A. Bernués

Extrinsic attributes of red meat as indicators of quality in Europe: an application for market segmentation

Abstract Consumers give increasing importance to the extrinsic quality attributes of meat in response to rising concerns on safety, health, convenience, ethical factors, etc. The role that attributes such as animal feeding assurance, environmentally friendly production, respect for the animal welfare, etc. play in the consumer quality evaluation process has not been studied enough. The objectives of this article were: to evaluate the importance of several extrinsic quality attributes of red meat to consumers in five European regions; to analyse the relationships between the attitude towards these attributes, available cues and factors or motivations that are important to consumers when buying meat; and to identify groups or segments of consumers according to the importance of extrinsic quality attributes. The most important extrinsic attributes found were animal feeding and origin. Environmentally friendly production and animal welfare considerations were also important. Animal feed assurance was an indicator of safety and nutritious/ healthy meat but origin was not. For some groups of consumers, respect for the environment and animal welfare were also related to healthy/safe meat. The range of attitudes consumers hold towards extrinsic attributes could constitute an opportunity to develop consumer-led meat products and further market segmentation.

Trajectories of evolution and drivers of change in European mountain cattle farming systems

In the last few decades, significant changes in livestock farming systems and land use were observed in European mountain areas with large implications for the sustainability of grazing agro-ecosystems. System dynamic studies become essential to understand these changes, identify the drivers involved and trying to anticipate what might happen in the future. The objectives of this study were as follows: (i) to analyse the main recent changes that occurred in mountain cattle farming in the Spanish Pyrenees; (ii) to typify diverse trajectories of evolution of these systems; and (iii) to establish drivers of change that might help understand the evolution of mountain agriculture. A constant sample of mountain cattle farms was analysed for the period 1990 to 2004. In total, 30% of farms have disappeared during this time interval. For the remaining farms, the most important general changes observed were as follows: increment of size; change of productive orientation from mixed beef-dairy to pure beef production; extensification of grazing management; reduction of family labour and increase of pluriactivity; reduction of unitary variable costs; and increase of labour productivity. After the elimination of common temporal effects between dates, multivariate techniques allowed for the identification of three patterns and six specific trajectories of evolution that are profiled in the text. Relationships between the patterns of evolution and other variables referring the farm, the household and the socio-economic environment were identified as drivers of change: (i) the specific location of the farm in relation to the capital village of the municipality and the evolution other sectors of the economy, in particular tourism; (ii) the size of the family labour, presence of successors and degree of dynamism of the farmer; and (iii) the initial orientation of production.

Relationships between management intensity and structural and social variables in dairy and dual-purpose systems in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Abstract The objective of this paper was to study the relationships between technological use and farm and farmer characteristics in dairy and dual-purpose farms in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Quantitative and qualitative data related to farm dimensions, land use, pasture, nutrition, reproduction and health management and farm household social characteristics, access to information and technical assistance were collected from 319 farms in the main dairy-producing regions of Santa Cruz. Data were analysed by multiple correspondence analysis in order to establish relationships amongst management intensity and variables related to farm structure, productive orientation and the farmers’ social conditions and information exposure to technical aspects. A cluster analysis was then carried out to identify groups of farms with similar characteristics within the sample population. The analyses demonstrated clear relationships between management intensity, the farms’ dimensions and the farmers’ social conditions and access to information. Results are discussed in respect to the importance of farm characterisation for defining target groups and delivering research outputs and extension policies more effectively.

Economic evaluation of bovine brucellosis and tuberculosis eradication programmes in a mountain area of Spain.

We applied social cost-benefit analysis to the economic evaluation of the bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes carried out by the public eradication authority for mountain areas in the Spanish Central Pyrenees. We considered only the effects on animal health and production. We also evaluated several hypotheses corresponding to the different sanitary situations of two valleys studied. The results were different for the two disease programmes. The brucellosis programme was economically efficient over a sufficiently long time frame, but the bovine tuberculosis programme was not. A factor having the greatest influence on the economic efficiency of the programmes was the initial prevalence of the disease in the two valleys studied. The greater this was, the more difficult it was to obtain positive net benefits; this was due the initially high compensation paid for the slaughter of animals testing positive for the disease. The relatively small animal health and production returns derived from the tuberculosis programme explained its failure to generate positive economic results. The fact that the economic evaluation resulted in unfavourable outcomes is not in itself justification for project termination, because the benefits to the wider community through the prevention of zoonosis were not considered in this analysis.

