Mixed Crop-livestock Farming Research Articles

Multi-objective economic-resource-production optimization of sustainable organic mixed farming systems with nutrient recycling

Abstract This paper addresses the optimal design of mixed crop-livestock farming systems for resource efficiency, economic profitability, and environmental sustainability. The trade-offs among profit, water productivity, and organic matter accumulation are considered. We propose a novel optimization model that accounts for economics, crop cultivation, livestock production, water requirement, soil organic matter, and nitrogen cycling, among other important elements of organic farming systems. The resulting problem is a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear fractional programming (MINLFP) problem, which consists of fractional objective function and nonconvex nonlinear constraints. After reformulating the nonconvex constraints into convex ones, we propose a tailored global optimization algorithm to solve the resulting MINLFP problem. We further present a case study on a 100 ha organic mixed crop-livestock farm with 19 types of crops, 22 types of crop products, 3 type of livestock, and 2 types of animal products to illustrate the applicability of the proposed model and solution methods. Computational results suggest that it is more profitable to produce more high value cash crops and milk; it is more water efficient to grow cash crops than fodder; and it generates more soil organic matter accumulation by growing more crops with larger amount of root stubble and enlarging the heard size.

Transformative and systemic climate change adaptations in mixed crop-livestock farming systems

Mixed crop-livestock farming systems provide food for more than half of the world's population. These agricultural systems are predicted to be vulnerable to climate change and therefore require transformative adaptations. In collaboration with farmers in the wheatbelt of Western Australia (WA), a range of systemic and transformative adaptation options, e.g. land use change, were designed for the modelled climate change projected to occur in 2030 (0.4–1.4° increase in mean temperature). The effectiveness of the adaptation options was evaluated using coupled crop and livestock biophysical models within an economic and environmental framework at both the enterprise and farm scales. The relative changes in economic return and environmental variables in 2030 are presented in comparison with a baseline period (1970–2010). The analysis was performed on representative farm systems across a rainfall transect. Under the impact of projected climate change, the economic returns of the current farms without adaptation declined by between 2 and 47%, with a few exceptions where profit increased by up to 4%. When the adaptations were applied for 2030, profit increased at the high rainfall site in the range between 78 and 81% through a 25% increase in the size of livestock enterprise and adjustment in sowing dates, but such profit increases were associated with 6–10% increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the medium rainfall site, a 100% increase in stocking rate resulted in 5% growth in profit but with a 61–71% increase in GHG emissions and the increased likelihood of soil degradation. At the relatively low rainfall site, a 75% increase in livestock when associated with changes in crop management resulted in greater profitability and a smaller risk of soil erosion. This research identified that a shift toward a greater livestock enterprises (stocking rate and pasture area) could be a profitable and low-risk approach and may have most relevance in years with extremely low rainfall. If transformative adaptations are adopted then there will be an increased requirement for an emissions control policy due to livestock GHG emissions, while there would be also need for soil conservation strategies to be implemented during dry periods. The adoption rate analysis with producers suggests there would be a greater adoption rate for less intensified adaptations even if they are transformative. Overall the current systems would be more resilient with the adaptations, but there may be challenges in terms of environmental sustainability and in particular with soil conservation.

Critical factors for crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level: A cross-analysis of worldwide case studies

Despite their recognized agricultural sustainability benefits, mixed crop-livestock farms have declined in the Northern hemisphere. As such, crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level is a promising alternative to this trend, but the knowledge of critical factors and strategies towards its successful implementation is still lacking. We developed an analytical framework to assess the critical determinants of the emergence and outcomes of integration, which helped us understand farmers’ collective strategies for reducing integration transaction costs. The resulting framework distinguishes between three types of transaction costs: information gathering, collective decision-making, and operational and monitoring costs. These costs are influenced by several factors: external environment attributes, resources engaged in crop-livestock integration, and participating actors and their arrangements. Application of the framework onto six case studies all across the world (Asia, Europe and America) demonstrated it can be utilized for various projects implemented at multiple organizational levels (farm-to-farm, local groups, and regional levels) over distinct farming systems (conventional and organic). Specific policies should be developed to strengthen social networks through the mutual understanding of such integration benefits, since they play a key role in lowering the costs of information gathering and collective decision-making. A legal framework to establishing a formal contract should contribute to lower long-term monitoring costs, especially when trust among actors developing. Operational costs largely depend on the spatial proximity of farms, but this can be overcome by extending the scale of integration in terms of covered area and number of participants. Here, appropriate coordination by third-party entities is essential, and should be targeted by financial and technical support.

