Livestock Farming Systems in Urban Mountain Regions

Cialdella, Nathalie; Dobremez, Laurent; Madélrieux, Sophie

doi:10.5367/000000009788632412

Cited by 35 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Here, activities of the members of the farm household can be diversified, which includes both on-and off-farm activities (Bryden et al, 1992;Lemery et al, 2005;Cialdella et al, 2009). A diversity of resources available on the farm, such as family labour, knowledge, networks, arable land, grassland and buildings can be invested in a range of projects.…”

Section: Diversity To Cope With Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Petit (1978Petit ( , 1981 suggested a theory of adaptive behaviour in farm management, based on the observation that farmers interactively adjust both their objectives and their situations. This was illustrated by studying the patterns of change of farms over long time frames, offering empirical evidence that farm structure, activities and organisation can change substantially in response to on-and off-farm dynamics (Bourgeois and Krychowski, 1981;Levrouw et al, 2007;Cialdella et al, 2009).…”

Section: An Adaptive Perspective In Understanding Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…type and quality of milk and meat produced, as well as in the long term. As a study of change patterns on 14 farms during a 50-year period has shown, farms implement a wide set of adaptability options by flexibly organising the workload of family members, changing the structure of animal production and using off-farm employment, as well as various forms of cooperation with neighbouring farms (Cialdella et al, 2009). …”

Section: Flexibility To Increase Response Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. A review

Darnhofer

Bellon²,

Dedieu³

et al. 2010

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

319

225

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-During the last decade the context in which farmers must manage their farm has changed rapidly, and often with little warning. Dramatic price swings for agricultural commodities, more stringent quality requirements, new environmental regulations, the debates surrounding genetically modified crops, extreme climatic events, the demand for energy crops, the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy and the consequences of the financial crisis all create uncertainty regarding future threats and potentials. During such turbulent times, a one-sided focus on efficient production is no longer enough. Farmers also need to be able to cope with unexpected events and to adapt to new developments. Based on a literature review, we identify three strategies that strengthen the adaptive capacity of a farm: learning through experimenting and monitoring its outcomes, ensuring a flexible farm organisation to increase the options for new activities by the farm family, and diversifying to spread risks and create buffers. Implementing these strategies enlarges the farmer's room to manoeuvre and allows identifying transition options. These options do not depend only on the farm itself, but also on the farmer's ability to mobilise external resources and to engage in collective action. Change is then no longer seen as a disturbance, but as a trigger for the reorganisation of resources, and for the renewal of the farm organisation and activities. Implementing these strategies comes at a cost, so that farmers need to tackle the inevitable trade-offs between efficiency and adaptability. However, unless farmers master this challenge they cannot ensure the sustainability of their farms.adaptive farm management / adaptive capacity / evolutionary approach / complex adaptive systems

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Section: Diversity To Cope With Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: An Adaptive Perspective In Understanding Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Flexibility To Increase Response Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. A review

Darnhofer

Bellon²,

Dedieu³

et al. 2010

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

319

225

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Their trajectories changed at this time (Antrop, 2005). Fifty years is the limit of human memory for retrospective collection of data (Cialdella et al, 2009); the data are often limited by the accuracy of the information provided during surveys. For example, farmers remember the presence or absence of maize production in a past decade, but not of the area of maize cultivated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Designing data to depict the temporal patterns of farm change Selecting the appropriate time step to depict individual patterns of change are major methodological issues (Cialdella et al, 2009;Rueff et al, 2012). We chose a 10-year time step: 1950 to 1959; 1960 to 1969; 1970 to 1979; 1980 to 1989; 1990 to 1999; and a half time step 2000 to 2005.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paths to last in mixed crop–livestock farming: lessons from an assessment of farm trajectories of change

Ryschawy

Choisis

et al. 2013

Animal

100

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Mixed crop-livestock systems, combining livestock and cash crops at farm level, are considered to be suitable for sustainable intensification of agriculture. Ensuring the survival of mixed crop-livestock systems is a challenge for European agriculture: the number of European mixed crop-livestock farms has been decreasing since 1970. Analysis of farming system dynamics may elucidate past changes and the forces driving this decline. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify the diversity of paths that allowed the survival of mixed crop-livestock farming and (ii) to elucidate the driving forces behind such survival. We analysed the variety of farm trajectories from 1950 to 2005. We studied the entire farm population of a case study site, located in the 'Coteaux de Gascogne' region. In this less favoured area of south-western France, farmers have limited specialisation. Currently, half of the farms use mixed crop-livestock systems. The data set of 20 variables for 50 farms on the basis of six 10-year time steps was collected through retrospective surveys. We used a two-step analysis including (i) a visual assessment of the whole population of individual farm trajectories and (ii) a computer-based typology of farm trajectories on the basis of a series of multivariate analyses followed by automatic clustering. The European Common Agricultural Policy, market globalisation and decreasing workforce availability were identified as drivers of change that favoured the specialisation process. Nevertheless, farmers' choices and values have opposed against these driving forces, ensuring the survival of some mixed crop-livestock farming systems. The trajectories were clustered into five types, four of which were compatible with mixed crop-livestock systems. The first type was the maximisation of autonomy by combining crops and livestock. The second type was diversification of production to exploit economies of scope and protect the farm against market fluctuations. The other two types involved enlargement and progressive adaptation of the farm to the familial workforce. The survival of mixed crop-livestock systems in these two types is largely dependent on workforce availability. Only one type of trajectory, on the basis of enlargement and economies of scale, did not lead to mixed crop-livestock systems. In view of the current evolution of the driving forces, maximising autonomy and diversification appear to be suitable paths to deal with current challenges and maintain mixed crop-livestock systems in Europe.

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Framework of Product-Driven Business Model Transformation Based on the Theory of Qualitative Structure

Vidickienė

2023

Rural Transformation Through Servitization

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Livestock Farming Systems in Urban Mountain Regions

Cited by 35 publications

References 20 publications

Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. A review

Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. A review

Paths to last in mixed crop–livestock farming: lessons from an assessment of farm trajectories of change

Framework of Product-Driven Business Model Transformation Based on the Theory of Qualitative Structure

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