Exploring relationships among different sustainability aspects in innovative livestock systems in Europe

Abstract

European livestock farming reflects a range of systems characterized by diverse innovations to increase sustainability. This study aimed to highlight the relationships among different aspects of sustainability in various types of systems. Data were retrieved from 106 farms containing different animal species (dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs and poultry), using a modified version of the Excel-based questionnaire public goods tool. Each farm was assigned scores for 12 spurs (indicators) of sustainability. Based on these results, the farms were allocated into five clusters. Correlations among the spurs were evaluated, both across all farms and cluster-wise, with contrasting results. When analysed across all farms, several spurs from the environmental dimension were positively correlated with each other. Further, many of the environmental spurs were negatively correlated with spur profitability, which was positively correlated with spur social wellbeing and farm business resilience. A comparison of cluster-wise correlations showed a positive correlation between environmental spurs and spur profitability for large farms but a negative correlation for small farms. The diverging, yet complementary, correlation results from this study open the field to sustainable pathways that are capable of connecting realities with differing production systems and geographical areas while also incorporating their unique features.

Keywords

Sustainability assessment; Public Goods tool; environmental sustainability; social sustainability; economic sustainability

Published in

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
2025, volume: 23, number: 1, article number: 2601486
Publisher: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS LTD

SLU Authors

• Smith, Laurence

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Reading

• Yngvesson, Jenny

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Hessle, Anna

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2025.2601486

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/145598