment that determine the general market situation and subsidies that the farmers receive. The decoupling of subsidies decided in 2003 CAP reform was an unprecedented change that raised many questions about the response of mountain livestock farming systems. The objective of this paper was to analyse the possible adaptation strategies of mountain cattle farms in various scenarios as a result of changes in policies and markets. The study is based on a previous evaluation of cattle farms diversity carried out in three valleys of the Spanish Pyrenees. Six types of farms characterised according to their past observed evolution trajectory (1990 to 2004) (Garcia-Martinez et al., 2009) were the basis to define mixed linear programming (LP) models that represented the annual operation of the farms. Five socioeconomic and policy scenarios were simulated depending on CAP conditions (partial or total decoupling), orientation of production (weaned or fattened calves) and existence of an off-farm work market (tourism activity). Sensitivity analyses for the price of feedstuff cereals, meat and weaned calves were completed. Off-farm work was economically profitable in the majority of the cattle farms under the current situation of partial decoupling, which may lead to a further decrease in the livestock farming activity and changes in land use (less proportion of mowing semi-natural grassland). Calf fattening was a viable activity, but it was extremely sensitive to changes in the prices of inputs and outputs. Therefore, a raise in the price of cereals or a declining price of meat may lead to a drastic decrease in calf fattening. Ensuring the provision of environmental services by mountain agriculture will not only depend on the specific circumstances in which conditionality is applied but also on the amount and delivery conditions of agri-environmental subsidies. In areas where tourism is on the rise, it is likely that the presence of non-agricultural activities on the farms will continue to increase, and, consequently, so will the displacement of the livestock activity with subsequent changes in land use. Furthermore, this trend will be accentuated in times of total decoupling.

A stochastic simulation model was used to assess the effects of diverse management strategies on beef herds under mountain conditions in the Spanish Pyrenees. Animals grazed on different seasonal resources (valley meadows, forest pastures and mountain pastures) and were fed with forages and concentrates during winter. The simulated management strategies were winter calving (WC, weaning at 180 days), autumn calving (AC, weaning at 160 days), 8-month calving (8MC, weaning at 180 days), and two calvings in 3 years, with weaning taking place at either 170 days of age (2C3Y) or at 9 months (2C3Y9 M). Each strategy was tested for two types of production systems: (i) cow–calf farms that market calves just after weaning; and (ii) cow–calf/finishing farms that fatten the animals by means of an intensive feeding system until achieving a suitable weight for slaughter. A herd of 100 cows was simulated over 15 years, but only data obtained after reaching the steady state (year 6) was used in the analysis. The strategies were evaluated by considering reproductive, productive and economic performance. The percentages of pregnant cows at the end of the mating season were highest for 8MC, 2C3Y and 2C3Y9M (between 92% and 94%). The percentage was intermediate for AC (88%) and lowest for WC (78%), which also showed greater variability between years. The two strategies that extensified management (2C3Y, 2C3Y9M) produced, as expected, a lower number of calves weaned per year (59 and 60), whereas this figure was the highest for 8MC (90). Although AC and 8MC resulted in higher productive performances, the increased labour requirements and winter feeding costs resulted in low economic margins for these strategies, which also meant poorer utilization of natural resources. In economic terms, WC was the best strategy for cow–calf/finishing farms, whereas 2C3Y was the worst of the two types of production systems, although it resulted in the most intense utilization of grazing resources. The long lactating period of 2C3Y9M did not affect the reproductive performance of cows, so this strategy yielded the highest economic margin at weaning. The extensification strategies (2C3Y and 2C3Y9M) were less sensitive to changes in the price of feedstuffs. The information obtained from the simulation of the different strategies is useful for evaluating the possible trade-offs between production, economics, use of natural resources and labour requirements.

In the last few decades, significant changes in livestock farming systems and land use were observed in European mountain areas with large implications for the sustainability of grazing agro-ecosystems. System dynamic studies become essential to understand these changes, identify the drivers involved and trying to anticipate what might happen in the future. The objectives of this study were as follows: (i) to analyse the main recent changes that occurred in mountain cattle farming in the Spanish Pyrenees; (ii) to typify diverse trajectories of evolution of these systems; and (iii) to establish drivers of change that might help understand the evolution of mountain agriculture. A constant sample of mountain cattle farms was analysed for the period 1990 to 2004. In total, 30% of farms have disappeared during this time interval. For the remaining farms, the most important general changes observed were as follows: increment of size; change of productive orientation from mixed beef-dairy to pure beef production; extensification of grazing management; reduction of family labour and increase of pluriactivity; reduction of unitary variable costs; and increase of labour productivity. After the elimination of common temporal effects between dates, multivariate techniques allowed for the identification of three patterns and six specific trajectories of evolution that are profiled in the text. Relationships between the patterns of evolution and other variables referring the farm, the household and the socio-economic environment were identified as drivers of change: (i) the specific location of the farm in relation to the capital village of the municipality and the evolution other sectors of the economy, in particular tourism; (ii) the size of the family labour, presence of successors and degree of dynamism of the farmer; and (iii) the initial orientation of production.