Socio-Cultural and Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Mediterranean Mountain Agroecosystems

The aim of this work was to elucidate the socio-cultural and economic value of a number of ecosystem services delivered by mountain agroecosystems (mostly grazing systems) in Euro-Mediterranean regions. We combined deliberative (focus groups) and survey-based stated-preference methods (choice modelling) to, first, identify the perceptions of farmers and other citizens on the most important ecosystem services and, second, to value these in economic terms according to the willingness to pay of the local (residents of the study area) and general (region where the study area is located) populations. Cultural services (particularly the aesthetic and recreational values of the landscape), supporting services (biodiversity maintenance) and some regulating services (particularly fire risk prevention) were clearly recognized by both farmers and citizens, with different degrees of importance according to their particular interests and objectives. The prevention of forest fires (≈50% of total willingness to pay) was valued by the general population as a key ecosystem service delivered by these agroecosystems, followed by the production of specific quality products linked to the territory (≈20%), biodiversity (≈20%) and cultural landscapes (≈10%). The value given by local residents to the last two ecosystem services differed considerably (≈10 and 25% for biodiversity and cultural landscape, respectively). The Total Economic Value of mountain agroecosystems was ≈120 € person−1 year−1, three times the current level of support of agro-environmental policies. By targeting and quantifying the environmental objectives of the European agri-environmental policy and compensating farmers for the public goods they deliver, the so-called “green” subsidies may become true Payments for Ecosystems Services.

Influence of management and nutrition on postpartum interval in Brown Swiss and Pirenaica cows

Abstract Data on productive and reproductive events of 549 cows (Brown Swiss and Pirenaica breeds) were collected in the Spanish Pyrenees from 1987 to 1998, in order to determine the factors that could be associated with the postpartum interval (PPI). Blood was collected 3 times per week during lactation; PPI was established by progesterone radioimmunoassay. Eighteen variables traditionally related to PPI were initially considered. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was used to analyse the variables. PPI was associated with four factors that explained 59% of the total inertia and were defined as follows: “Prepartum feeding level” (19% of the inertia), “Postpartum feeding level—Parity” (16.4%), “Suckling frequency” (13%) and, as a supplementary variable, “Calving difficulty” (10.5%). These factors were introduced in a cluster analysis that identified five homogeneous groups of cows with respect to the management, defined by body condition score (BCS) at calving and PPI as follows: “Primiparous cows” (BCS=2.77; PPI=54 days), “Twice-daily suckling” (BCS=2.63; PPI=33 days), “Ad libitum suckling—Brown Swiss” (BCS=2.48; PPI=111 days), “Autumn calving season” (BCS=2.75; PPI=31 days) and “Spring calving season” (BCS=2.34; PPI=66 days). Cow breed was not related to PPI, although the cluster analysis associated the suckling-induced prolonged PPI with Brown Swiss animals. PPI was longer in the spring than in the autumn due to nutritional differences rather than to a seasonal effect.

Role of self-sufficiency, productivity and diversification on the economic sustainability of farming systems with autochthonous sheep breeds in less favoured areas in Southern Europe

Traditional mixed livestock cereal- and pasture-based sheep farming systems in Europe are threatened by intensification and specialisation processes. However, the intensification process does not always yield improved economic results or efficiency. This study involved a group of farmers that raised an autochthonous sheep breed (Ojinegra de Teruel) in an unfavourable area of North-East Spain. This study aimed to typify the farms and elucidate the existing links between economic performance and certain sustainability indicators (i.e. productivity, self-sufficiency and diversification). Information was obtained through direct interviews with 30 farms (73% of the farmers belonging to the breeders association). Interviews were conducted in 2009 and involved 32 indicators regarding farm structure, management and economic performance. With a principal component analysis, three factors were obtained explaining 77.9% of the original variance. This factors were named as inputs/self-sufficiency, which included the use of on-farm feeds, the amount of variable costs per ewe and economic performance; productivity, which included lamb productivity and economic autonomy; and productive orientation, which included the degree of specialisation in production. A cluster analysis identified the following four groups of farms: high-input intensive system; low-input self-sufficient system; specialised livestock system; and diversified crops-livestock system. In conclusion, despite the large variability between and within groups, the following factors that explain the economic profitability of farms were identified: (i) high feed self-sufficiency and low variable costs enhance the economic performance (per labour unit) of the farms; (ii) animal productivity reduces subsidy dependence, but does not necessarily imply better economic performance; and (iii) diversity of production enhances farm flexibility, but is not related to economic performance.

Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park

Abstract Shrub encroachment can be explained by the abandonment of extensive livestock farming and changes to land use, and it is a common problem in the Mediterranean mountain pastures of Europe, with direct effects on biodiversity and landscape quality. In this paper, the effects of livestock exclusion vs. grazing on the dynamics of shrub and herbaceous vegetation were analyzed in a Spanish natural park located in a dry Mediterranean mountain area over a 5-yr period. Twelve 10 × 10 m exclosures were set up in six representative pasture areas of the park (with two replicates per location). Each year, the shrub number, volume, and biomass were measured in April, and the herbage height, biomass, and quality were measured in April and December (which represent the start and end of the vegetative growth season). A sustained increase of the shrub population and individual biomass was observed throughout the study, which was reflected in total shrub biomass per ha. Growth was greater in nongrazed exclosures (2 563 kg dry matter [DM] · ha−1 · yr−1), but it also happened in the grazed control areas (1 173 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), with different patterns depending on the location and shrub species. Herbage biomass did not change when grazing was maintained, but it did increase in places where grazing was excluded (291 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), mostly as a consequence of the accumulation of dead material, with a concomitant reduction in herbage quality. It was concluded that at the current stocking rates and management regimes, grazing alone is not enough to prevent the intense dynamics of shrub encroachment, and further reductions in grazing pressure should be avoided.

