4314: CONVERSION OF A LAMB PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO ORGANIC FARMING: HOW TO MANAGE, FOR WHAT RESULTS?
(2005) CONVERSION OF A LAMB PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO ORGANIC FARMING: HOW TO MANAGE, FOR WHAT RESULTS?. Poster presented at Researching Sustainable Systems - International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Adelaide, Australia, September 21-23, 2005.
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Summary
Two sheep flocks were managed organically for two years from conversion under different lambing strategies (1 lambing/year vs. 3 lambings every two years). The second system was tested because pf a producer’s interest in high productivity, which is a guarantee of good economic results in conventional production.. Reproduction, feeding, lamb production, carcass quality, health (particularly internal parasitism), economic return of the flock, grass production, and pasture biodiversity were evaluated. The lambs were bred with low therapeutic inputs. No economic advantage of increasing lambing frequency was demonstrated, whereas this strategy complicated management and resulted in higher internal parasitic infection of the lambs, and finally showed lower stability. There were difficulties in establishing a very high feed self-sufficiency in both systems, especially the more intensive system (4 points lower), due to harsh climatic conditions. Following this five-year experiment, we are changing our strategy to provide nitrogen in the systems.
| Document Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Organic farming, lamb, meat, parasitism, economics |
| Subject Areas: | Animal husbandry > Production systems |
| Research affiliation: | International Conferences > ISOFAR conferences > Researching Sustainable Systems 2005 |
| Total budget (Euro): | 0 |
| Orgprints ID Number: | 4314 |
| Contact: | ISOFAR, |
| Deposited On: | 23 October 2006 |
| EPrint Type: | Conference poster |
| Published?: | Unpublished |
| Peer Review Status: | Not peer-reviewed |
| Additional Publishing Information: | The paper archived here is the final paper submitted by the authors to the conference Researching Sustainable Systems. The final and edited papers are available at the following publication: Köpke, Ulrich; Niggli, Urs; Neuhoff, Daniel; Cornish, Peter; Lockeretz, Willie und Willer, Helga, (Hrsg.) (2005) Researching Sustainable Systems. Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR) Held in Cooperation with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA), 21 - 23 September 2005, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, South Australia. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, CH-Frick, and International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), c/o Institute of Organic Agriculture (IOL), DE-University of Bonn. http://orgprints.org/4013/ Distribution: Paper copies may be ordered from FiBL at a cost of 28 Euros plus mailing costs (see FiBL shop at http://www.fibl.org/shop); FiBL order number 1394. A PDF version of the proceedings is available free of charge for ISOFAR members via the member area of www.isofar.org. The final papers submitted by the authors are available at http://orgprints.org/view/projects/int-conf-isofar-2005.html. |
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