Sustainable economic and ecological grazing systems - learning from innovative practitioners

在英国，主导农业景观的草地系统在很大程度上是经济上非生产性的，生态退化的，由单一草种主导，有机碳贫乏，严重依赖投入来维持生产力。系统影响常常超出田间边界，集约化实践造成的泥浆和磷、氮污染渗入水体，影响营养状况和物种多样性。通过创新向可持续系统转变可以依赖于自然环境的线索。支持大量放牧牲畜的自然生产系统为获得“生命牧场”（PfL）认证的生产者采用模仿这些系统的牧场管理实践提供了灵感。方法包括诸如“草本草地和多种草地”和“群居放牧”等方法，这些方法可以潜在地延长放牧季节，同时在健康和生产力方面提供环境、经济和牲畜效益。拟议的研究旨在评估放牧方式对放牧管理的生态、农艺学和社会影响及其作为可持续gb级系统基础的潜力。为了实现这一目标，一个经验丰富的跨学科研究团队设计了一个项目，该项目将通过一套社会和自然科学研究方法，对牧场饲养牲畜协会（PFLA）成员农场系统及其所嵌入的社会系统（包括行业机构和公民消费者）的农艺、社会生态、可持续性和恢复力方面进行正式评估。该团队将与生产者及其支持组织（包括PFLA）密切合作，评估涵盖60家PLFA企业的可持续性标准，并评估具体的管理实践，例如对少数（15-20家）生命牧场（PfL）认证企业的“暴民放牧”。这项工作将寻求确定采用这些方法的农业创新者的动机、知识和学习方法。它还将调查农场周围治理结构的作用，并考虑其农艺和生态影响。评估将包括在当前草原/放牧管理实践的背景下对PFLA企业进行评估。它将调查PFLA农场提供的广泛的公共产品-从动物产品本身到农业实践对美学价值和碳封存的影响。该项目的结果将为放牧牲畜的农户、PfL产品的消费者和更广泛的公众提供急需的证据，证明牧场饲养牲畜方法的好处。这些证据对牲畜生产者（包括那些已经从事这种做法的人）以及政府和农业机构（如有权影响农民决策的农业和园艺发展局（AHDB））将是有价值的。这项研究将确定影响“农业革新者”采取大胆步骤走向新的管理实践的关键因素，并提供关于在其企业中支持他们的可能机制的信息。如果这些系统确实能够提供显著的生态、农艺和社会效益，该项目可能有助于改造目前构成中国大部分农业用地的一些绿色沙漠。对农民、政府和广大公众来说，一个具有复原力、农业生产力、能够储存碳、保护水质和增强生物多样性的草地景观的前景是一个令人信服的前景。

Grassland systems dominating the agricultural landscape in GB are largely economically unproductive, ecologically degraded, dominated by a single grass species, organic carbon poor and heavily reliant on inputs to maintain productivity. System impacts are often felt beyond field boundaries with slurry and P and N pollution from intensive practices leaking into water bodies and impacting on nutrient status and species diversity. Changing to sustainable systems through innovation can rely on cues from the natural environment. Naturally productive systems which support large numbers of grazing livestock have provided inspiration for Pasture for Life (PfL) certified producers to adopt pasture management practices which mimic those systems. Methods include approaches such as 'herbal leys and diverse swards' and 'mob grazing' which can potentially extend the grazing season whilst providing environmental, economic and livestock benefits in terms of health and productivity. The proposed research aims to evaluate the ecological, agronomic and social impacts of the pasture fed livestock approach to grazing management and its potential as the basis of a sustainable GB-wide system. To achieve this, an experienced interdisciplinary research team has designed a project that will deliver a formal assessment of the agronomic, socio-ecological and sustainability and resilience aspects of Pasture Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) members farm systems and the social systems in which they are embedded (including industry bodies and citizen-consumers) through a combined set of social and natural science research methodologies. The team will work closely with producers and their supporting organisations (including the PFLA) to assess sustainability criteria covering a broad spectrum of sixty PLFA enterprises and to assess specific management practices, like 'mob grazing' on a smaller number of (15-20) Pasture for Life (PfL) certified enterprises. The work will seek to identify the motivations, knowledges and ways of learning of the agricultural innovators employing these approaches. It will also investigate the role of governance structures surrounding farms as well as considering their agronomic and ecological impacts. The evaluation will include an assessment of PFLA enterprises within the context of current grassland/grazing management practices. It will investigate the broad range of public goods delivered by PFLA farms - from the animal products themselves to the impacts of the farming practices on aesthetic values and carbon sequestration. The results of the project will provide much needed evidence about the benefits of pasture fed livestock approaches for those farming grazing livestock, consumers of PfL products and wider publics. Such evidence will be valuable for livestock producers (including those already engaged in the practices) and for government and farming bodies, like the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) with the power to influence farmer decision making. The research will identify key factors which influence 'agricultural innovators' to take bold steps towards novel management practices and provide information on possible mechanisms for supporting them in their enterprises. If such systems do prove to provide significant ecological, agronomic and social benefits the project may help to transform some of the green deserts which currently form much of the agricultural land area in GB. The prospect of a resilient, agriculturally productive, grassland landscape which is storing carbon, preserving water quality and enhancing biodiversity is a compelling one for farmers, governments and wider publics.