The effect of livestock grazing on the under-story vegetation in a Mediterranean Pinus nigra forest pasture in the Pyrenees was studied during 6 years, by comparing changes in herbaceous and shrub vegetation under cattle grazing conditions or in absence of livestock. Cattle grazed the pasture each year at a moderate stocking rate of 0.2 LU/ha, for 3 months in spring and 3 months in the autumn. Four 10 m × 10 m exclosures were set up in different locations in the range. Each year, at the end of the grazing season, herbage height and biomass and shrub number, volume and biomass were measured inside and outside the exclosures. Herbage quality was measured at the end of the study. After 6 years, herbage biomass was much greater inside the exclosures (1730 kg DM/ha versus 679 kg DM/ha, p

The research was carried out in the “Sierra y Canones de Guara” Natural Park, a protected mountain area located in the Central Pyrenees (Huesca, Spain). In this territory, a notorious recession of agricultural activities has been observed in recent decades, which has originated changes in the type and intensity of land utilization and, simultaneously, led to environmental and landscape degradation. The main goal of this research was to analyse what characteristics of the current sheep farming systems could explain different patterns of utilization of the grazing resources. Information was obtained through direct interviews with all sheep farmers that used the grazing resources of the Park in 2000 (n = 53). Specific information on grazing management (grazing areas, grazing periods, number and type of grazing animals) was collected together with data on family characteristics, labour, flock management, land use, continuity, recent changes in farming and farmers opinions. Principal Components Analysis was used to examine relationships among original variables. Farming systems were then characterized in four homogeneous groups using Cluster Analysis. Finally, a Logistic Regression allowed determining relationships between the level of intensification of management and several social and technical features. Intensification of farm management was linked to the type and intensity of land utilization: the higher the intensification of the reproduction system the shorter the grazing period and the lower number of grazing animals. Besides, chances of continuity were critical in some groups of farms, especially in some of the most extensive ones, while many farms with good chances of permanence showed more intensive management strategies but lower utilization of grazing resources. In this type of agro-ecosystems, rural development policies with conservation purposes should focus on farming systems with more environmentally desirable management strategies, and consequently enhance their chances of continuity.

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A stochastic model for simulating mountain beef cattle systems was described and validated using real data. The model was able to properly simulate complex batches of animals with different initial characteristics and so obtain results about the mean and variance of animal productive and reproductive outputs. Model was used to simulate four feeding strategies during winter period in the conditions of autumn calving in the Spanish Pyrenees. The simulated strategies were CONTROL: 100% of recommendations for the mean animal; LOW1: as 24% restriction from the amount of energy provided to CONTROL, applied only during lactation; LOW2: the same of LOW1, but was applied only the last two thirds of lactation; LOW3: 16% restriction from CONTROL applied at late gestation and first third of lactation. Simulated results showed that restrictions around 25% of the total winter energy requirements of beef cows in housing conditions are possible and sustainable. The best option taking into account reproductive performance and outputs variability seems to be a continuous restriction during all lactation (strategy LOW1). On the other hand, an extensification policy implying extended grazing till mid or late December with housing afterwards (strategy LOW3), is also possible and will have no negative consequences on calf growth (only viability of young calves being outdoors in autumn should be evaluated), but can affect the PPA of cows and so the herd reproductive performance could be compromised in the long term.

