French Farms Research Articles

Oilseed and protein crops grown in French organic farms: an overview of cultivation practices for sunflower and soybean

The development of organic agriculture in France was steady since 2010 but became stronger since 2014. Like other crops, the cultivated areas of organic soybean and sunflower doubled from 2014 to 2018. With a view to better characterize cultural practices in organic production, Terres Inovia and ITAB (in collaboration with Agence Bio) conducted in 2016 and 2017 a national farmers’ survey. These surveys reveal that sunflower was mainly cultivated over the same types of soil than in conventional production but were integrated in more diversified rotations. The main differences between organic and conventional systems concern sowing date and weed control. Organic sunflower was sown very lately compared to conventional one, which impacted the yield severely. Weed were controlled through ploughing, mechanical weeding and crop rotation and weed control was judged as satisfying by a major part of producers. Concerning soybean, a great difference is the use of irrigation which is almost systematic in conventional but concerned only 50% of cultivated area in organic production. Contrary to sunflower, soybean is integrated in short crop rotation, particularly when it was irrigated. This demonstrated the high profitability of soybean in organic systems. Like for sunflower, weed control done through ploughing, mechanical weeding, and crop rotation and weed control was also judged satisfying; nevertheless, criteria on harvest impurities are more severe and to respect them, organic farmers also use hand weeding in complement. These surveys will be reconducted over the years to be able to follow the changes of cultural practices over the years.

Income situation and the level of public assistance for commercial farms in selected EU countries

The main objective of a commercial farm is to achieve the highest possible income from agricultural activity. The level of this income is influenced by both external and internal conditions. The agriculture sector in the EU receives significant money transferes in the form of various types of subsidies. The aim of the article is to assess the income situation of commercial farms in Poland and the importance of public assistance in shaping their economic results compared to selected EU countries. The study presents the income ranking of Polish farms covered by the FADN system in 2004–2019 and the level of public assistance for them in comparison to German and French farms and all EU farms. The study employed ratio analysis based on the measures and indicators describing the macroeconomic situation as well as the elements of the potential of farms, their income situation and the level of public assitance for them. The performed analysis demonstrates that the results of Polish farms were dependent on subsidies to a lesser extent than those of the German and French farms, and that the ratio of subsidies for Polish farms to their output per unit of agricultural area neared the same ratio in the other analysed countries. The conclusion of the study is that public asssitance extended to farms in the framework of the CAP stabilises farmers’ income, but on the other hand makes them dependent on budget transfers.

Milk, Fertility and Udder Health Performance of Purebred Holstein and Three-Breed Rotational Crossbred Cows within French Farms: Insights on the Benefits of Functional Diversity.

Simple SummaryWhen implementing dairy crossbreeding in purebred Holstein (HO) herds, farmers expect to improve the overall herd performance. However, they lack knowledge about how to manage and benefit from the diversity of genetic classes generated by three-breed rotational crossbreeding, which firstly refers to the cohabitation of purebred HO and first- and second-generation crosses (F1 and G2, respectively) within the herd. This study aimed to compare milk production, reproduction and udder health performance of HO, F1 and G2 cows, and to estimate how their combination in different proportions in the herd affects its profitability. We found that HO, F1 and G2 had different and complementary performance profiles, with two main trends. First, HO had higher milk yield, while F1 and G2 crosses had better fertility performance. Second, F1 had win-win trade-offs between milk production, fertility and udder health compared to HO and G2. We showed that HO-F1 or HO-F1-G2 (below 30%) mixed herds could be more profitable than purebred HO or fully crossbred herds with a conventional milk price. These findings can be used for advising purebred HO farmers who wonder about the benefits and the ways of managing the diversity of animal entities generated by the use of dairy crossbreeding in their herds.Using three-breed rotational crossbreeding in a purebred Holstein (HO) herd raises two questions: Do the different genetic classes of cows generated by crossbreeding perform differently? Are there any economic benefits of combining them within a herd? This study aimed at comparing the performance between the different genetic classes resulting from the use of three-breed rotational crossbreeding, and simulating the effect of combining them on herd profitability. Based on a dataset of 14 French commercial dairy herds using three-bred rotational crossbreeding from a HO herd over a 10-year period, we defined three genetic classes according to the theoretical value of heterosis and the percentage of HO genes. We performed linear models and estimated least square means to compare HO cows and the first and second generation of crosses (F1 and G2, respectively) on eight performance characteristics related to milk yield and solids, udder health and fertility. We used these to simulate profitability of five herd compositions differing according to HO, F1 and G2 proportions. We showed that HO, F1 and G2 cows had different and complementary performance profiles. HO had a win-lost trade-off between milk yield and fertility, G2 had the opposite trade-off and F1 had a win-win trade-off. Differences regarding milk solids and udder health were less clear-cut. We highlighted that combining HO with F1 or with both F1 and G2 (below 30%) could be more profitable than using purebred HO or crossbred herds in a conventional milk price scenario. These findings provide evidence on the benefits of functional diversity generated from the use of dairy crossbreeding in dairy herds.

