A model-farm approach to research on crop-livestock integration — III. Benefits of crop-livestock integration and a critique of the approach

Thomson, E. F.; Bahhady, F.; Nordblom, Thomas L.; Harris, H. C.

doi:10.1016/0308-521x(95)91632-9

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Therefore, increasing whole farm income by selling crop products in regions where arable farming is possible, might be a suitable strategy for supporting cattle operations and making dairy farming more attractive. This is in line with the results presented by De Koeijer et al (1995) and Thomson et al (1995) who have indicated financial advantages of MFS, as a result of a more intensive use of natural resources and beneficial interactions between crop and livestock production. The total value of production was higher in the two mixed systems than in the specialised dairy system in year 0, but the total costs of production were also higher, associated with the higher labour costs and the capital demand to establish the crop production activities (Table 3).…”

Section: Financial Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Conversion of specialised dairy farming systems into sustainable mixed farming systems in Cuba

Funes-Monzote

Monzote

Lantinga

et al. 2008

Environ Dev Sustain

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Section: Financial Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Conversion of specialised dairy farming systems into sustainable mixed farming systems in Cuba

Funes-Monzote

Monzote

Lantinga

et al. 2008

Environ Dev Sustain

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“…While many farming system studies have been useful, some have failed to adequately mimic the practices of commercially relevant farming systems (Thomson et al 1995). In contrast, the Cicerone farmlet experiment was strongly influenced by and found to be highly relevant to producer members .…”

Section: Integrative Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated overview of results from a farmlet experiment which compared the effects of pasture inputs and grazing management on profitability and sustainability

Scott

Behrendt

Colvin³

et al. 2013

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. The Cicerone Project conducted a grazed farmlet experiment on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, from July 2000 to December 2006, to address questions raised by local graziers concerning how they might improve the profitability and sustainability of their grazing enterprises. This unreplicated experiment examined three management systems at a whole-farmlet scale. The control farmlet (farmlet B) represented typical management for the region, with flexible rotational grazing and moderate inputs. A second farmlet (farmlet A) also used flexible rotational grazing but had a higher level of pasture renovation and soil fertility, while the third farmlet (farmlet C) had the same moderate inputs as farmlet B but employed intensive rotational grazing. The present paper provides an integrated overview of the results collated from component papers and discusses the inferences that can be drawn from what was a complex, agroecosystem experiment. The measurements recorded both early and late in the experiment were tabulated for each of the farmlets and compared with each other as relative proportions, allowing visual presentation on a common, indexed scale. Because of equivalent starting conditions, there was little difference between farmlets early in the experimental period (2000-01) across a wide array of measured parameters, including herbage mass, potential pasture growth rate, liveweight, wool production per head, stocking rate, gross margin and equity. Although the experiment experienced drier-than-average conditions, marked differences emerged among farmlets over time, due to the effects of treatments. During the latter half of the experimental period (2003-06), farmlet A showed numerous positive and a few negative consequences of the higher rate of pasture renovation and increased soil fertility compared with the other two farmlets. While intensive rotational grazing resulted in superior control of gastrointestinal nematodes and slightly finer wool, this system had few effects on pastures and no positive effects on sheep liveweights, wool production or stocking rate. Whereas farmlet A showed higher gross margins, it had a negative and lower short-term cash position than did farmlets B and C, due largely to the artificially high rate of pasture renovation undertaken on this farmlet during the experiment. Although farmlet B had the highest cash position at the end of the experiment, this came at a cost of the declining quality of its pastures. Modelling of the farmlet systems allowed the results to be considered over the longer timeframes needed to assess sustainability. Thus, returns on investment were compared over realistic amortisation periods and produced outcomes based on long-term climatic expectations which were compared with those that arose under the drier-than-average conditions experienced during the experimental period. The main factors responsible for lifting the productivity of farmlet A were the sowing of temperate species and increased soil fertility, which enhanced the amo...

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“…It is noteworthy that Thomson et al (1995) reported that an unreplicated model farm system generated particularly valuable whole-farm information about mixedfarming interactions in Syria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical methodologies for drawing causal inference from an unreplicated farmlet experiment conducted by the Cicerone Project

Murison

Scott

2013

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. The present paper explains the statistical inference that can be drawn from an unreplicated field experiment that investigated three different pasture and grazing management strategies. The experiment was intended to assess these three strategies as whole farmlet systems where scale of the experiment precluded replication. The experiment was planned so that farmlets were allocated to matched paddocks on the basis of background variables that were measured across each paddock before the start of the experiment. These conditioning variables were used in the statistical model so that farmlet effects could be discerned from the longitudinal profiles of the responses. The purpose is to explain the principles by which longitudinal data collected from the experiment were interpreted. Two datasets, including (1) botanical composition and (2) hogget liveweights, are used in the present paper as examples. Inferences from the experiment are guarded because we acknowledge that the use of conditioning variables and matched paddocks does not provide the same power as replication. We, nevertheless, conclude that the differences observed are more likely to have been due to treatment effects than to random variation or bias.

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A model-farm approach to research on crop-livestock integration — III. Benefits of crop-livestock integration and a critique of the approach

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

Conversion of specialised dairy farming systems into sustainable mixed farming systems in Cuba

Conversion of specialised dairy farming systems into sustainable mixed farming systems in Cuba

Integrated overview of results from a farmlet experiment which compared the effects of pasture inputs and grazing management on profitability and sustainability

Statistical methodologies for drawing causal inference from an unreplicated farmlet experiment conducted by the Cicerone Project

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