Catherine Mignolet

Experiencing Organic Mixed Crop Dairy Systems: A Step-by-Step Design Centred on a Long-term Experiment

To provide more sustainability for their farming activity, farmers may attempt to redesign it according to their perception of their global environment. This paper focuses on the step-by-step design approach. The main objective of this approach is to produce resources to empower farmers to develop a more sustainable farming activity. We postulate that self-sufficient agricultural systems designed on the basis of natural land properties will generate sustainable farming activity. The methodology developed is anthropocentric and centred on a long-term experiment. Two organic and self-sufficient mixed-crop dairy systems were designed in 2004 at the INRA ASTER-Mirecourt Experimental Station. Research scientists designed and redesigned the systems, step-by-step, according to their perception of the natural properties of their agro-ecological environment. Since 2005, the two systems have been evolving by repairing system malfunctions or by improving their self-sufficiency. Step-by-step design is an approach based on methodologies that create experience in situations. This approach has proven its relevance to create knowledge for (i) the transition of farming systems towards more self-sufficient forms of agricultural activity, and (ii) the adaptation of systems to environmental fluctuations.

Characterizing historical (1992–2010) transitions between grassland and cropland in mainland France through mining land-cover survey data

Grassland, as one of the largest ecosystems on the earth, supports various goods and services to humanity. Historically, humans have increased agricultural output primarily by cropland expansion and agricultural intensification. The cropland area was primarily gained at the expense of grassland and forests. Apart from grassland conversion, increasing consumption of calorie- and meat-intensive diets drives the intensification of livestock systems, which is shifting steadily from grazing to feeding with crops. To cope with the environmental degradation due to agriculture, various forms of ‘green payment’ were implemented to promote the adoption of sustainable farming practices over the last two decades in the European Union. The aim of this study is to monitor the recent transitions (1992–2010) between grassland and cropland during two Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms at the French mainland scale. We proposed an innovative approach to link grassland conversion to agricultural commodities and farming systems practices. We first assessed the grassland-to-cropland conversion and further investigated the crop sequence patterns that were observed to be dominant after the conversion through mining land-cover survey data Teruti and Teruti-Lucas. We found the trends of the transitions between grassland and cropland over the two time intervals: The loss of grassland (1992–2003) and restoration or re-expansion of grassland (2006–2010) in mainland France. Our finding on the crop sequence patterns after the grassland conversion reveals two notable evolutions of agricultural production systems. These evolutions were related to the increase in the proportion of cropland in the total agricultural land use. One evolution was most likely influenced by the demand for fodder: The conversion from grazing livestock to feeding livestock. Another evolution was the conversion from livestock production to field crop production. Our results indicate that the intensification of livestock farming systems continued over the last two decades in France. We conclude that, the approach developed in this study can be considered as a generic method for monitoring the transitions between grassland and cropland and further identifying the crop sequence patterns after the grassland conversion from time-series land cover data.

Study Context and Methodology

In crop rotation, the fallow period is the period between the harvest of the main crop (sown for the purpose of harvesting) and the sowing of the next (Fig. 1.1). Depending on the harvesting and sowing dates of main crops, it can last from several days in the case of late harvest followed by sowing of a winter crop, to several months (up to 9 months) in the case of a spring crop. During this period, soil that is left “bare” (without plants), especially in the event of a long fallow period, can significantly increase the risk of leaching of nitrate into aquifers. The use of a cover crop as a nitrate-trapping “catch crop” can reduce this phenomenon of nitrate transfer in variable proportions depending on the soil and climate conditions, as well as the cropping system. The reduction lies in the range of 20–90 % compared to bare soil. This broad range of efficacy needs to be analysed on the basis of factors determining water drainage and nitrate leaching, as well as the other multiple functions of cover crops.