Ground cover, erosion risk and production implications of targeted management practices in Australian mixed farming systems: Lessons from the Grain and Graze program

Maintaining the productive capacity of the agricultural soils of Australia's broadacre cropping zone requires careful management, given a highly variable climate and soils that are susceptible to degradation. Mixed crop-livestock farming systems are the predominant land use across these regions and managers must operate farms for long-term sustainability as well as shorter-term profitability. Achieving profitable and sustainable businesses has required ongoing innovation and productivity gains, of which the integration of crop and livestock enterprises has been an important part. Production-soil erosion trade-offs associated with enterprise integration is critical information that has not been investigated to date at a whole-farm level. The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate management options developed in Grain and Graze (an integrated program of research, development and extension targeting mixed farms) to identify farm systems responses to soil erosion risks across seven regions spanning the mixed-farming area of Australia. To evaluate production-soil erosion trade-offs, we linked the APSIM soil water, soil nutrient cycling, annual crop and surface residue simulation models to the GRAZPLAN pasture and ruminant simulation models, using the AusFarm modelling software. Our results demonstrate that the management options tested in Grain and Graze support the principles of conservation agriculture and inform the sustainable intensification of mixed farming systems. Across the regions considered we found that: (1) Increasing pasture legume content and soil fertility can consistently benefit farm production and environmental indicators, (2) management interventions that target direct management of ground cover have the greatest potential to reduce soil erosion rates, (3) management during critical periods of naturally high soil erodibility and wind/water erosivity can substantially increase or decrease erosion risk; the timing of management interventions is therefore critical, and (4) grazing management to balance use of crop residues and pasture biomass is required to avoid developing hot spots of erosion and soil degradation.

Integrating diverse forage sources reduces feed gaps on mixed crop-livestock farms

Highly variable climates induce large variability in the supply of forage for livestock and so farmers must manage their livestock systems to reduce the risk of feed gaps (i.e. periods when livestock feed demand exceeds forage supply). However, mixed crop-livestock farmers can utilise a range of feed sources on their farms to help mitigate these risks. This paper reports on the development and application of a simple whole-farm feed-energy balance calculator which is used to evaluate the frequency and magnitude of feed gaps. The calculator matches long-term simulations of variation in forage and metabolisable energy supply from diverse sources against energy demand for different livestock enterprises. Scenarios of increasing the diversity of forage sources in livestock systems is investigated for six locations selected to span Australia’s crop-livestock zone. We found that systems relying on only one feed source were prone to higher risk of feed gaps, and hence, would often have to reduce stocking rates to mitigate these risks or use supplementary feed. At all sites, by adding more feed sources to the farm feedbase the continuity of supply of both fresh and carry-over forage was improved, reducing the frequency and magnitude of feed deficits. However, there were diminishing returns from making the feedbase more complex, with combinations of two to three feed sources typically achieving the maximum benefits in terms of reducing the risk of feed gaps. Higher stocking rates could be maintained while limiting risk when combinations of other feed sources were introduced into the feedbase. For the same level of risk, a feedbase relying on a diversity of forage sources could support stocking rates 1.4 to 3 times higher than if they were using a single pasture source. This suggests that there is significant capacity to mitigate both risk of feed gaps at the same time as increasing ‘safe’ stocking rates through better integration of feed sources on mixed crop-livestock farms across diverse regions and climates.