The ‘Sierra de Guara’ Natural Park (81,491 ha, Huesca, Spain) is a protected Mediterranean mountain area dominated by shrub and forest pastures. Traditional agriculture, mainly extensive grazing systems, has decreased in the last decades; concurrently, invasion of shrub vegetation, landscape changes and higher risk of forest fires have been observed. A study, which started in 2000, was carried out with two broad objectives: at the farm level, to analyse the farming systems and evaluate management strategies; at the regional level, to give useful information to conservation authorities for better decision-making. An integrated approach with different spatial scales and methods of analysis was used. First, a survey covering all farms that utilized the Park was carried out and livestock farming systems were characterized in terms of grazing management, technical and socio-economic factors. Second, six representative areas were selected to evaluate, depending on livestock utilization, grass and shrub vegetation dynamics (biomass, green/dead ratio). Third, vegetation and livestock data were analysed using a Geographic Information System to identify constraining factors and areas of intervention. Key imbalances were identified that can threaten the sustainability of the Park: low continuity of farming families; intensification of the management system; degradation of grazing resources; and concentration of grazing areas. A number of management recommendations are raised.

Data on productive and reproductive events of 549 cows (Brown Swiss and Pirenaica breeds) were collected in the Spanish Pyrenees from 1987 to 1998, in order to determine the factors that could be associated with the postpartum interval (PPI). Blood was collected 3 times per week during lactation; PPI was established by progesterone radioimmunoassay. Eighteen variables traditionally related to PPI were initially considered. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was used to analyse the variables. PPI was associated with four factors that explained 59% of the total inertia and were defined as follows: “Prepartum feeding level” (19% of the inertia), “Postpartum feeding level—Parity” (16.4%), “Suckling frequency” (13%) and, as a supplementary variable, “Calving difficulty” (10.5%). These factors were introduced in a cluster analysis that identified five homogeneous groups of cows with respect to the management, defined by body condition score (BCS) at calving and PPI as follows: “Primiparous cows” (BCS=2.77; PPI=54 days), “Twice-daily suckling” (BCS=2.63; PPI=33 days), “Ad libitum suckling—Brown Swiss” (BCS=2.48; PPI=111 days), “Autumn calving season” (BCS=2.75; PPI=31 days) and “Spring calving season” (BCS=2.34; PPI=66 days). Cow breed was not related to PPI, although the cluster analysis associated the suckling-induced prolonged PPI with Brown Swiss animals. PPI was longer in the spring than in the autumn due to nutritional differences rather than to a seasonal effect.

Consumers give increasing importance to the extrinsic quality attributes of meat in response to rising concerns on safety, health, convenience, ethical factors, etc. The role that attributes such as animal feeding assurance, environmentally friendly production, respect for the animal welfare, etc. play in the consumer quality evaluation process has not been studied enough. The objectives of this article were: to evaluate the importance of several extrinsic quality attributes of red meat to consumers in five European regions; to analyse the relationships between the attitude towards these attributes, available cues and factors or motivations that are important to consumers when buying meat; and to identify groups or segments of consumers according to the importance of extrinsic quality attributes. The most important extrinsic attributes found were animal feeding and origin. Environmentally friendly production and animal welfare considerations were also important. Animal feed assurance was an indicator of safety and nutritious/ healthy meat but origin was not. For some groups of consumers, respect for the environment and animal welfare were also related to healthy/safe meat. The range of attitudes consumers hold towards extrinsic attributes could constitute an opportunity to develop consumer-led meat products and further market segmentation.

Climate change (CC) directly impacts the economy, ecosystems, water resources, weather events, health issues, desertification, sea level rise, and even political and social stability. The effects of CC affect different groups of societies differently. In Tanzania, the effects of CC have even acquired a gender dimension, whereby women are viewed as more vulnerable than men because of socioeconomic and historic barriers. CC is largely caused by anthropogenic activities, including those that increase the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Recent findings indicate that the livestock sector is responsible for 18 % of GHG emissions measured in the CO2 equivalent. Moreover, some gases emitted by livestock have higher potential to warm the atmosphere than CO2 and have a very long atmospheric lifetime. Methane (CH4) has 23 times the global warming potential (GWP) of CO2, whereas nitrous oxide (N2O) has 296 times the GWP of CO2. It is now estimated that the atmospheric concentrations of CH4 and N2O are increasing at a rate of approximately 0.6 % and 0.25 % per year, respectively. Cattle may emit CH4 from enteric fermentation equivalent to 2–12 % of the ingested energy, whereas produced manure can emit N2O up to 1.25 % of its weight. The estimated total CH4 and N2O emissions from Tanzanian ruminants stand at 26.17 Gg and 0.57 Gg, respectively. In this paper, we first very briefly review emissions of GHGs from different livestock production systems in Tanzania with the view of identifying the main hot spots. Then, we concentrate on the available adaptation options and the limitations on the adoption of such adaptation options in Tanzania. Emission of these GHGs per unit product varies with the level of intensification, the types of livestock kept, and manure management. Intensification of livestock production reduces the size of the land required to sustain a livestock unit and frees up the land necessary for carbon sequestration. In Tanzania, such intensification could take the form of the early harvesting and storing forage for dry-season feeding. The advantage of this intervention is twofold: young harvests have higher digestibility and emit less CH4 when fed to ruminants than mature lignified forage; use of stored roughage in the dry season will reduce the desertification of rangeland and deforestation that occur when livestock search for pastureland. Dry-season supplementation of ruminants with energy and protein-rich diets will reduce CH4 emission. The chemical treatment of crops byproducts will increase the crops’ digestibility and reduce CH4 emission from ruminants. Crossbreds of indigenous and exotic breeds are more efficient converters of feed into products like meat and milk, with less GHG emitted per unit product. The use of manure for biogas production will reduce the emission of both CH4 and N2O into the atmosphere. Shifting from liquid to solid manure management has the potential to reduce CH4 emissions. Most of these interventions, however, are not cost neutral – enhancing awareness alone will not lead to their widespread adoption. In the absence of subsidies, the adoption of these interventions will depend on the relative cost of other options. Although some traditional livestock systems in Tanzania are already coping with the impact of CC, such efforts are handicapped by inadequate resources, poor coordination, and implementation of competing measures.

