Harry Stobbs Memorial Lecture, 1997 - Rethinking high input systems of livestock production: a case study of nitrogen emissions in Dutch dairy farming

Livestock are essential in many farming systems where they provide income, food and power, or where they enhance soil fertility or the socioeconomic s ituation of farmers. However, livestock can also cause environmental degrad ation, pollution and social inequality. The contradiction between these vie ws lies in differences between production systems, here called modes of agr iculture. This paper starts, therefore, by giving a classification of lives tock systems as a framework to rethink the role of livestock in high-input agriculture. The classification explains what is meant by high-input system s by placing them in a sequence of modes in agriculture that each face sust ainability problems in different ways. Secondly, the paper discusses negati ve effects of livestock in high-input systems by zooming in on nitrogen sur pluses in dairy farming of the Netherlands. It then elaborates ways to cope with these problems by distinguishing between linear and dynamic aspects. Linear aspects refer to reductionist approaches like other methods of feedi ng, housing and/or manure application. Dynamic aspects refer to holistic ap proaches which acknowledge that an intervention in one part of the system a ffects the functioning of the system elsewhere. Examples of practical and a dministrative measures regarding the rethinking of high-input systems are e laborated.