Sylvie Cournut

Participatory modelling with farmer groups to help them redesign their livestock farming systems

To improve sustainability, farmers may want to redesign their livestock farming systems in depth. Systemic modelling has proved an efficient tool to study complex issues regarding farming systems, but it remains inefficient to support farmers in their system redesign processes. This paper describes and discusses a novel method to model livestock farming systems with groups of farmers to help them redesign their own systems. Modelling livestock farming systems at the farm scale with farmer groups is an original approach in livestock farming system modelling. Following a constructivist approach, our method involves working with farmers already involved in redesign processes and building causal maps according to their own representations, without using models previously created by scientists. Applying the method, we built two causal maps of livestock farming system operation, each one built with a group of five farmers including both those converting and converted to organic farming. Converting to organic farming was considered as one example of a redesign process. On the basis of a subjective assessment by both the participating farmers and researchers, and an analysis of map structures, we assessed the method’s strengths and weaknesses. We considered that one of its main advantages lay in its collective dimension: sharing, comparing and questioning interested the participating farmers greatly; however, it requires good facilitation skills and suitable group composition. Furthermore, the formalising process identified, for example, vicious circles in system operation, which made the farmers think about solutions for breaking them. Finally, analysis of map structures identified similarities and differences between the two groups that were discussed with both of them during a final workshop; this activity continued farmers’ self-reflection about their systems, which may help lead to innovative and more sustainable livestock farming systems.

Understanding the reproductive performance of a dairy cattle herd by using both analytical and systemic approaches: a case study based on a system experiment

Reproductive performance has recently been a growing concern in cattle dairy systems, but few research methodologies are available to address it as a complex problem in a livestock farming system. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology that combines both systemic and analytical approaches in order to better understand and improve reproductive performance in a cattle dairy system. The first phase of our methodology consists in a systemic approach to build the terms of the problem. It results in formalising a set of potential risk factors relevant for the particular system under consideration. The second phase is based on an analytical approach that involves both analysing the shapes of the individual lactation curves and carrying out logistic regression procedures to study the links between reproductive performance and the previously identified potential risk factors. It makes it possible to formulate hypotheses about the biotechnical phenomena underpinning reproductive performance. The last phase is another systemic approach that aims at suggesting new practices to improve the situation. It pays particular attention to the consistency of those suggestions with the farmers general objectives. This methodology was applied to a French system experiment based on an organic low-input grazing system. It finally suggested to slightly modify the dates of the breeding period so as to improve reproductive performance. The formulated hypotheses leading to this suggestion involved both the breed (Holstein or Montbéliarde cows), the parity, the year and the calving date with regard to the turnout date as the identified risk factors of impaired performance. Possible use of such a methodology in any commercial farm encountering a biotechnical problem is discussed.

Analyzing work organization on livestock farm by the Work Assessment Method

All over the world, farmers have to face up to increasing uncertainties (market and climate). They have to adapt their activity to the new contexts and challenges of livestock farming (producing more and better, and satisfying the expectations of society, consumers, and of downstream operators), while at the same time responding to their own expectations in terms of income, quality of life, and working conditions. In order to understand these changes and consider the future, work organization must be taken into account. The Work Assessment Method, developed by French livestock researchers, provides a framework able to capture work organization, taking into account the specifics of the livestock activity. Based on a comparative analysis of nine case studies that used the Work Assessment Method from six contrasted countries, this review (1) gives generic ideas on work organization indicators and their variation; (2) identifies four generic patterns of work organization which are not linked to the local context but marked by the workforce composition; (3) demonstrates that the relevance of the Work Assessment Method to tackle work issues, and its capacities to be adapted to a variety of livestock farming contexts throughout the world, is linked to the properties of its framework, which was developed by combining different disciplinary approaches; (4) highlights the principal limits of the method: lack of coordination with other dimensions of work (labor productivity; sense of the job), and limited characterization of the work organization flexibility; and (5) proposes some possibilities of change to better respond to the diversity of work situations and questions about work, and take better into account the evolutions of livestock farming systems.

Farm-scale models built with farmers converting and converted to organic farming

Intensive livestock farming has recently induced several cases threatening food security. Therefore, redesigning sustainable livestock farming systems is a major challenge for agricultural science. Specifically, farm-scale models that truly integrate different subsystems, viewpoints and time scales are needed. Up to now, however, no modelling approach has been able to meet these requirements. In previous work, we have designed a participatory modelling method based on causal mapping to help farmer groups redesign their livestock farming systems. Two causal maps have been built with two neighbouring groups of dairy farmers converting and converted to organic farming. It was the first time that consistent wholes had been made of elements cited by farmers faced with a redesign process. This article describes the content of the causal maps, with a focus on the current issue of integrating multiple subsystems, viewpoints and time scales within the same farm-scale model. We found that the maps included items at the whole farm scale and from a variety of disciplinary viewpoints and time scales. This finding indicates that these characteristics are useful in modelling approaches for redesigning farming systems. In addition, both maps closely linked herd operations to the forage system in a cluster centered on the feeding–health–production complex. This result suggests that the feeding–health–production complex requires particular attention for organic conversion of dairy farms. Lastly, novel relations were identified in the maps that linked work organisation and farm configuration to reproductive performance. This finding shows that analysing work organisation helps understanding how biotechnical performance evolves in a farming system.