Impact of the drought on the fodder self-sufficiency of organic and conventional highland dairy farms

Summary

Eight highland dairy farms in the French Massif Central (4 organic and 4 conventional) were surveyed from 2000 to 2005 to understand the forage system functioning and the specificities of organic farms. During this period two important droughts occurred, which highly affected the fodder self-sufficiency of the organic farms, having consequences on more than a year of production. The conventional farms were less affected than the organic ones, and the farmers developed varied strategies including a reduction of the LU and the use of more maize. To maintain the stability of the milk production, organic farms had to increase the reliance on external fodder resources. The lack of security forage stores can explain the sensitivity of these farms and their incapacity to recover a good level of self-sufficiency.