Generic Relationships between Field Uses and Their Geographical Characteristics in Mountain-Area Dairy Cattle Farms

Cécile Sibra,Gilles Brunschwig

doi:10.3390/agriculture11100915

Abstract

In mountain farms, challenges posed by the degree of land slope, altitude and harsh climate further compound multiple other possible constraints, particularly in relation to the distance of the farm from the farmstead. This study focused on how mountain-area dairy farmers factor the geographical characteristics of their fields into their field-use decisions. To that end, we surveyed 72 farmers who farm the traditional Salers breed of cattle and 28 specialised dairy system farmers in the central Massif region, France. Information was collected on the uses and geographical characteristics of all grassland fields (n = 2341) throughout the entire outdoor grazing season, without identifying farmers’ rationales for their field-use decisions. Field-use classes were constructed for the traditional Salers system per group of fields (grazed-only, cut-only, grazed-and-cut) and then used to classify fields in the specialized dairy system. The geographical characteristics, which were associated afterwards, were significantly different between the field groups and between field-use classes. Grazed-only fields were found to be more sloping and cut-only fields were smaller and further from the farmstead. Distance/area combinations were different according to field use (animal category, earliness of first cut, grazing and cutting sequence) and were decisive for all field-use classes. This study allowed the identification of generic relationships between field uses and their geographical characteristics in mountain-area dairy cattle farms.

Highlights

Field geography largely dictates the activity options and organisations adopted by livestock farmers, which means that field geography is key to the business of livestock farming
We articulate this same line of research and pursue the novel approach initially developed by Garcia-Launay et al (2012) [9]. We approached this analysis at the level of the field and its uses throughout the entire grazing season, at the scale of a population of working farm operations, without integrating the individual logic applied by each livestock farmer, before going on to associate the geographical characteristics of the fields
This study captured objectified field use–field geography relationships based on significant differences between the identified field-use classes and between the associated geographical characteristics

Summary

Introduction

Field geography largely dictates the activity options and organisations adopted by livestock farmers, which means that field geography is key to the business of livestock farming. The that way livestock farmers adapt to the specific features of their fields in order to accommodate their livestock activities has been a focus of research over the last few decades, in relation to more complex landscape settings, such as hedgerow network zones or mountain uplands [1,2,3]. Challenges related to distance increasingly compound the other farm work constraints. These challenges are largely due to expanding of the field patterns; the average farmland area tripled in size between 1970 and 2010 to reach 57 ha—or 48 ha excluding collective areas—in mountain-area farms in 2010 [4]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion