Innovative Technology and Sustainable Development of Organic - 1.

Abstract
Development of organic dairy farming in Denmark is characterized by up-scaling, increasing
productivity and automation. Increasing discussion on compliance with organic principles and
sustainability has been forwarded. Automatic milking systems (AMS) are part of this development and
have been implemented in organic dairy production in Denmark the last 10 years. The systems’
consequences on economic, ecological and societal issues were unknown.
The general objective of the PhD assignment was to assess the contribution of new technologies to
the sustainable development of organic dairy farming (i.e., determine economic, ecological and societal
consequences), using AMS as a case for the present technological situation.
To evaluate sustainability, a framework was used which adhered to the following consecutive steps:
‘identification of sustainability issues by involving identified stakeholders’, ‘quantification of
indicators defined for these issues and investigating them’ and ‘evaluation of obtained results by using
them in goal-vision based scenarios, again involving relevant stakeholders’. Focus group interviews
and questionnaires revealed general concerns among farmers and consultants on the grazing
possibilities when using AMS, as well as milk quality aspects and economy. Quantification of
indicators on sustainability, where farms using AMS were compared with non-users, showed higher
milk yield, lower labour use, and differences in some management aspects like higher culling rate and
also a shorter grazing time when using AMS. The shorter grazing time especially could compromise
the sustainability of the system, as grazing is essential for the customers buying organic dairy products.
A focussed experiment showed how cows perform and react following a reduction in grazing time,
while stimulated to eat fresh grass by limiting supplementary feed in the barn. High compensation
ability of the cows was seen, with increased grass uptake and limited negative consequences on milk
yield. However, cows were provoked to be more active when outside and the relatively high and large
amount of grass eaten in short time span could be registered in the milk quality. Finally, goals and
visions of future sustainable organic dairy farming were deduced from participative sessions with
stakeholders and used for scenario definition. Subsequently, three goal-vision based scenarios were
parameterized by quantification of identified production parameters for a model farm of 200 ha.
Economic and ecological evaluation of these scenarios revealed that investing in animal welfare
comprised trade-offs regarding farm profitability and especially global environmental issues such as
climate change and fossil energy use. Minimizing environmental impact by introducing self sufficiency
reduced local environmental impact without an economic trade-off. Prolonging the current main stream
strategy resulted in a high local environmental impact, a moderate global environmental impact and a
high economic risk to changes in milk price. The scenario analysis as the final step in the sustainability
assessment offers possibilities to interact and counteract in the development of future organic dairy
farming using new technologies. AMS use in sustainable organic dairy farming is possible, if the
grazing can be practiced satisfactorily.
Key words: Organic dairy farming, AMS, sustainability assessment, grazing, Denmark.