Modelling mixed crop-livestock farms for supporting farmers’ strategic reflections: The CLIFS approach

Integrated mixed crop-livestock farming systems help improve farm sustainability by securing agricultural incomes through the diversification of productions and by enhancing farm autonomy regarding agricultural inputs. Based on interactions between crop and livestock productions within farms, such systems are complex to manage and to model. A one-to-one support methodology was developed to help farmers in their strategic thinking regarding the future of their farms in a redesign perspective. This methodology includes a three-step scenario process and is based on a spreadsheet simulation tool called CLIFS (Crop LIvestock Farm Simulator). CLIFS makes it possible to build scenarios of the evolution of a farm and assess them ex-ante by calculating several balances at the farm level (staple food, forage, manure) and their effects on the farm’s economic results. The support process has been tested in several African and South American contexts and with French suckling cattle farms. The diversity of production contexts and issues addressed during the design process led to the development of a generic tool that can be applied easily to a large range of situations. A detailed description of the approach and the tool, with an illustration based on a Malagasy dairy farm, are presented here. Farmers appreciate the support process because it addresses their own questions within the context of their own farms. The process must now be transferred to advisory structures to assess its relevance in a professional context.

A baseline survey of antimicrobial use and health issues in the freshwater salmonid industry in France

International organizations encourage the monitoring of antimicrobial use and resistance in bacteria to manage and minimize further development of antimicrobial resistance. In France, the public policy plan Ecoantibio has underlined the need to collect data on antimicrobial use in all livestock production chains from direct, on-farm studies. To gain better knowledge on antimicrobial use in the aquaculture industry, we therefore conducted a cross-sectional study in 2014–2015 on a representative sample of 100 French freshwater salmonid farms. The health issues and medicinal products used during the reference year (full year preceding the visit, 2013 or 2014), were recorded by administering an on-farm questionnaire and by consulting documents, feed mills and prescribing veterinarians. Rainbow trout fry syndrome (RTFS), the most frequently reported disease, affected 41% of the fish farms at least once in the previous year. Parasitic diseases were also a cause of major concern, and finally furunculosis affecting 20% of the farms. Two-thirds (65%) of the farmers used antimicrobials at least once during this preceding year. Florfenicol was the most frequently used antimicrobial, mainly to treat outbreaks of RTFS, but it represented less than 20% of the treated fish biomass. Antimicrobials regarded as critical for public health reasons were used only exceptionally.

Intensive and extensive impacts of EU subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level

ABSTRACT This paper studies the intensive and extensive effects of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level. Intensive effects refer to the relative value of pesticide expenditures to sales, while extensive effects consider acreage effects. Our approach is original insofar as we consider the consequences of EU policies at the farm level. The analysis relies on the French Farm Accountancy Data Network database from 2007 to 2015 which provides detailed information on farm structure and accounting. The influence of subsidies on pesticide expenditures is measured through a simultaneous equation model using panel data. Even if the aggregate value of EU subsidies does not seem to influence pesticide expenditures, each of the pillars has for its part a significant influence: the 1st pillar contributes to increasing pesticide expenditures, while the 2nd pillar leads to decreasing pesticide expenditures, except for subsidies to crop insurance policies. Overall subsidies and subsidies from the 1st pillar have also a significant and positive impact on farm acreage. The very contrasting effect of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures thus questions the effectiveness of public policies towards the issue of environmentally friendly practices.

The impact of alternative feeding strategies on total factor productivity growth of pig farming: Empirical evidence from EU countries

Aim of study: To investigate the impact of adopting new feeding precision technology on pig production.Area of study: Four EU countries (Germany, France, Poland and Spain) during the period 2010–2015.Material and methods: The Färe-Primont index was used to estimate total factor productivity change and its components, technological change and efficiency change.Main results: German, French and Spanish farms experienced total factor productivity (TFP) progress, while Polish farms did not for both feeding strategies. Our empirical findings suggest a high impact on the productivity of ad libitum feeding technique compared to the restricted one for all countries.Research highlights: Precision feeding strategies provide another avenue to more sustainable livestock production and further evidence that implementing individual ad libitum feeding systems for pigs could enhance farm’s productivity.

