Evaluating mountain goat dairy systems for conversion to the organic model, using a multicriteria method

Abstract

Organic farming conserves natural resources, promotes biodiversity, guarantees animal welfare and obtains healthy products from raw materials through natural processes. In order to evaluate possibilities of increasing organic animal production, this study proposes a farm-scale multicriteria method for assessing the conversion of dairy goat systems to the organic model. In addition, a case study in the Northern Sierra of Seville, southern Spain, is analysed. A consensus of expert opinions and a field survey are used to validate a list of potential indicators and issues for assessing the conversion, which consider not only the European Community regulations for organic livestock farming, but also agroecological principles. As a result, the method includes 56 variables integrated in nine indicators: Nutritional management, Sustainable pasture management, Soil fertility and contamination, Weed and pest control, Disease prevention, Breeds and reproduction, Animal welfare, Food safety and Marketing and management. The nine indicators are finally integrated in a global index named OLPI (Organic Livestock Proximity Index). Application of the method to a case study with 24 goat farms reveals an OLPI value of 46.5% for dairy goat farms located in mountain areas of southern Spain. The aspects that differ most from the agroecological model include soil management, animal nutrition and product marketing. Results of the case study indicate that the proposed method is easy to implement and is useful for quantifying the approximation of conventional farms to an organic model.

Beef Cattle Farms’ Conversion to the Organic System. Recommendations for Success in the Face of Future Changes in a Global Context

“…Forestry, livestock production, and farm size criteria were used to select the farms with the aim of obtaining a representative sample of the various subsystems of Dehesa, following the methodology used by previous studies [19][20][21]. The number of farms surveyed was 30, which is in accordance with other research studies on the topic (24 farms [22]; 31 farms [23,24]). More detailed information on these criteria can be found in the previous study of Escribano [3].…”

“…This has been identified as one of the major weaknesses to convert to the organic system in the Mediterranean area [2,22]. As mentioned in the previous section, crop area should be increased and feed should be conserved for shortage periods.…”

“…Subsequently, other indicators that were considered important for the study were selected from the literature on the topic [21,22,25,[28][29][30]. Furthermore, future political context and challenges for ruminants' production systems under extensive conditions in drylands were taken into account, as were the pillars and lines of action for the post-2013 CAP, and the impacts of the CAP on beef cattle sector [20,31].…”

“…There are previous studies that have analyzed the feasibility of conversion of farms to organic or agro-ecological production systems [22,[28][29][30]37]. However, the above-mentioned methodology allows not only assess the feasibility of conversion to the organic system set by European regulations and the principles of organic production, but also addresses important issues and challenges for the analyzed farms (SWOT and future challenges).…”

Strategic nutritional management for organic livestock and poultry farming-A review

“…Organic farming starts with production of on-farm agriculture and horticulture products (Mcsheeny, 1977) and now also got popularized in livestock sector as and is well supported by giant leap in various research activities carried out on organic livestock farming (Chandrashekar, 2010, Tsiplakou et al, 2010, Bernues et al, 2011, . Gomiero et al, 2011, Mena et al, 2012and Gabriel et al, 2013 Organic livestock farming system is getting popular in many countries including India due to increased consumers' demand of organic products and environmental concernsdue to increased demand for consumer's organic products, concerns about risk of chemical drug residuesenvironmental effects and improved food quality in pasture based organic livestock farming have perhaps led consumers to organic food (Thamsborg et al 1999 andSundrum 2001).…”