Escribano, AJ; Gaspar , P; Mesias, FJ; Escribano, M and Pulido, F (2015) Comparative Sustainability Assessment of Extensive Beef Cattle Farms. In: Squires, Victor R. (Ed.) Book. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., New York, pp. 65-85.
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Summary
This chapter analyzes the sustainability of beef cattle systems of the Spanish Rangelands known as “Dehesas”. These are traditional systems of the Iberian Peninsula where native herbaceous vegetation and evergreen species of Quercus provide the basis for extensive livestock farms. These systems are considered as outstanding High Nature Value (HNV) farming systems and the most extensive agroforestry systems in Europe according to CORINE Land Cover.
Beef farms in this area show low stocking rates and a small dependence on foodstuff purchases.However, certain changes have occurred in the last decadesdue to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). On the one hand, some farms have become more intensified, as a way to maximize the revenues from the CAP subsidies. On the other hand, many farms have turned to organic production, trying to take advantage both of new subsidies and of new market trends.
In this regard, the organic livestock farming model is gaining weight as an option for sustainable production since, according to various authors, these systems have advantages over conventional and intensive systems. In fact, organic production in the area has increased substantially in recent years due to several factors, such as the growing interest of the EU towards preserving sensitive ecosystems, the potential role of organic production in the development of rural areas and the growing consumers’ demand for safer and higher quality foods produced under ethical and environmental standards.
In this study, we carried out a comparative assessment of the sustainability of different conventional and organic beef production systems located in dehesa rangelands. The systems analyzed were classified as follows. (i) non-organic farms (Conventional); (ii) organic farms that sold calves at weaning age as conventional ones (Organic 1); (iii) organic farms that fattened and sold their calves as organic (Organic 2). An adaptation of the MESMIS multicriteria framework was applied to calculate sustainability indices for each system. The results showed that the Organic 2 farms scored highest on most of the attributes of sustainability, as well as on the environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability. Thus, they were the most sustainable system (66.55%), followed by the Organic 1 (61.04%) and Conventional ones (56.89%). Despite Organic 2 was the most sustainable system, its implementation is complex due to both the high costs of organic inputs and the weak demand for organic beef.
The results also showed that all three types of systems need to improve in certain aspects that are crucial in the current and future context of the livestock sector. These aspects are: reducing the dependence on external feed, implementing more environmentally friendly farming practices, and farm diversification.
EPrint Type: | Book chapter |
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Agrovoc keywords: | Language Value URI English organic husbandry http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36807 English Livestock http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4397 English Beef cattle http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_862 English Sustainability http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33560 English agroforestry systems http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_330982 English Mediterranean zone http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_29563 English Mediterranean region http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4698 English Sustainable agriculture http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33561 English farming systems http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2807 English Extensive farming http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2763 |
Subjects: | Farming Systems Animal husbandry Animal husbandry > Production systems > Beef cattle Environmental aspects |
Research affiliation: | Spain > University of Extremadura Spain |
ISBN: | 978-1-63482-504-7 |
Related Links: | https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=54350 |
Deposited By: | Escribano, Dr. Alfredo J |
ID Code: | 29485 |
Deposited On: | 21 Dec 2015 08:29 |
Last Modified: | 27 Dec 2015 17:05 |
Document Language: | English |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Peer-reviewed and accepted |
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