The objective of this paper was to study the relationships between technological use and farm and farmer characteristics in dairy and dual-purpose farms in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Quantitative and qualitative data related to farm dimensions, land use, pasture, nutrition, reproduction and health management and farm household social characteristics, access to information and technical assistance were collected from 319 farms in the main dairy-producing regions of Santa Cruz. Data were analysed by multiple correspondence analysis in order to establish relationships amongst management intensity and variables related to farm structure, productive orientation and the farmers’ social conditions and information exposure to technical aspects. A cluster analysis was then carried out to identify groups of farms with similar characteristics within the sample population. The analyses demonstrated clear relationships between management intensity, the farms’ dimensions and the farmers’ social conditions and access to information. Results are discussed in respect to the importance of farm characterisation for defining target groups and delivering research outputs and extension policies more effectively.

This paper describes a Tropical Pasture Simulator. This is a simple mechanistic model representing the growth of vegetative tropical pastures under rotational or continuous grazing with responses to N fertiliser, temperature and irradiance that can be used as a tool to study management options for the development of sustainable grazing systems. The model was derived as an adaptation of the ‘Hurley pasture models’ which were originally designed to simulate the growth of ryegrass. The model incorporates the processes of light interception and photosynthesis, leaf area expansion; growth, ageing and senescence of plant tissues, recycling of substrates from senescing tissues, nitrogen uptake, mineralisation of soil organic N, N leaching and grazing. The paper discusses the main structure of the model, its components and the main adaptations required to simulate the growth of tropical pastures. The model was parameterised for kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) growing in dairy systems in highland regions of Costa Rica. This paper also discusses the sensitivity of parameter values and the development of minimum parameter datasets for time and cost-eAective implementation of the model. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The concept of ‘Ecosystem Services’ (ES) focuses on the linkages between ecosystems, including agroecosystems, and human well-being, referring to all the benefits, direct and indirect, that people obtain from ecosystems. In this paper, we review the application of the ES framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems, which allows (1) regulating, supporting and cultural ES to be integrated at the same level with provisioning ES, and (2) the multiple trade-offs and synergies that exist among ES to be considered. Research on livestock farming has focused mostly on provisioning ES (meat, milk and fibre production), despite the fact that provisioning ES strongly depends on regulating and supporting ES for their existence. We first present an inventory of the non-provisioning ES (regulating, supporting and cultural) provided by pasture-based livestock systems in Europe. Next, we review the trade-offs between provisioning and non-provisioning ES at multiple scales and present an overview of the methodologies for assessing biophysical trade-offs. Third, we present non-biophysical (economical and socio-cultural) methodologies and applications for ES valuation. We conclude with some recommendations for policy design. Published

We applied social cost-benefit analysis to the economic evaluation of the bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes carried out by the public eradication authority for mountain areas in the Spanish Central Pyrenees. We considered only the effects on animal health and production. We also evaluated several hypotheses corresponding to the different sanitary situations of two valleys studied. The results were different for the two disease programmes. The brucellosis programme was economically efficient over a sufficiently long time frame, but the bovine tuberculosis programme was not. A factor having the greatest influence on the economic efficiency of the programmes was the initial prevalence of the disease in the two valleys studied. The greater this was, the more difficult it was to obtain positive net benefits; this was due the initially high compensation paid for the slaughter of animals testing positive for the disease. The relatively small animal health and production returns derived from the tuberculosis programme explained it's failure to generate positive economic results. The fact that the economic evaluation resulted in unfavourable outcomes is not in itself justification for project termination, because the benefits to the wider community through the prevention of zoonosis were not considered in this analysis.

