Nilsdotter-Linde, Nilla
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Grazing of livestock has many benefits. The magnitude of grazing and how grazing is conducted determines how successfully these benefits are achieved, and this is affected by the attitude of farmers towards grazing. The current study aims to explore the perspectives of young farmers and students in the livestock sector on grazing in eight European countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Sweden). For this purpose, an extensive online survey was conducted across these countries to study barriers for grazing and drivers to grazing, as perceived by farmers and students. We collected 1410 valid responses. There were clear differences in perceived barriers and drivers related to the local contexts. The most often mentioned barriers were climate (no grass in dry periods, heat stress), land fragmentation (not enough grazing land surrounding the farm), and lack of knowledge/education. The most often mentioned drivers were animal welfare, animal health, and ‘I like grazing/grazing is my preferred production system’. The results have significant implications for policymakers, educators, and other agricultural stakeholders.
Keywords
barriers; drivers; grazing; mind-set; next generation farmers
Published in
Grassland Science in Europe
2024, number: 29, pages: 896-898
Title: Why grasslands? : Proceedings of the 30th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation Leeuwarden, the Netherlands 9-13 June 2024
Publisher: The Organising Committee of the 30th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation
Conference
30th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation Leeuwarden, the Netherlands 9-13 June 2024
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Agricultural Science
Animal and Dairy Science
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143627