creators_name: Benoit, Marc
creators_name: Tournadre, Hervé
creators_name: Dulphy, Jean-Pierre
creators_name: Cabaret, Jacques
creators_name: Prache, Sophie
type: conference_item
datestamp: 2006-10-23
lastmod: 2009-08-20 14:25:22
metadata_visibility: show
title: CONVERSION OF A LAMB PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO ORGANIC FARMING: HOW TO MANAGE, FOR WHAT RESULTS?
ispublished: unpub
subjects: 1animalprod
full_text_status: public
keywords: Organic farming, lamb, meat, parasitism, economics
abstract: 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. 
date: 2005
date_type: published
refereed: never
citation: Benoit, Marc; Tournadre, Hervé; Dulphy, Jean-Pierre; Cabaret, Jacques and Prache, Sophie (2005) CONVERSION OF A LAMB PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO ORGANIC FARMING: HOW TO MANAGE, FOR WHAT RESULTS? Researching Sustainable Systems - International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Adelaide, Australia, September 21-23, 2005. [ Unpublished, ]
document_url: http://orgprints.org/4314/4/4314-Benoit_etal_4p_revised-ed.pdf