Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

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! Agriculture and Forestry Research, Special Issue No 362 (Braunschweig, 2012) ISSN 0376-0723 Download: www.vti.bund.de/en/startseite/vti-publications/landbauforschung-special-issues.html (Sundrum et al. 2008). In general, requirements for external N inputs on livestock farms can be reduced by improving N utilisation (Paul & Beauchamp 1995). However, farmers often do not have a clue about the amounts and quality of nutrients, flowing through the different sub-systems of their farms, and on how to strive for possible savings in expenses and nutrient losses, simultaneously. Thus there is a need for more orientation, data and criteria to deal with. Table 1. Mean and min-max values of N-efficiency in relation to the whole farm system, to different sub-systems, and to feed efficiency on organic dairy farms Due to the ban of mineral N fertiliser, N is the first limited factor for growth processes in plant cultivation in organic farm systems. Limitations in the purchase of cheap N sources enclose an inherent incentive to increase the efficiency of N, available within the farm system and to reduce N losses to a minimum when striving for an increased productivity. Hence, N-efficiency serves as a production goal and simultaneously as key criteria to estimate the potentials for reducing inputs and nitrogen losses while increasing productivity. In the current study, average farm-gate N surplus and variation were similar, compared to those found by Haas et al. (2007) on organic dairy farms in Germany. However, farm-gate nutrient balance assessments provide very little information with respect to improvements of the nutrient management while at the same time bear the risk of leading to unjustified self-content or misinterpretation. Although the number of farms investigated in the current study was small, the data indicate both large variation in N efficiency between sub-systems and farms and a considerable potential for improvements. The investigations gave reasons for the assumption that the knowledge of organic farmers concerning the farm specific nutrient flow might be low. Farm specific data on N-efficiency in sub-systems provide helpful information about the weak points in the nutrient management. Whether the farmer is well recommended to implement specific measures to increase N-efficiency depends on the effectiveness and the cost-benefit relationship of the measures in the specific situation. Due to the fact that both effectiveness and efficiency are the result of complex interactions between various factors within the farm system, estimations cannot be deduced from general knowledge derived from scientific results or from text books. Instead, management decisions should be based on the farm specific boundary conditions and on sound data that reflect the nutrient flow and the transformation processes of nutrients within and between subsystems. Suggestions to tackle the future challenges of organic animal husbandry Data from organic dairy farms indicate a large potential to increase N efficiency while at the same time enhancing profitability. The systemic approach proved to be a powerful tool to identify weak points in nutrient management within the farm system. Main challenges in nutrient management are 276 Organic dairy farms (n = 9) Efficiency (in %) Whole farm system (N-input / product related N-output) Sub-systems Livestock 44 (23 - 72) 84 (79 - 87) Dung storage/distribution 65 (49 - 88) Arable land/pasture 62 (40 - 81) Feed storage/distribution 87 (59 - 95) Feed efficiency (N-feed / N-milk) 14 (10 - 18)
RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.) (2012): Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry. Proceedings of the 2 nd OAHC, Hamburg/Trenthorst, Germany, Sep 12-14, 2012 due to considerable variation in the boundary conditions between individual farms, demanding farm specific assessments and calculations. The concept of nutrient efficiency offers a feasible guideline for nutrient management and should replace the outmoded idea of a closed nutrient cycle. References Haas G, Deittert C, Köpke U (2007): Farm-gate nutrient balance assessment of organic dairy farms at different intensity levels in Germany. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 22, 223-232. Ivemeyer S & Walkenhorst M (2011): Praxiserhebung zur Mineralstofffütterung in der biologischdynamischen Milchviehhaltung. Proceeings of the 11 th Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Giessen, Germany, 15.-18. 03. 2011, p. 88-91. Kohn R A, Dou Z, Ferguson J D & Boston R C (1997): A sensitivity analysis of nitrogen losses from dairy farms. Journal of Environmental Management 50, 417-428. Paul J W & Beauchamp E G (1995): Nitrogen flow on two livestock farms in Ontario: a simple model to evaluate strategies to improve N utilization. Journal Sustainable Agriculture 5, 35-50. Sundrum A & Sommer H (2011): Nährstoffkreisläufe schließen – reale oder virtuelle Leitidee? Beiträge 11. Wiss.-Tagung Ökologischer Landbau, Vol. 1, 15.-18. 03. 2011, Giessen, p. 163-166. Sundrum A, Nicholas P, Padel S (2008): Organic farming: challenges for farmers and feed suppliers. In: Garnsworthy, P C, J Wiseman, (eds) Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition 2007. Nottingham University Press, p. 239-260. 277
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Sonderheft 362 Special Issue Tackli
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Landbauforschung vTI Agriculture an
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Foreword Organic animal husbandry s
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Content RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.)
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Introduction RAHMANN G & GODINHO D
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References RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (E
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Abstract RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.
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Discussion RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (E
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Factors Plant Height (cm) RAHMANN G
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Kg liveweight (mean) RAHMANN G & GO
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Results RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.)
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