Theme 28: De-intensification with Grasslands
Description
De-intensified use of grasslands, and more generally of the livestock systems they support, has been triggered by a growing sensitivity of citizens to environmental quality (nitrogen) and quality of animal products, and by the warnings addressed to political authorities by scientists about the environmental consequences of economic imbalances (decreasing biodiversity, drop in soil fertility, greenhouse effect), and in particular of food overproduction in Europe.
From an ecological standpoint, grassland de-intensification must be envisaged whenever the techniques implemented disrupt resource sustainability. The grassland resource itself may be at risk when a rate of vegetation offtake by herbivores that is incompatible with the resources available starts generating problems (sustainability of grasslands, of biodiversity or of soil fertility). Air and water may also be threatened in the case of excess nitrogen inputs (mainly in Western Europe). Whatever the situation, technical solutions to such imbalances cannot consist only of decreasing inputs or offtake rates. In most cases, grassland deintensification will require changing animal feeding systems, land use (type of vegetation used to feed animals) and more generally the organization of technical systems of production. In countries where vegetation growth stops for several months for instance, animals will need to be fed with conserved forage: such forages are often grown in intensive systems, which is the only way to cut down fodder production costs. In such livestock systems, deintensification will involve decreasing the share of conserved forage in favor of grazing of perennial grasslands. This can be achieved either by increasing the grassland area available for earlier grazing at the end of winter, or through deferred grazing to extend the grazing season into a period with reduced grass growth.
Included in
De-Intensification of Grasslands: Current State and Trends
De-intensified use of grasslands, and more generally of the livestock systems they support, has been triggered by a growing sensitivity of citizens to environmental quality (nitrogen) and quality of animal products, and by the warnings addressed to political authorities by scientists about the environmental consequences of economic imbalances (decreasing biodiversity, drop in soil fertility, greenhouse effect), and in particular of food overproduction in Europe.
From an ecological standpoint, grassland de-intensification must be envisaged whenever the techniques implemented disrupt resource sustainability. The grassland resource itself may be at risk when a rate of vegetation offtake by herbivores that is incompatible with the resources available starts generating problems (sustainability of grasslands, of biodiversity or of soil fertility). Air and water may also be threatened in the case of excess nitrogen inputs (mainly in Western Europe). Whatever the situation, technical solutions to such imbalances cannot consist only of decreasing inputs or offtake rates. In most cases, grassland deintensification will require changing animal feeding systems, land use (type of vegetation used to feed animals) and more generally the organization of technical systems of production. In countries where vegetation growth stops for several months for instance, animals will need to be fed with conserved forage: such forages are often grown in intensive systems, which is the only way to cut down fodder production costs. In such livestock systems, deintensification will involve decreasing the share of conserved forage in favor of grazing of perennial grasslands. This can be achieved either by increasing the grassland area available for earlier grazing at the end of winter, or through deferred grazing to extend the grazing season into a period with reduced grass growth.
