Innovative Technology and Sustainable Development of Organic - 1.

6.1 Introduction
In this chapter the method used and the results obtained from the separate projects which shape this
thesis are discussed coherently. The main objective, which leads to the focused research as mentioned
in the introduction, was to find out if use of an automatic milking system (AMS) is contributing to
sustainable development of organic dairy farming. An AMS was used as a case to exemplify the use of
innovative technology, which currently is influencing organic dairy farming. The contribution of an
AMS to sustainable development was analyzed by answering the following research questions:
a What are the economic, ecological and societal issues at focus when
introducing AMS on organic dairy farms in the Netherlands and Denmark ?
b Do economic, ecological and social indicator scores differ between organic dairy
farms using AMS and farms using a conventional milking system (CMS)in Denmark?
c What is the effect of time-limited grazing on eutrophication, animal behaviour and milk quality?
d What are the economic and environmental consequences of three vision-based scenarios for
organic dairy farming in 2020?
These research questions are closely related to the methodology used during the research. Firstly,
therefore, the logical design of the research questions and the connection between results found and the
following steps are discussed. Already in the first part of the work it became clear that grazing was a
crucial aspect when analyzing and specifying sustainability aspects of the use of an AMS. Grazing
encompasses aspects concerning economic, ecological and social issues. Secondly, therefore, grazing is
discussed in an integrated way, which implies showing necessary trade-offs among different
sustainability aspects.
6.2 Framework to assess sustainability of an innovative technology
An AMS in dairy production was quite a revolutionary technology when introduced, not only because
centuries of traditions for manual work are substituted by machines, but also because the concept of
milking all cows in a short time-span is replaced by voluntary individual milking during 24-hours a
day. AMS, or other robotic systems, are assumed to take over most of the traditional conventional
milking systems (CMS). At present, 80% of all new houses for dairy cattle are equipped with AMS in
Denmark (Press, 2008).
Dairy farmers, especially in Western Europe, are asking for an automation of labour consuming and
monotonous work loads, like the milking process. Industries working on these innovative technologies
have been analyzing the market for their product, as development of the whole concept is expensive.
Such a market analysis, however, generally was performed within industries’ research and
technological development (RTD) departments. Some applicative governmental research institutes
have been involved in partial problem solving studies, such as a study about the willingness of a cow to
enter a milking unit voluntarily (Ketelaar-de Lauwere et al., 1998). Furthermore, several international
conferences were arranged on the use of AMS since 1992. In 1992 the first human aspects appeared in
the list of topics addressed, but these were mainly related to the safety when working with robotics
(Lundqvist, 1992). Harsh et al. (1992) predicted that farms would become larger if AMS was
implemented. Kuipers and Scheppingen (1992) mentioned the problem of zero-grazing, as they
announced that AMS use requires cows at close distance, preferably in the barn. Perceptions of farmers
110 Sustainable Technology in Organic Dairy Farming