Critical comparison of power-based wind turbine fault-detection methods using a realistic framework for SCADA data simulation

Numerous power-based wind turbine (WT) fault-detection methods using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data are presented in the literature. However, their performance cannot be compared easily with one another because of the lack of a realistic benchmark. To address this concern, a novel and realistic simulation framework is presented. It utilises real data recorded on five French wind farms located at different geographical sites and composed of WTs of different models. It was used to simulate power profiles for three-year data, generated from 25 different wind and temperature profiles on 25 different WTs. Thus, the benchmark enabled a rigorous comparison of the performances of power-based fault-detection solutions. The fault-detection performances of three detection methods were compared for four power-based fault and under-performance scenarios of various intensities. The results indicated that the fault-detection performance of a method can vary considerably depending on the environmental and operational conditions. Moreover, the most effective approach is the one that considers these operational and environmental variations in WT data. The detection performance for the four failure scenarios was also statistically analysed.

Rearing system with nurse cows and risk factors for Cryptosporidium infection in organic dairy calves

Rearing dairy calves with nurse cows has been increasingly adopted by French farmers especially in organic farming and is characterized by a fostering of two to four calves during the first month of life by an unmilked lactating cow. This type of rearing remains poorly documented regarding its impact on calf health, such as cryptosporidiosis. The objectives of our study were to describe practices related to rearing dairy calves with nurse cows and to evaluate the prevalence, intensity and risk factors for Cryptosporidium infection in calf neonates. Between January and September 2019, the rearing practices of calves were described in 20 organic French farms and faeces were sampled once from 611 animals aged between 5 and 21 days. Cryptosporidium oocyst shedding was identified by modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique and scored semi-quantitatively (score 0–4). The risk of excretion (score 0 versus 1–4) was analysed using multivariate logistic regression models.This cow-calf rearing system usually consisted of a first phase with the dam, followed by an optional phase of artificial milk feeding (calves being fed with whole milk of the farm) and a final phase of fostering by a nurse cow. Each nurse was suckled from one to five calves of close age with a fostering age of 8 days on average. The oocyst shedding prevalence was 40.2 % and similar to classically reared calves, but the intensity of shedding and the prevalence of diarrhoea appeared to be lower. The identified six risk factors for oocyst shedding were: born in the last two thirds of the birth order, born between January and July versus August and September, calf with its dam in the barn versus on pasture, having an artificial milk feeding phase versus being with the dam only, and contact between peer calves and notably the presence of an oocyst excretory calf fostered by the same nurse. These results emphasize the role of the environment for the direct and indirect contamination, particularly that related to the accumulation of oocysts from previous or peer calves facilitating the faecal-oral route of transmission. This highlights the crucial role of the premises used intensively during the winter and spring months with higher densities of calves in the barn compared to outdoor situations promoted by this rearing.

Identifying the resource use and circularity in farm systems: Focus on the energy analysis of agroecosystems

An innovative method is described, assessing the energy flows in farm systems. These systems represent both a socio-economic activity and an agroecosystem. Both market and ecosystem flows are inventoried, focusing on farm agroecosystem circularity of the reinvested biomass. An original system representation is proposed, where process and energy storage sub-systems are distinguished. Biotic energy storage, identified as an Associated Ecosystem (AE) is included. Soil mineralization, reflecting soil activity, was selected as a proxy for services provided by the AE. The present approach was tested on an existing French mixed farm case study. Contrasting scenarios were proposed to test the model and the two sets of selected indicators. EROIs (Energy Return On Energy Invest) evaluate the current system performance through resource use efficiency. Circularities reflect the system resilience. Circin (Inflow Circularity) indicates the system self-sufficiency and the extent to which the farm activity is based on the AE. Temporal stability is assessed by the steadiness of the Circin versus Circout (Outflow Circularity) relationship. The Crop production scenario presents best performance. Specialized and intensive systems present lower Circin values. Furthermore, contrasting Circularities were observed for the intensive breeding scenario, while homogenous results were obtained for the extensive mixed-farming scenario. This method takes a new step towards the integration of circularity and ecosystem support functions in the energy analysis of farm systems. Firstly, it provides indicators of performance and resilience. Secondly, as a key feature for sustainable agriculture, it highlights the relationship between agricultural activity and its associated ecosystem.