The response of broadacre mixed crop-livestock farmers to agricultural greenhouse gas abatement incentives

Many countries have introduced incentives to encourage farmers' adoption of practices that can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we deliver a whole-farm bio-economic analysis to assess the changes in land-use patterns, farm practices and on-farm GHG emissions under varying levels of agricultural abatement incentives in the form of a carbon tax for a broadacre farming system in Western Australia's Great Southern Region. Our results consistently indicate that an increase in agricultural carbon tax rate reduces both farm profits and on-farm GHG emissions. Since livestock are the dominant emissions source, the optimised enterprises mix would shift further towards cropping to produce less emissions. Under a carbon tax, farmers also tend to include less canola-based rotations and more field-pea-based rotations in their optimal enterprise mix. The estimates show that broadacre farmers in Western Australia may abate their on-farm emissions to help meet the national goal (13% reduction), with marginal abatement costs not higher than $20/ton CO2 equivalent in 2015 Australian dollars. In general, the analysis implies that abating broadacre agricultural GHG emissions through changing land-use patterns and farm management practices is relatively a low-cost choice.

Orfee: A bio-economic model to simulate integrated and intensive management of mixed crop-livestock farms and their greenhouse gas emissions

How do we plan future sustainable livestock farming systems? Some argue that intensive, specialized systems are more efficient and emit fewer pollutants; others claim that integrated, diversified farming systems are more beneficial to both society and the environment. Bio-economic farm models can help decision-makers and researchers analyze the trade-offs among the numerous possibilities, and direct future livestock production toward greater sustainability. The Orfee model described and evaluated here was developed with this aim. It covers a broad range of beef and dairy systems and forage and crop production alternatives that may be managed with varying levels of intensity (breed, production objective, crop operations, etc.) and integration (crop rotation, organic fertilization, calving period, animal diets, etc.). Capital is also included in the optimization process, with trade-offs between production, labor, machinery and buildings. Environmental impact is assessed through potential impact on climate change.

Is the increase of scale in the tropics a pathway to smallholders? Dimension and ecological zone effect on the mixed crop-livestock farms

Mixed crop-livestock farms are widely spread in different tropical regions in the world; they contribute to food security, rural development, sustainability and poverty alleviation. The effect of scale on performance of dual purpose (DP) cattle farms was evaluated in two Mexican ecological zones: dry (DT) and wet tropics (WT). In 2011, a questionnaire of 184 items distributed into technical and social characteristics was applied to a representative sample of 3,285 farms with 50 or less cows (0.97%). The farms were classified into three groups according to their dimension: very small (1-9 cows), small (10-19 cows) and medium (20-50 cows). A general linear model (GLM) with two factors and their interactions was applied. Significant effects in dimension and ecological zone were found as well as seven interactions between both factors (p<0.05). Native pastures were used in all farms for grazing. However, small farms’ herds frequently grazed on cultivated pastures and on crop residues (p<0.05). Medium farms showed the highest grazing surface, but in the WT silage and green fodder were used while in the DT dry fodders were used (p<0.001). The interactions between factors showed a bigger specialization in milk production in DT farms, whereas WT farms were more specialized in meat production. The mixed crop-livestock system in tropic region requires an increase in herd size according to farm’s own productive structure, which is strongly influenced by the ecological zone. The systems would improve with the active participation of smallholders to identify and achieve best practices, higher technological adoption level and with an effective support from public and private Institutions.

A survey analysis of indigenous goat production in communal farming systems of Botswana.

A total of 153 communal farmers in four agro-ecological regions of Botswana were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The aims of the survey were to characterise existing communal goat production systems, evaluate the importance of goats to farmers and identify breeding practices and constraints encountered in goat production in Botswana. Data was collected on socio-economic parameters, general and breeding management practices and major constraints limiting goat production in Botswana. All respondents were small-scale communal farmers with 63% respondents practising mixed crop-livestock farming and 37% keeping livestock as their primary activity. The majority (33%) of respondents were older than 60years. Over 80% of the farmers kept goats for cash required for tuition, school uniforms and household commodities as well as re-stocking of animals. Most farmers (62%) kept indigenous crossed genotypes. Generally, uncontrolled mating was practised with the majority of farmers (41%) using on-farm reared bucks for more than two years of breeding and communal bucks (36%) as an alternative. The major constraints limiting goat productivity in communal areas included uncontrolled breeding, predators, theft and diseases. Issues raised by farmers should be considered in designing and implementing effective breeding programs for goats to improve their overall productivity and contribution to poverty alleviation in these communities.

