Organic Livestock Farming — Challenges, Perspectives, and Strategies to Increase Its Contribution to the Agrifood System’s Sustainability — A Review

Escribano, Alfredo J.

doi:10.5772/61272

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 115 publications

(154 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This has its rationale in the fact that the Dehesa agro-ecosystem is an evolution of the original Mediterranean woodland by human activity in order to carry out agricultural activities. These production systems contribute to the improvement of soil and pastures, ensure biodiversity, and control coppice and woody scrub regrowth, thus reducing the risk of wildfire [3].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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].…”

Section: Farms Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To successfully overcome this barrier, producers must also focus on the European market, where consumption per capita is high (Figure 6), despite country sales being lower). Moreover, the low development of the organic industry as well as the low demand for organic meat products would hinder the transition to the organic system [3]. …”

Section: Self-sufficiency and Agri-food Chain Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Escribano¹

2016

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dehesa is a remarkable agroforestry system, which needs the implementation of sustainable production systems in order to reduce its deterioration. Moreover, its livestock farms need to adapt to a new global market context. As a response, the organic livestock sector has expanded not only globally but also in the region in search for increased overall sustainability. However, conversions to the organic system have been commonly carried out without analyzing farms' feasibility to do so. This analysis is necessary before implementing any new production system in order to reduce both the diversity of externalities that the variety of contexts leads to and the vulnerability of the DDehesa ecosystem to small management changes. Within this context and in the face of this gap in knowledge, the present paper analyzes the ease of such conversions and the farms' chances of success after conversion in the face of global changes (market and politics). Different aspects ("areas of action") were studied and integrated within the Global Conversion Index (GCI), and the legal requirement for European organic farming, organic principles, future challenges for ruminants' production systems, as well as the lines of action for the post-2013 CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and their impacts on the beef cattle sector were taken into account. Results revealed that farms must introduce significant changes before initiating the conversion process, since they had very low scores on the GCI (42.74%), especially with regard to health and agro-ecosystem management (principle of Ecology). Regarding rearing and animal welfare (principle of justice/fairness), farms were close to the organic system. From the social point of view, active participation in manufacturing and marketing of products should be increased.

show abstract

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Farms Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Self-sufficiency and Agri-food Chain Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

Escribano¹

2016

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a consequence, different authors found that certified organic farms that were not selling organic products [10,11,26] lacked market orientation and only sought benefits through agricultural subsidies. These studies referred to Mediterranean Europe, with pasture-based production systems but with a scarcity of feed resources at the farm level due to their geo-climatic characteristics.…”

Section: Benefits Of Using Local Resources and Grazing Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organic farming has been studied by various authors in order to assess its potential impact on environmental and socio-economic factors (sustainable rural development) [9][10][11][12], with reference to its current and future growth. Industry analysts forecast that the demand in many markets will continue to grow at a rate of 10-30% per year, with the international organic market expected to grow to a volume of US$ 100 billion in the next decade [13].…”

Section: Organic Livestock Farming: a Way To Achieve Agricultural Susmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Feed: A Bottleneck for the Development of the Livestock Sector and Its Transition to Sustainability?

Escribano¹

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is a current need to increase global livestock production in line with consumers' preferences for more sustainable and 'natural' products. Organic farming is considered among the potential production systems and market strategies that could be employed to cope with this change. Animal nutrition is key, as it greatly influences feed efficiency, animal health, and sustainability. Under situations where animal health care is technically more challenging, due to limitations in the use of veterinary drugs (such as in organic farming), the importance of feed is even higher. However, the there is a lack of commercially available permitted feed ingredients and the range of feed additives on the market is limited. This is partially due to the fact that organic regulations are mainly followed to ensure that pure organic methods are used, instead of trying attain the core goal of complying with organic principles and contributing to the sustainability of the sector. For example, improved animal health and animal welfare through the use of non-organically certified feed additives is needed. This lack of availability, along with difficulties for the feed industry to become organic, affects the development of sustainability in the livestock sector (which should be the final objective of organic farming) in both already organic livestock/feed companies and those still producing under the conventional system. In this context, the presented work may be interesting to producers and policymakers, as it is aimed at providing a critical view of the relationship between the market and the needs of the livestock sector, the sustainability challenge, and organic farming regulations as applied to animal nutrition.

show abstract

Cattle Dung Manure Microbiota as a Substitute for Mineral Nutrients and Growth Management Practices in Plants

Dhiman

Kumar

Baliyan

et al. 2021

Endophytes: Mineral Nutrient Management, Volume 3

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Organic Livestock Farming — Challenges, Perspectives, and Strategies to Increase Its Contribution to the Agrifood System’s Sustainability — A Review

Cited by 18 publications

References 115 publications

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

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

Organic Feed: A Bottleneck for the Development of the Livestock Sector and Its Transition to Sustainability?

Cattle Dung Manure Microbiota as a Substitute for Mineral Nutrients and Growth Management Practices in Plants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About