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Introduction
Introduction
We will show how we can define mixed farming systems (MFS). We will see the difference between MFS and integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS). After these definitions, we will propose a way to represent various levels of integration between crops and animals. Finally, we will discuss the usefulness of this concept of integration.
Crops and animals together
Crops and animals together
Usually, the term mixed farming system (MFS) is assumed to refer to a farm that combines livestock and crop production. Integrative crop livestock systems (ICLS) introduce the concept of integration. It is not sufficient to produce both animals and crops to be an ICLS, but there must also exist some interactions between crops and animals. These interactions can be flows of matter (homegrown feed, straw, manure) but also some production and management techniques which are specifically induced by the coexistence of crops and animals (e.g. silage, rotations of annual crops and grasslands, organic fertilization...). The coexistence of crops and animals and its consequences can be analyzed at the farm level (one farm with interacting crops and animals) but also across a landscape or farming system.
How to represent the integration between crops and animals?
How to represent the integration between crops and animals?
The integration can be better described by 3 spheres which allow to:
make explicit the different land use and connections between corresponding spaces
show the structure of a wide range of crop-livestock systems by varying the sizes of the spheres and degrees of overlap
represent the interactions between spheres and their consequences on material exchanges and delivery of ecosystem services
Different types of integration
Different types of integration
The level of temporal and spatial coordination allows to define 4 main generic types of crop-livestock integration.
Type 1 represents a situation of non-integration, i.e. a simple coexistence of specialized farms which can exchange products on the market (e.g. buying feed).
Type 2 is the first step of integration. There are exchanges between crops, grasslands and animals (feed, straw, manure...) by means of the integration of livestock objectives in crop choice (e.g. silage maize) and management (e.g. fertilization via manure).
Type 3 shows a stronger interaction between the different spheres which generate local synergies at the farm scale: for instance, the grasslands in rotation with crops, the introduction of legumes and/or intercropping have a positive effect on biodiversity, leading to ecosystem services related with pest regulations and soil fertility.
Type 4 is achieved when several farms of type 3 interact at the regional level through landscape design and state governance.
This typology allows us to characterize the integration at the farm level. The proportion of each type at the state scale can provide a characterization of the level of integration of the studied state.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This representation by 3 spheres allows to adopt a dual approach:
by the material flows inside the farm and between the farm and the environment (called metabolic approach);
by the ecosystem services supplied through the synergies between crops and animals (ecosystem services approach)
The figure below represents the biophysical components, the key material flows and the key ecosystem services in an ICLS. Interactions between the 3 spheres determine the delivery of ecosystem services and the flows of matter.
By considering both approaches, we can understand how to optimize these flows and services in order to reduce inputs flows, natural resource consumption, and emissions to the environment (atmosphere, soil and water). We can also increase useful farm outputs.
Central Question: Can we have non-fossil-fuel-dependent, healthy, fully-functional, ecologically-based agroecosystems without integrating animals in our agriculture?
Can Vegans and Ranchers Work Together to Rebuild the World's Soil?
Solutions that endeavor to reconnect crops and animals:
https://www.midwestgrazingexchange.com/
Think of the farms we have been on...what kind of integration have you seen? Where is there room for more?
Hawkins Family Farm
Amish Aquaponics
Goodrich Prairie
Seven Sons
Jamie Scott (+ chicken litter)
Fry Farms
Metzgers
Miller Poultry grower
Walther potatoes
Clay Bottom
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