Nature Management and livelihood strategies on Danish organic farms

Summary

Pluriactivity in organic farming in Denmark, and its implications for intensity of farming- and nature practises.
Societal demands to the farming sector are changing, from solely focussing on foodproduction to an increased interest in the production of environmental and nature values, as well as a socio-economically sustainable countryside. Coincident with this development agricultural restructuring takes place with high speed, implying structural development: fewer and larger farms. Meanwhile some farming households seek alternative pathways, including diversification of activities and use of resources. These pathways sometimes express alternative development choices other than farm intensification. A crucial question is thus, if some of these alternative developments are well suited to deliver those multifunctional values demanded, – and may be eligible to more attention from the policy-side.
Organic agriculture (OA) has been identified as one of the pathways forming the agricultural restructuring. OA represents a whole-farm approach to natural resource management, aiming for an integration of production goals, environmental goals and goals for nature management and protection.
Among others one of the common goals for OA is that biodiversity in farmland and adjacent areas must not be compromised. However the ways this goal manifest itself in the practice of OA in different socio-economic and biophysical contexts are quite varied. It is thus interesting if the label of organic farming cover a wide variety of household strategies, and if this on the other hand implies a variety of farming and nature practises.
We explore this variation within OA in Denmark. Based on interviews of app. 10% of organic farmers selected to represent major landscape types and farm types, we explore relationships between traditional farm types, full-time/part-time farming, non-agricultural on-farm activities, off-farm activities, farm size and regional context. Moreover we relate these aspects to farmers’ nature practice, represented by area and management intensity of permanent grassland fields and small, uncultivated areas on the farm.