Modelling the growth and utilisation of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) under grazing. 1. Model definition and parameterisation.

This paper describes a Tropical Pasture Simulator. This is a simple mechanistic model representing the growth of vegetative tropical pastures under rotational or continuous grazing with responses to N fertiliser, temperature and irradiance that can be used as a tool to study management options for the development of sustainable grazing systems. The model was derived as an adaptation of the ‘Hurley pasture models’ which were originally designed to simulate the growth of ryegrass. The model incorporates the processes of light interception and photosynthesis, leaf area expansion; growth, ageing and senescence of plant tissues, recycling of substrates from senescing tissues, nitrogen uptake, mineralisation of soil organic N, N leaching and grazing. The paper discusses the main structure of the model, its components and the main adaptations required to simulate the growth of tropical pastures. The model was parameterised for kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) growing in dairy systems in highland regions of Costa Rica. This paper also discusses the sensitivity of parameter values and the development of minimum parameter datasets for time and cost-eAective implementation of the model. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Editorial: Agroecology for producing goods and services in sustainable animal farming systems

Agroecology was initially defined as a scientific discipline that applies ecological theory to the design and management of agroecosystems in order to enhance their sustainability (Altieri, 1987). It then gradually emerged both as a movement and as a set of practices, and moved beyond the agroecosystem scale toward a wider focus on the whole food system, encompassing food production, distribution and consumption (Wezel et al., 2009). The recent surge in academic literature on agroecology has ignored animal production systems despite their direct or indirect dependency on natural processes. Animal production systems have indisputable negative impacts on the environment, but as underlined by Gliessman (2006) the problem lies not so much with the animals themselves or their use as food, but with the ways animals are incorporated in agroecosystems and food systems. Animal agriculture needs to be reconfigured to minimize its negative impacts, produce food and other ecosystem services and increase their adaptive capacity to face an increasingly uncertain future (markets, climate change, demands for food security, shifts in dietary preferences in the developing world). The integration of animals in an agroecosystem can often make the difference in realizing long-term ecological sustainability and socio-economic viability goals. To extend ecological thinking into animal production systems, Dumont et al. (2013) recently proposed five principles based on the identification of key ecological processes that need to be optimized: (i) adopt management practices aiming to improve animal health, (ii) decrease the inputs needed for production, (iii) decrease pollution by optimizing the metabolic functioning of farming systems, (iv) enhance diversity within animal production systems to strengthen their resilience and (v) preserve biological diversity in agroecosystems by adapting management practices. In this special issue, 19 papers investigate how the issues above can contribute to the design of innovative, adaptive and resilient farming systems in ruminants, pigs, horses and aquaculture across temperate, Mediterranean and tropical areas. Integration of cropping and livestock farming systems allows better regulation of biochemical cycles and environmental fluxes to the atmosphere and hydrosphere through interactions among farm units, and mobilizes biodiversity to supply ecosystem services. To reach these objectives, Moraine et al. (2014) propose a participatory design method that was implemented across a diversity of European case studies in which diversity of crops and grasslands interacting with animals appeared central. Cooperation and collective structuration between farmers and with other actors of territories reveal opportunities for smart social innovation. Veysset et al. (2014) and Ripoll-Bosch et al. (2014) analyze the economic performance of mixed crop-livestock farming systems in temperate and Mediterranean areas. Both studies find that the economic profitability of mixed crop-livestock farms is not related to the diversity of production or to animal productivity, the main driver of farm sustainability rather being the low dependency on off-farm inputs (feed self-sufficiency). However, the diversity of production enhances farm flexibility, with organic farms being the ones that exploit the diversity of herd feed resources (grasslands, cereals, legume crops) more efficiently. Oosting et al. (2014) aim to analyze the constraints to production increases from the farm and the farmers’ perspective in smallholder mixed crop–livestock systems in the tropics. They show that maximum herd output is not achieved at the highest production per individual animal. They also present a framework linking farming systems to value chains. The ‘system jump’ from subsistence to commercial livestock production would lead to lower prices, more competition and higher demands for product quality requiring investments that not all farmers can afford. Changing a system also requires a deeper understanding of the attitudes of farmers. For instance, Gizaw et al. (2014) show that collective breeding programs in Ethiopia lead to genetic improvement that cannot be achieved through individual efforts of smallholder farmers, and that the integration of farmers’ own criteria (pelvic width, body length, color, horn) to select rams does not affect the program efficiency but makes it socially acceptable. Latawiec et al. (2014) review the main constraints for sustainable intensification of cattle grazing in Brazil in terms of productivity, pasture management, socio-economic impacts and climate change mitigation. Adopting practices † E-mail: bertrand.dumont@clermont.inra.fr Animal (2014), 8:8, pp 1201–1203