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Relevance of farm-scale indicators and tools for farmers to assess sustainability of their mixed crop-ruminant livestock systems.

Authors :
Leite FFGD
Faverin C
Ciganda VS
Cristobal-Carballo O
Dos Reis JC
Eugène M
Fariña S
Hercher-Pasteur J
Monteiro A
Pastell M
Recavarren P
Romera A
Rosanowski S
Tieri MP
Aubry A
Veysset P
Kenny D
Vibart R
Source :
The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Nov 10; Vol. 950, pp. 175218. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 02.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Ensuring the sustainability and circularity of mixed crop-ruminant livestock systems is essential if they are to deliver on the enhancement of long-term productivity and profitability with a smaller footprint. The objectives of this study were to select indicators in the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability of crop-livestock systems, to assess if these indicators are relevant in the operational schedule of farmers, and to score the indicators in these farm systems. The scoring system was based on relevance to farmers, data availability, frequency of use, and policy. The study was successful in the assemblage of a suite of indicators comprising three dimensions of sustainability and the development of criteria to assess the usefulness of these indicators in crop-ruminant livestock systems in distinct agro-climatic regions across the globe. Except for ammonia emissions, indicators within the Emissions to air theme obtained high scores, as expected from mixed crop-ruminant systems in countries transitioning towards low emission production systems. Despite the inherent association between nutrient losses and water quality, the sum of scores was numerically greater for the former, attributed to a mix of economic and policy incentives. The sum of indicator scores within the Profitability theme (farm net income, expenditure and revenue) received the highest scores in the economic dimension. The Workforce theme (diversity, education, succession) stood out within the social dimension, reflecting the need for an engaged labor force that requires knowledge and skills in both crop and livestock husbandry. The development of surveys with farmers/stakeholders to assess the relevance of farm-scale indicators and tools is important to support direct actions and policies in support of sustainable mixed crop-ruminant livestock farm systems.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1879-1026
Volume :
950
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
The Science of the total environment
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
39097025
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175218