Designing crop–livestock integration at different levels: Toward new agroecological models?

Integrated crop–livestock systems have been shown to improve nutrient cycling, particularly by re-coupling nitrogen and carbon cycles. Yet the number of mixed crop–livestock farms has been falling steadily in Europe. Integration between crops and livestock at the local level, through exchanges between already specialised farms, is rarely implemented. Given the lack of knowledge on new ways to maintain or to reintegrate crops and livestock from the farm up to the local level, concrete guidelines are needed. In this paper, we developed a transversal analysis of three complementary case studies regarding development of crop–livestock integration at the farm and beyond farm level. To this aim, we reviewed three French case studies in which participatory approaches were used to design scenarios of crop–livestock integration. When crop–livestock integration disappears from the farm level due to labour organisation, exchanges between specialised crop farmers and livestock farmers is a way to redevelop such integration at the local level. Transversal analysis of case-studies allowed us to suggest guidelines for further research regarding the design of agroecological crop–livestock integration. Articulating options of change at farm level and collective level allows to consider the appropriate level of design and trade-offs between (1) farm and beyond farm level, and (2) social, environmental and economic dimensions. Considering these different levels of organisation is needed to identify possible pathways to and policy incentives for integrated crop–livestock systems. Developing specific Decision Support Systems and participative research is needed to conceive locally adapted scenarios of crop-livestock integration.

Energy and emergy analysis of mixed crop-livestock farming

This paper contains substance and energy balances of mixed crop-livestock farming. The analysis involves the period between 2012 and 2015. The structure of the presentation in the paper includes: crops and their structure, details of the use of plants with a beneficial effect on soil and stocking density per 1ha of agricultural land. Cumulative energy intensity of agricultural animal and plant production was determined, which is coupled the discussion of the energy input in the production of a grain unit obtained from plant and animal production. This data was compared with the data from the literature containing examples derived from intensive and organic production systems. The environmental impact of a farm was performed on the basis of emergy analysis. Emergy fluxes were determined on the basis of renewable and non-renewable sources. As a consequence, several performance indicators were established: Emergy Yield Ratio EYR, Environmental Loading Ratio ELR and ratio of emergy from renewable sources R ! . Their values were compared with the parameters characterizing other production patterns followed in agricultural production. As a consequence, conclusions were derived, in particular the ones concerning environmental sustainability of production systems in the analyzed farm.

Comparative agriculture methods capture distinct production practices across a broadacre Australian landscape

In farming systems research the link between farm resources, management and performances is often described, but rarely confirmed or quantified. Problems arise in formalising such linkages because substantial spatial and longitudinal whole-farm data are difficult to acquire. This study used the integrative discipline of comparative agriculture to collect such information and address a wide range of related farming system questions. The mixed method procedure included a landscape analysis, a historical investigation, and the collection of current farm information from 36 farms, representing half the farming businesses of a 4 000km2 area in a region of the Western Australian wheatbelt (≈300mm/year) with highly variable soils.Land types influenced management, including cropping specialisation, and explained some of the regional variability in grain yield and enterprise mix. Rotations varied by soil type and farm type. On average their duration was 3–4 years, typically starting with a 2–3 years of wheat, resulting in overall composition of 64% cereals, 20% break crops and 16% pastures/fallows. Break crops were grown more on light sandy soils than on heavier fine-textured soils. Lights soils were managed similarly by all farmers but distinctions occurred on heavier soils between mixed crop-livestock farmers and cropping specialists. This divergence in farming production was explained by farm soil composition: whilst cropping appears more profitable in the region, mixed farmers retained animals and pastures as a strategy to cope with having greater proportions of land less suited to crop production. Typical farm grain yields were indeed found to vary in relation to farm soil composition. The location of the original family farm in the landscape is likely to explain these differences in farm land resources, and subsequently current farm performance, production strategies and trajectories.This study highlighted the potential of a method that deserves wider application: comparative agriculture helped identify and establish complex relationships within the farming system, some of which challenge common assumptions. Further applications to define typical farms, monitor practices, and contribute meaningful divisions of agricultural landscapes are also discussed.

