A. Gibon et al., Livestock fanning systems research in Europe and its potential contribution for managing towards sustainability in livestock farming, LIVEST PROD, 61(2-3), 1999, pp. 121-137
Livestock farming systems (LFS) research in Western Europe has been mainly
conducted by 'generalist' animal production researchers. It involves strong
interaction with a wide range of disciplines outside animal science to pro
vide an improved understanding of the potential for the integrated developm
ent of LFS. LFS researchers have developed concepts, methods and tools to a
ddress the livestock farming activity as a whole. The approach is primarily
based upon a dual concept of a farm which integrates human objectives and
constraints with technical knowledge derived from 'conventional' animal and
other biological sciences. Progress is achieved through the application of
systems modelling. The need for such a systems approach has increased with
recent political pressures in Europe to limit agricultural production, red
uce pollution, enhance the environment, meet new societal concerns such as
product quality and animal welfare, and maintain rural infrastructures. The
objective of the LFS Working Group of EAAP is to improve the basis of this
systems approach within the animal production scientific community. We con
sider that LFS research can contribute support for improving the sustainabi
lity of livestock systems provided that: (i) the interdisciplinary nature o
f the research is maintained and (ii) the approach maintains its roots in t
he community of animal scientists. These themes are developed in the paper.
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