Grazing of Dairy Cows in Europe—An In-Depth Analysis Based on the Perception of Grassland Experts

Agnes van den Pol-van Dasselaar, Deirdre Hennessy and Johannes Isselstein
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Agnes van den Pol-van Dasselaar: Grassland Science, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, 8251 JZ Dronten, The Netherlands
Deirdre Hennessy: Grassland Science Department, Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, P61 P302 Co. Cork, Ireland
Johannes Isselstein: Department of Crop Sciences, Grassland Science and Center of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Grazing is inherently close to the nature of herbivores, but no longer applied everywhere in Europe. Therefore, the perception of grassland experts on the occurrence, importance, constraints, solutions and future of grazing of dairy cows was studied. The study builds on results from the European Grassland Federation Working Group Grazing in the period 2010–2019. Both surveys and focus group meetings were used. There is a clear trend of reduced grazing in Europe. Since grazing is valued by different stakeholders and provides many ecosystem services, solutions to the constraints to grazing must be found. Constraints can be divided into region specific constraints, farm specific constraints and farmer specific constraints. The solutions include developing new knowledge, bringing the knowledge already available to practice and rewarding farmers for grazing as a service to society. If grazing is not supported, it will further decline. However, a joined endeavour has the potential to make a significant difference in transforming grass-based production systems and stimulating grazing.

Keywords: grazing; constraints; support; ecosystem services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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