Integrated assessment of legume production challenged by European policy interaction: A case-study approach from French and German dairy farms

Abstract Legumes, which currently show low production levels in the European Union, can reduce negative environmental externalities of agricultural systems by lowering nitrogen (N) fertilization and increasing protein self-sufficiency. This has led to the introduction of coupled support in France, in contrast to Germany. However, the German implementation of the Nitrates Directive is more favorable for legumes. Our study assesses economic and environmental impacts of these two policies affecting legume production. We employ the bio-economic model FarmDyn, representing French and German dairy farms. The results suggest that relatively low levels of coupled support can lead to modest increases in legume production, but that more substantial changes require considerable subsidies. Allowing the French farm to apply manure on legumes, as is already possible in Germany, fosters legume production while considerably reducing the use of synthetic N fertilizer and imported protein-rich feed. However, environmental benefits are limited.

Resilience of French organic dairy cattle farms and supply chains to the Covid-19 pandemic

ContextIdentifying and developing resilient farming and food systems has emerged as a top priority during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many academics suggest that farming and food systems should move towards agroecological models to achieve better resilience. However, there was limited evidence to support this statement during the Covid-19 pandemic. ObjectiveOur objectives were to report evidence for the resilience of French organic dairy cattle farms and supply chains to the Covid-19 pandemic and to discuss the features of those farms and supply chains that promoted resilience. MethodsWe combined online surveys with farmers, semi-structured interviews with supply chain actors and a review of the gray and technical literature, and whenever possible, we compared this qualitative data against quantitative industry data. We also asked farmers to rank 19 pre-identified risks according to their likelihood and potential impacts. Results and conclusionsWe showed the pandemic had zero to moderate impacts on most farms. Among respondents, 38 farmers reported no impacts, another 43 experienced minor impacts on aspects such as their income and workload while only 5 faced major impacts, such as the closure of sales outlets. Most farms were family farms and were not greatly affected by worker availability issues. Moreover, the vast majority of these farms were nearly autonomous for livestock feeding and none reported input supply shortages or related impacts on farm functioning and productivity. The pandemic had moderate impacts on supply chains. Despite staff reductions, supply chains continued producing sufficient amounts of dairy products to meet consumer demand. To do so, they narrowed the scope of products manufactured to concentrate on a basic mix: milk, cream, butter and plain yogurt. Logistics were also adapted by hiring retired drivers to keep up with milk collection and reorganizing the delivery of products by shunting usual sub-level platforms that were saturated. Consequently, even after this pandemic, farmers remained more concerned with climate change-related risks on their farms than by sanitary risks. Several resilience factors were identified that promoted buffer and adaptive capacity at the farm level and that favored adaptive capacity at the supply chain level. SignificanceThese findings confirm the relevance of agroecological models in achieving resilience in farming and food systems against shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This preliminary work carried out at the end of the first lock-down period needs to be pursued in order to understand the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic over longer time horizons.

New perspectives on the distribution of farm incomes and the redistributive impact of CAP payments

AbstractWe contribute to understanding the impact of potential drivers of farm income inequality and the redistributive impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments. Our approach provides information at any quantile of the income distribution, in contrast to the widely used Gini coefficient. Income growth and inequality dynamics of French commercial farms between 2000 and 2017 are found to be explained by a change in both income levels and farm characteristics. Further, CAP payments are shown to participate in levelling off income inequalities, with Pillar 1 and 2 payments performing differently along the distribution. Our results may help inform on-going policy debates about fairness in the distribution of farm support and structural change implications for the future of European agriculture.

Are there economies of inputs in mixed crop-livestock farming systems? A cross-frontier approach applied to French dairy-grain farms

ABSTRACT In this study, we test the hypothesis that mixed crop-livestock farms realize economies of inputs. To do so, we use the standard cross-frontier model to evaluate overall input efficiencies and develop a slacks-based (SB) cross-frontier model to evaluate input-specific efficiencies of mixed farms related to the best practice production frontier of specialized farms. These models are applied to an unbalanced panel with 825 observations on 247 French farms from 1991 to 2011. Regarding the standard cross-frontier framework, we find that 72% of the mixed farms exhibit diseconomies of inputs. This suggests that the mixed production technology is largely dominated by the specialized one in terms of input savings. Under the SB cross-frontier model, we find that the mixed farms exhibit, on average, diseconomies of inputs for each of their production factors. We also find that almost a quarter of the mixed farms realizes economies of inputs on the use of labour, fertilizers, and pesticides. Finally, regression results indicate that public subsidies and farm size are negatively associated with the probability of observing input economies. This suggests that, for our sample, the concept of mixed crop-livestock farming faces structural and socio-economic realities, mainly regarding farm size and public subsidies.