Does the recoupling of dairy and crop production via cooperation between farms generate environmental benefits? A case-study approach in Europe

The intensification of agriculture in Europe has contributed significantly to the decline of mixed crop-livestock farms in favour of specialised farms. Specialisation, when accompanied by intensive farming practices, leaves farms poorly equipped to sustainably manage by-products of production, capture beneficial ecological interactions, and adapt in a volatile economic climate. An often proposed solution to overcome these environmental and economic constraints is to recouple crop and livestock production via cooperation between specialised farms. If well-managed, synergies between crop and livestock production beyond farm level have the potential to improve feed and fertiliser autonomy, and pest regulation. However, strategies currently used by farmers to recouple dairy livestock and crop production are poorly documented; there is a need to better assess these strategies using empirical farm data. In this paper, we employed farm surveys to describe, analyse and assess the following strategies: (1) Local exchange of materials among dairy and arable farms; (2) Land renting between dairy and arable farms; (3) Animal exchanges between lowland and mountainous areas; and (4) Industrially mediated transfers of dehydrated fodder. For each strategy, cooperating farm groups were compared to non-cooperating farm groups using indicators of metabolic performance (input autonomy, nutrient cycling and use efficiency), and ecosystem services provision. The results indicate that recoupling of crop and dairy production through farm cooperation gives farmers access to otherwise inaccessible or underutilised local resources such as land, labour, livestock feed or organic nutrients. This in turn leads to additional outlets for by-products (e.g. animal manure). Farmers’ decisions about how to allocate the additional resources accessed via cooperation essentially determine if the farm diversifies, intensifies or expands operations. The key finding is that in three of the four crop-livestock integration strategies assessed, these newly accessed resources facilitated more intensive farming practices (e.g. higher stocking rate or number of milking cows per hectare) on cooperating dairy farms relative to non-cooperating, specialised dairy farms. As a consequence, cooperation was accompanied by limited environmental benefits but helped to improve resource use efficiency per unit of agricultural product produced. This article provides a critical step toward understanding real-world results of crop-livestock cooperation beyond the farm level relative to within-farm crop-livestock integration. As such, it brings practical knowledge of vital importance for policy making to promote sustainable farming.

Ecological Dynamics of Campylobacter in Integrated Mixed Crop-Livestock Farms and Its Prevalence and Survival Ability in Post-Harvest Products.

This study investigated the ecological distribution of zoonotic bacterial pathogen, Campylobacter, in mixed crop-livestock (MCL) farms compared to conventional farms and their products at pre- and post-harvest levels. A total of 222 Campylobacter isolates were identified. At pre-harvest level, a total of 1287 samples from seven MCL farms, four conventional poultry farms, four organic produce-only and five conventional produce-only farms from Maryland and the DC metropolitan area were analysed from 2012 to 2014. Campylobacter was detected in 11.16% and 3.6% of MCL and conventional farm samples, respectively, but none from produce-only farm samples. Tetracycline resistance was observed in 51.02% of MCL farm isolates but none among conventional farm isolates. For post-harvest analysis, a total of 1281 food products from seven farmers markets, three organic retail supermarkets and three conventional retail supermarkets were collected from the same area. Campylobacter was isolated in 87.5%, 71.43% and 33.33% of whole chicken carcasses in farmers markets, organic and conventional retail supermarkets, respectively. No Campylobacter was detected in post-harvest produce samples due in part to the inability of Campylobacter to survive in absence of sufficient water activity. Overall, this study reveals public health concerns regarding the MCL farm environment and their products that are sold in retail and farmers markets.

Livestock feed resources utilization practices in Tanqua-Abergelle district of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.

