GRANADA WORKSHOP REPORT 5.

Current trends in animal production practices in Northern European systems

Tony Waterhouse

SAC, Grassland and Ruminant Science Department,
Alpha Centre, Hillfoots Road, Stirling FK9 4NF

The nature and balance of pressures influencing animal production are constantly shifting and differ dramatically depending upon the context. Many factors influencing the way that farmers structure their business and undertake its tasks. There are many interactions between production systems and how farmers respond to policy, market and other external forces. One of the problems in examining any trends in production is identifying and measuring how external factors exert their influence. Predicting the impact of changes in policy and market conditions is clearly a major challenge. Differences between northern and southern Europe are reflected by different systems but also in different environmental and welfare concerns.

Below, I have attempted to identify where the pressure for change is arising and to provide examples of the impact on production methods. Areas for research are highlighted.

Environmental Influences

1) Incentives to farm in a more environmentally friendly manner include a range of options under the Agri-Environment Measures. In the different member states these have been applied differently. Within the UK, Environmentally Sensitive Area and Countryside Stewardship schemes allow farmers to choose from a menu of options. Some of these have direct influence on production methods, e.g. those requiring later cutting dates for silage or hay and measures to re-create species rich pasture.

2) Increasingly large areas are being primarily managed for landscape or nature conservation. Agriculture is increasingly been seen as the most appropriate way of doing this, but sometimes rather differently than commercial farming on neighbouring land. Many new purchases of land in the Highlands of Scotland are charities with environmental issues at the top of their agenda. The use of hardy breeds of cattle to graze heathlands in Holland, Belgium and Germany is well known and has shown potential for added value meat products from environmentally sensitive farming. The BSE crisis has created some difficulties here because the hardy breeds are usually British (Highland, Galloway, Luing).

3) Current farming practice is being criticised as degrading the environment. In the uplands of Britain and Ireland, increases in sheep numbers since the establishment of the EU Sheepmeat Regime are being linked to habitat loss. There is considerable polarised debate. Reduced stocking rates are being achieved through (i) limited uptake of the sheep extensification payments within the Agri-Environment package, (ii) influence of nature conservation bodies on protected land, (iii) landlords, both public and private, starting to changes leases so as to limit sheep grazing, and (iv) cross compliance measures within the main livestock support measures. The latter have involved the setting of standards for overgrazing of upland semi-natural pastures and for damage done by supplementary feeding practices. These measures are becoming enforced more rigorously but there is intense pressure from nature conservation bodies to tighten enforcement and to increase their scope and impact.

The net effect of these changes is a reduction in stocking rates. Some farmers are continuing to intensify management to compensate for this, whilst others are reducing labour and associated costs. Many upland farmers in the UK have taken the opportunity of making small reductions in breeding sheep numbers as Sheep Annual Premium (SAP) can now be claimed on unbred flock replacements. There may be a trend for some land abandonment to be occurring perhaps fuelled by the value of sheep quota.

The environmental pressure is far from a simple one. In the intensively farmed lowland areas, livestock may no longer be present on many farms. Marginal areas on these farms are no longer grazed and vegetation change and habitat loss is occurring.

4) Policing of environmental pollution is becoming increasingly stringent. Wastes from housed animals, silage effluent and sheep dips are all of concern. Two approaches are possible. Upgrading of effluent control is being carried out by some producers whilst other have adopted methods that avoid the concentration of slurry and effluent. Use of big bale silage, with later cutting dates and longer wilting times to increase dry matter, is an alternative that reduces pollution risk.

5) The phasing in of an industry imposed ban on fishmeal in the UK gives an indication of how the farming and feed industries may also respond to wider public opinion.

Research is needed to better understand the biological relationships between production and environmental impacts. Multi-disciplinary research is needed to put this work in context and understand implications at the larger scale.

Welfare

Welfare is another hot debating point within the public domain in northern Europe. Within the disadvantaged regions, there is a general view that welfare is excellent but there is some understanding that this need not always be the case. Concerns over welfare and increased enforcement are leading to subtle changes in production methods in many areas. Cross compliance of satisfactory lambing and calving rates with Hill Livestock Allowance payments is being used to cause farmers and crofters in the harsh western fringe of Scotland to modify their production methods.

Research is needed so that methods designed to improve welfare can be practically applied.

Role of the marketplace

In Britain, organic production is still minor in scale but in other northern Europe countries, such as Germany, the numbers of farmers adopting organic or ecological meat production is increasingly significant.

Much better tie-up between production and retail sector is moving ahead rapidly in the UK, fuelled by the BSE problems. Farm assurance, breed assurance (e.g. with the Aberdeen Angus), and traceability of beef and sheep is likely for large sections of the chain. Premium products are being produced. These require use of specified breeds, full traceability and changed practices, e.g. a voluntary ban of antibiotic feed supplements in beef diets. This process is being driven by the retail sector in Britain.

Other changes in breeding policy have occurred with larger, leaner cattle of high carcass conformation. There are also changes in the availability of breeding replacements, many of which have come from crossbred calves from the dairy herd. Many suckled calf producers have retained continental (Simmental/Limousin/Charolais) sired cows as breeding stock. Larger cows have resulted with higher demands for concentrate feed and less able to withstand harsher conditions. As a result these cattle may be less likely to fulfil an environmentally useful role. There are continued shifts in breeds of sheep led by market signals. These may require shifts in husbandry methods.

In addition to breed substitution, considerable technology uptake is occurring for breed improvement. The use of real-time ultrasound scanning over the loin area to predict proportions of lean and fat is becoming very widespread. Use of BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) is allowing beef and sheep breeders who work at small herd sizes, to make genetic progress. Sire referencing schemes that genetically link a number of smaller sheep flocks are a particularly important development flowing from research. There are now referencing schemes underway in most of the more important British breeds; Suffolk, Texel, Blue-Faced Leicester and Scottish Blackface.

Research and development is needed to measure the role of local breeds and improve their value to the marketplace. Genetic improvement of livestock in disadvantaged regions is necessary to maintain competitiveness with the lowland and non-ruminant sectors. However, this improvement need not always be simply product-led. For example, there must be scope to improve the hardiness of non-local breeds whose products do meet market requirements.

Labour

Labour cost and availability are crucial issues. Between 1980 and 1994, the percentage of the population employed in agriculture has declined by 39,35,44 and 18% in UK, Eire, Germany and Netherlands respectively. Numbers of livestock remain broadly the same or higher. Increases in herd/flock size per unit of labour are believed to be continuing despite recent declines in numbers of animals as described above. Many of the possibilities of intensification have decreased (e.g. land reclamation) but elements of intensification continue. Stocking rates of sheep on improved pastures in commercially recorded flocks are still tending to increase. It is noteworthy that levels of Nitrogen used in these flocks have fallen dramatically because of successful take-up of intensively managed clover swards.

Increased mechanisation of feeding and other practices have occurred. The move to silage and more recently to big bale silage for sheep and cattle producers is part of this pattern. Virtually every hill shepherd now has access to a 4 wheel motorbike to speed their work output. There is greater use of contractors to make fodder, increased flexibility in staffing with more contract shearing and more contract lambing being undertaken.

Less intensive methods are taken up where appropriate. May lambingis growing in interest in UK. This system educes winter feed for pregnant ewes and reduces the need for lambing supervision because lambing occurs well after the start of grass growth.

Changes are also occurring in small scale farming, where cattle numbers continue to decline because cattle are more labour demanding than sheep.

Research and technology transfer are needed to continue to maintain competitiveness by using labour cost-effectively but yet maintain product quality and environmental goals.

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