Can Small French Farms Provide an Opportunity for Employment in the Agricultural Sector?

SummaryThe contributions of small farms to the environment or employment are increasingly recognised. Yet small farm employment receives little support from public policies. Can small farms provide employment opportunities in the agricultural sector? The objective of this work is to contribute to reflections on a better adaptation of public support to the heterogeneity of the contributions of small farms to employment. This article focuses on the example of France, using the 2010 agricultural census data. It proposes a typology of workforce patterns in French small farms.In 2010, labour‐intensive small farms with paid worker(s) accounted for just over 2 per cent of small farms in France. They were managed by trained farmers, sometimes newcomers to agriculture, and had high value‐added activities like agrotourism, short distribution channels and/or organic farming production. We conclude with recommendations for European and national public policies aimed at encouraging the maintenance and/or creation of employment on small farms. They include, for example, specific support for small farms, adapted to their lower investment needs and a lighter administrative burden to enable them to develop labour‐intensive projects; or a better integration of small farms into employers’ alliances.

Contribute to the diagnosis of the obstacles to herbicide reduction in French farms. Surveys on the Neubourg Plateau

Contribute to the diagnosis of the obstacles to herbicide reduction in French farms. Surveys on the Neubourg Plateau

Correction to: How does crop insurance influence pesticide use? Evidence from French farms

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-020-00133-9

How does crop insurance influence pesticide use? Evidence from French farms

The purpose of this paper is to examine how crop insurance influences pesticide use, the two decisions being strategic for risk management at the farm scale. To that aim, the paper implements propensity score matching, difference-in-differences models, and a combination of these two methods in order to compare two similar populations of insured and non-insured farmers. Using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), we consider French farms which cultivate field crops and quality wine-growing, the two main productions that participate the most to crop insurance and that use intensively pesticides. The analysis is performed between 2008 and 2012 given a strategic change in the crop insurance system in 2010 that strongly incites farmers to purchase crop insurance with private companies. At the same time, pesticide use was progressively discouraged through public policies. Estimations show that while pesticide use decreases for all crops, the purchase of crop insurance policies has no impact for field crops and quality wine-growing. Meanwhile, the land allocated to each crop within the farm changes. These results question a possible substitutability, for some productions, between crop insurance and pesticides as risk management tools.

Organizational design and environmental performance: The case of French dairy farms

Understanding the processes related to the adoption of best environmental practices is an important challenge to support the transition to more sustainable agriculture. Our paper aims to contribute to this issue by analyzing the relation between farm's organizational design and environmental performance. We used data of 47562 dairy farms from the 2010 French Agricultural Census and employed econometric analysis to study the correlation between farm's internal and external factors and environmental performance. The environmental performance is approached by a score based on the adoption of nine best management practices. The results show that while the internal, structural and managerial resources, through which farms can increase their absorptive capacity, play an important role, external factors, particularly the type of market environment in which farms operate, play a key role in environmental performance. The results also highlight the central role of farms' spatial environment and, more specifically, the strong correlation with the environmental performance of the neighboring dairy farms. Finally, policies to promote locally farmer's experience exchanges, to supporting diversification, high quality products and short circuits can bust the environmental performance of dairy sector.

Genetic determinism of spontaneous masculinisation in XX female rainbow trout: new insights using medium throughput genotyping and whole-genome sequencing

Rainbow trout has a male heterogametic (XY) sex determination system controlled by a major sex-determining gene, sdY. Unexpectedly, a few phenotypically masculinised fish are regularly observed in all-female farmed trout stocks. To better understand the genetic determinism underlying spontaneous maleness in XX-rainbow trout, we recorded the phenotypic sex of 20,210 XX-rainbow trout from a French farm population at 10 and 15 months post-hatching. The overall masculinisation rate was 1.45%. We performed two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on a subsample of 1139 individuals classified as females, intersex or males using either medium-throughput genotyping (31,811 SNPs) or whole-genome sequencing (WGS, 8.7 million SNPs). The genomic heritability of maleness ranged between 0.48 and 0.62 depending on the method and the number of SNPs used for the estimation. At the 31K SNPs level, we detected four QTL on three chromosomes (Omy1, Omy12 and Omy20). Using WGS information, we narrowed down the positions of the two QTL detected on Omy1 to 96 kb and 347 kb respectively, with the second QTL explaining up to 14% of the total genetic variance of maleness. Within this QTL, we detected three putative candidate genes, fgfa8, cyp17a1 and an uncharacterised protein (LOC110527930), which might be involved in spontaneous maleness of XX-female rainbow trout.