A study was carried out with the objective to assess the utilization practices of local feed resources. It was implemented in Tanqua-Abergelle district of the Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. Lemlem and Gera peasant associations (PAs) were selected purposively based on their potentiality in livestock resources and road access for household (HH) interview purpose. Likewise, Sheka-Tekli and Hadinet PAs were chosen for the purpose of focus group discussion (FGD). A total of 60 HHs (30 from each PA) were selected randomly for interview using semi-structured questionnaire. About 16% of the respondents were female HHs. Two FGDs were held with key informants. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS (2013, version 21) statistical software procedures. The study area is characterized by mixed crop-livestock farming system with high interaction between crop and livestock. Livestock are the mainstay for the farm community with many benefits as sources of draught, meat, milk, income, and manures. Cattle are kept primarily for the purpose of draught power with meat and milk as secondary products, whereas shoats are kept mainly for cash income, manure, meat, and milk. The land holding size per HH was 1.44ha while the herd size was 4.93 tropical livestock unit (TLU). Almost all the land holding (97%) is allocated for crop cultivation with lesser for forage production (<1%) indicating poor attention for fodder harvesting. The cattle herd is composed of local breeds (99%) with less exotic/crossbred (1%), indicating that the livestock rearing is practiced using local breed. Crop residues, natural pastures, stubble grazing, hay, and browsing are the main feed resources for animals. The availability and contribution of each feed vary with season and areas. Sorghum stover is the main feed source in the area and followed by maize stover, Eragrostis tef straw, and pulse straws. Crop residues are fed as basal diet with no or less supplementation using local concentrates like Attela and mill by-products. Industrial by-products are rarely used in the livestock feeding system for their high price and less availability. Likewise, improved forages are not widely utilized as feed sources.

Prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of Salmonella serovars in integrated crop‐livestock farms and their products sold in local markets

Major concern in the Mixed Crop-Livestock (MCL) farms, in which livestock and vegetables grown closely in the same facility, is cross-contamination of zoonotic bacterial pathogens especially Salmonella. To investigate the distribution of Salmonella serovars in MCL and their products, a total of 1287 pre-harvest samples from various farms and 1377 post-harvest samples from retail supermarkets in Maryland and Washington D.C. areas were collected and analysed. Atotal of 315 Salmonella isolates were recovered, with 17.44% and 5.88%, from MCL and conventional farms samples (P < 0.001). At post-harvest level, the prevalence of Salmonella was 30.95%, 19.83%, and 8.38% in chicken meat (P < 0.001) from farmers, organic, and conventional retail markets respectively, and 16.81% and 6.06% in produce products (P < 0.001) from farmers and organic retail markets, but none from conventional retail markets. From the isolated Salmonella, 34.50% was confirmed S. Typhimurium, followed by S. Heidelberg (10.86%) and S. Enteritidis (9.90%). The overall multi-antibiotic resistance in recovered Salmonella was 23.81% versus 4.55% in conventional and MCL farms (P = 0.004) and 66.67% versus 7.76% in conventional and farmers markets (P < 0.001). Overall the data reveals higher Salmonella risks in MCL farms' environment and their products sold in farmers markets and warrants taking necessary measures to limit Salmonella transmission.

Economic assessment of conservation agriculture options in mixed crop-livestock systems in Brazil using farm modelling

Direct seeding mulch-based cropping (DMC) systems are often considered as an efficient way of combining ecological sustainability and economic viability while maintaining or increasing agricultural productivity. This paper describes a modelling analysis of the functioning of family farms in rural settlements of the agrarian reform in the Cerrados of Brazil. The aim was to assess the impact of the introduction of DMC systems with and without cover crops on crop-livestock management and net household income. A bio-economic farm model based on optimization of a utility function under multiple constraints was developed, capturing the interactions between livestock activities and the introduction of DMC systems. The model was run for six farms representing three farm types in the study area: 1) subsistence-oriented mixed crop-livestock farms; 2) market-oriented dairy farms; and 3) mixed crop-livestock farms, oriented to meat marketing. The following maize-based DMC systems were evaluated: a DMC system with mulch from residues of the previous maize crop and no cover crop, and two DMC systems with a fodder species, Brachiaria brizanta or Cajanus cajan, as cover crop. The simulated adoptability of DMC systems by farmers of the assentamentos depended to a large extent on the yields and feed quality of the fodder species. The modelling results suggested that DMC with C. cajan as cover crop was the best suitable option for all simulated farm types. This was mainly explained by its high feed value (expressed in crude protein content). Furthermore, in the process of intensification and specialization in dairy production, farmers were likely to shift from using maize for pig husbandry to feeding it to the dairy cows. The introduction of cover crops in the farm systems was a source of additional animal feed during the dry season that was cheaper than the purchase of feed concentrates, when the size of the dairy herd did not exceed a certain threshold.

