Forage‐based indicators of environmental sustainability of dairy farms in eastern Canada
On‐farm self sufficiency of forage production has been the norm for dairy producers in eastern Canada.This generally meant a relative equilibrium between herd size and land area,and a rotation of perennial forages with grain crops used for feed or off‐farm sales.Both conditions are generally recognized as sustainable agricultural practices.As farm size increases, either by adding animal units or by cultivating larger land areas,the initial balance is changed ; either the land area is insufficient to absorb the surplus of manure or the proportion of perennial forages in crop rotations is substantially reduced.Tools are necessary to evaluate whether such changes affect the environmental sustainability of dairy farms.Although several methods exist to evaluate the environmental impact of agricultural production,the use of indicators that can be measured on farms to quantify their environmental sustainability is the most appropriate tool to use with producers ( van der Werf and Petit,2002).Our objective was to develop indicators to evaluate the environmental sustainability of dairy farms.
sustainability forages dairy farms indicators
V.Bélanger A.Vanasse G.Bélanger D.Angers G.Allard
FSAA,Pav.Paul-Comtois,Université Laval,Québec,QC,G1K 7P4,Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,2560,Hochelaga Blvd.,Québec,QC,GIV 2J3 Canada
国际会议
呼和浩特
英文
2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）