Traditional mixed livestock cereal- and pasture-based sheep farming systems in Europe are threatened by intensification and specialisation processes. However, the intensification process does not always yield improved economic results or efficiency. This study involved a group of farmers that raised an autochthonous sheep breed (Ojinegra de Teruel) in an unfavourable area of North-East Spain. This study aimed to typify the farms and elucidate the existing links between economic performance and certain sustainability indicators (i.e. productivity, self-sufficiency and diversification). Information was obtained through direct interviews with 30 farms (73% of the farmers belonging to the breeders association). Interviews were conducted in 2009 and involved 32 indicators regarding farm structure, management and economic performance. With a principal component analysis, three factors were obtained explaining 77.9% of the original variance. This factors were named as inputs/self-sufficiency, which included the use of on-farm feeds, the amount of variable costs per ewe and economic performance; productivity, which included lamb productivity and economic autonomy; and productive orientation, which included the degree of specialisation in production. A cluster analysis identified the following four groups of farms: high-input intensive system; low-input self-sufficient system; specialised livestock system; and diversified crops-livestock system. In conclusion, despite the large variability between and within groups, the following factors that explain the economic profitability of farms were identified: (i) high feed self-sufficiency and low variable costs enhance the economic performance (per labour unit) of the farms; (ii) animal productivity reduces subsidy dependence, but does not necessarily imply better economic performance; and (iii) diversity of production enhances farm flexibility, but is not related to economic performance. Published

Understanding the complex interactions between livestock and the environment is key in the current global context, although the wide diversity of these interactions in the different production systems needs a local approach. In ruminant production systems, ongoing research is focused on quantification of both negative and positive environmental impacts, developing adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce the former, through increased efficiency and reduced inputs and emissions, and enhancing the later. In extensive conditions, both aims can be achieved by adapting livestock management to the provision of natural foraging resources throughout the year, yet fulfilling other societal demands like the provision of market-oriented products. In this framework, a series of studies will be presented concerning (1) the response of natural vegetation to extensive livestock grazing in different conditions; how farming systems can adapt to seasonal, spatial and nutritional quality of feed resources; and the effect of grazing on animal performance and product quality.

The Pampa-Corte model developed to simulate growth of beef cattle was adapted to simulate lamb growth. This paper has the objective to describe the main modifications and the fitness of model in the simulations of lamb growth. To validate the model two datasets from Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (Zaragoza, Spain) were used. The first one used data from 29 male and 10 female lambs of Rasa Aragonesa breed born in spring of years 2005, 2006 and 2008. The second data came from 32 male lambs of Churra Tensina breed born in spring of years 2004 and 2007. The model showed good fit between observed and simulated data in intensive finishing lamb systems, although small deviations were observed after slaughtering the first animals that reached the commercial live-weight (LW) of 22kg. O modelo Pampa Corte, que foi desenvolvido com a finalidade de simular o crescimento corporal de bovinos de corte, foi adaptado para a simulação do crescimento de ovinos. Este artigo tem como objetivo descrever as principais modificações e o desempenho do modelo na simulação do crescimento de cordeiros. Para a avaliação do modelo, foram utilizados dois conjuntos de dados de dois experimentos do Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón, Zaragoza, Espanha. O primeiro conjunto contém dados de 29 cordeiros e 10 cordeiras da raça Rasa Aragonesa, nascidos na primavera dos anos 2005, 2006 e 2008. O segundo conjunto com dados experimentais de 32 cordeiros da raça Churra Tensina, nascidos na primavera de 2004 e 2007. Os resultados simulados pelo modelo, quando comparados com os dados experimentais, demonstraram um ótimo desempenho do modelo, principalmente até o início do abate dos primeiros animais que alcançavam o peso meta experimental de 22kg. O modelo Pampa Corte adaptado para a simulação de crescimento de ovinos demonstrou alta precisão na simulação em sistemas intensivos de engorda de cordeiros. animal model intensive finishing system sheep model modelo animal modelo ovino sistema terminaçao intensivo Published