What carbon farming activities are farmers likely to adopt? A best–worst scaling survey

Transferring carbon from the atmosphere into terrestrial sinks through carbon sequestration practices (so-called ‘carbon farming’) has been proposed as an important component in Australia’s efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. We use a Best–worst scaling survey to determine which carbon sequestration practices farmers would be most and least likely to adopt, and what factors were most important in any potential adoption decision. The survey was distributed to dryland cropping and mixed crop-livestock farmers in Western Australia. Farmers ranked improved soil quality and reduced soil erosion as the most important potential co-benefits of carbon farming. Factors discouraging farmers from participating in carbon farming contracts were policy and carbon price uncertainty and the uncertain impact of carbon farming practices on productivity and profitability. Farmers had strong preferences for stubble retention and no-till cropping practices as carbon farming strategies. The practices that farmers preferred least were applying biochar and planting trees. Farm and farmer characteristics, including (lack of) awareness of carbon farming policies and opinions about climate change, influence the potential willingness to adopt different carbon farming practices. Given recent policy uncertainty and farmer preferences revealed in this study, it is important to communicate potential co-benefits (rather than opportunities to earn compensation or carbon credits) to increase farmers’ engagement in carbon sequestration activities.

Do Smallholder, Mixed Crop-Livestock Livelihoods Encourage Sustainable Agricultural Practices? A Meta-Analysis

As calls for bolstering ecosystem services from croplands have grown more insistent during the past two decades, the search for ways to foster these agriculture-sustaining services has become more urgent. In this context we examine by means of a meta-analysis the argument, proposed by Robert McC. Netting, that small-scale, mixed crop-livestock farming, a common livelihood among poor rural peoples, leads to environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. As predicted, mixed crop-livestock farms exhibit more sustainable practices, but, contrary to predictions, a small scale of operation does not predict sustainability. Many smallholders on mixed crop-livestock farms use sustainable practices, but other smallholders practice a degrading, input-scarce agriculture. Some large farm operators use soil-conserving, minimum-tillage techniques while other large operators ignore soil-conserving techniques and practice an industrialized, high chemical input agriculture. The strength and pervasiveness of the link in the data between mixed crop-livestock farming and sustainable agricultural practices argues for agricultural policies that promote mixed crop-livestock livelihoods.

Forage Legumes in Crop-Livestock Mixed Farming Systems - A Review

The future animal agriculture in the country suggests that the greatest opportunity for sustainable increases in agricultural productivity lie in agricultural intensification through the development of mixed crop-livestock farming systems. The linkage in mixed crop-livestock production systems through feed resources particularly legumes which fix N, and provide high quality feed, can enhance both the level and rate of nutrient cycling in the system, leading to increased soil fertility, improve animal nutrition, and increase the overall production and protect the environment, especially where land resource is limited. Forage legumes integration with cereals by intercropping generally results in higher fodder protein yield than that in cereals alone. Intercropped forage legumes have been reported to have significantly higher crude protein and lower fiber contents than their respective sole cereal residues and this could improve their voluntary intake and digestibility by livestock. There are various methods of integrating forage legumes into crop-livestock farming systems. The type of forage crops, food crops grown in the area, the soil type, the rainfall pattern and other social and economic factors determine the method of integration used for a specific farming system and locality. Forage legumes generally can be integrated into crop-livestock production systems by growing the herbaceous species in natural pastures, on arable land, crop rotation with cereals, sequential cropping, intercropping/ under sowing and relay cropping. Generally, the role of forage legumes in the farming system requires studying economic importance as related to farmers benefit, animal performance and the management of natural resource in a multidisciplinary approach.