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C H A P T E R
S E V E N
Comparative Typology in Six
European Low-Intensity Systems
of Grassland Management
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Rafael Caballero,1 Jan Åge Riseth,2,3 Niklas Labba,3 Ewa Tyran,4
Wieslaw Musial,5 Edyta Molik,6 Andrea Boltshauser,7
Pius Hofstetter,8 Anne Gueydon,9 Norbert Roeder,10
Helmut Hoffmann,9 Manuel Belo Moreira,11
Inocêncio Seita Coelho,12 Olga Brito11 and Ángel Gil1
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Contents
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368
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Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, CSIC, Madrid, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
NORUT Ltd., Troms, Norway, Northern Sapmi, Scandinavia
Sámi Institute, Kautokeino, Norway, Northern Sapmi, Scandinavia
Department of Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Krakow, Tatra Mountains, Poland
Department of Agricultural Economics and Organization, Agricultural University of Krakow,
Tatra Mountains, Poland
Department of Sheep and Goat Breeding, Agricultural University of Krakow, Tatra Mountains, Poland
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch, CH-Schupfheim, Entlebuch, Switzerland
Schupfheim Agricultural Education and Extension Center, CH-Schupfheim, Entlebuch, Switzerland
Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftslehre des Landbaues, Technische Universität München, Bavaria, Germany
TUM Business Scholl, Environmental Economics & Agricultural Policy Group, Technische Universität
München, Bavaria, Germany
Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical University of Lisbon, Baixo Alentejo, Portugal
Instituto Nacional de Investigaçäoo Agrária e Pescas, Ministério da Agricultura, Desenvolvimento Rural
e Pescas, Lisbon, Baixo Alentejo, Portugal
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1. Introduction
2. Presentation of Study Areas
2.1. Northern Sapmi, Fennoscandia
2.2. Tatra mountains, Poland
2.3. UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch, Switzerland
2.4. Bavaria, Germany
2.5. Baixo Alentejo, Portugal
2.6. Castile-La Mancha, Spain
3. Material and Methods
3.1. Main criteria and indicators
3.2. Management units
3.3. Sampling process
Advances in Agronomy, Volume 96
ISSN 0065-2113/07, DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2113(07)96001-0
#
2007 Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.
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4. Results
4.1. Land uses
4.2. Size of farm-holding, land prices, and grazing fees
4.3. Institutional economics
4.4. Institutional and legal frameworks
4.5. Forage deficit
4.6. Grazing infrastructure
4.7. Labor
4.8. Productivity estimates
4.9. Economic performance
4.10. Grazing management and trends
4.11. Main limiting factors
4.12. Interface to biodiversity
5. Discussion
References
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European biodiversity significantly depends on large-scale livestock systems
with low input levels. In most countries forms of grazing are organized in
permanent or seasonal cooperations (land-owner/land-user agents) and covers
different landscape such as alpine areas, forest, grasslands, mires, and even
arable land. Today, the existence of these structures is threatened due to
changes in agricultural land use practices and erratic governmental policies.
The present chapter investigates six low-input livestock systems of grassland
management with varying degrees of arrangements in different European
countries and landscapes. These large-scale grazing systems (LSGS) are reindeer husbandry in Northern Sapmi (Fennoscandia), sheep grazing in the Polish
Tatra mountains, cattle grazing in the Swiss and German Alps, cattle, sheep, and
pig grazing in Baixo Alentejo, Southern Portugal, and sedentary sheep grazing
in Central Spain. These systems showed very heterogeneous organizational
patterns in their way of exploiting the pastoral resources. At the same time,
these LSGS showed at least some of the following weaknesses such as poor
economic performance, social fragility, and structural shortcomings for proper
grazing management. Lack of proper mobility of herds/flocks or accession to
specific grazing grounds can be a cause of environmental hazards. The surveyed LSGS are mostly dependent on public handouts for survival, but successive policy schemes have only showed mixed effects and, in particular study
areas, clear inconsistencies in their aim to stop the general declining trend of
LSGS. This research assumed that detailed system research may open the way
for better-focused policy intervention, but policymakers need to take advantage
of this period of support to push ahead for reforms. Recent European Union (EU)
guidelines (2007–2013) on Rural Development Policy (RDP) and its operative
scale of high nature value (HNV) farmland can easily fit the structure and
functions of low-input grazing systems and LSGS.
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1. Introduction
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Large-scale extensive livestock systems in Europe represent large
chunks of European land relative to the size of the business operations.
As large-scale systems, they may represent links with nature values at the
landscape level, and as extensive systems, they may represent low input and
low value of production relative to the size of the business at the farming
level. These large-scale grazing systems (LSGS) are mainly located in the
most remote and less favored areas (LFAs) with harsh environmental and
sometimes difficult social conditions. A small part of the rural population
stands to make a living by maintaining traditional grazing practices, which,
in turn, shaped the environment.
As being located in mostly developed countries, these systems have faced
two main threats: intensification and abandonment (the most extreme form
of extensification). In the first case, the harsh environments have limited the
impact. In the second case, some studies have pointed out the risk of
abandonment in the LFAs of the European Union (EU) (Baudry et al.,
1996; Caravelli, 2000; Garcia-Ruiz et al., 1996; Muller, 1996; Zervas,
1998), but a pan-European coordinate socioeconomic research on the
viability of LSGS is still lacking. Farming systems thought to satisfy ecological sustainability objectives must be economically attractive to farmers, if
they are to be voluntarily adopted and continued (Dobbs, 2004). However,
only 6 of the 22 studies on extensification of European livestock systems
detailed in a review paper (Marriot et al., 2004) collected data on animal
performance and only two individual studies showed some indicators on
economic performance. None of these studies was previously coordinated
at the European level.
Maintenance of LSGS may thus be dependent on the fact that marginalization of agriculture, undermining viability of rural communities, does not
go so far. In turn, LSGS may manage to fill in gaps created by a declining
intensity of land use. In fact, the LFAs of the EU-12 represented some 56%
of the EU’s total surface area, and contained much of the high nature value
(HNV) farmland (Brouwer et al., 1997). Left to their own or under insensible schemes of policy support, the abandonment threat can be more prejudicial than the intensification threat (Atance et al., 2000; Kristensen et al.,
2004; Vicente-Serrano et al., 2004). Both threats, however, may derive
similar effects: disappearance of potential economic, environmental, and
social values (Angelstan et al., 2003; Donald et al., 2002; Krohmer and Deil,
2003; Loumou and Giourga, 2003; Tucker and Heath, 1994; Waldhardt
et al., 2004). It is common ground to highlight the importance of the
agronomic and environmental services (pollinators, biological pest control,
cultivated plants, and wild relatives, and so on) provided by these relatively
undisturbed ‘‘natural ecosystems’’ (Hillel and Rosenzweig, 2005). It is less
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common to change the arrow of causality and posing the question on how
these truly LSGS are going to survive and continue to provide their
potential assets.
European extensive systems of grassland management, notwithstanding
their ample variation in environmental and structural components, face an
encounter with modern farming or farming intensification. Can they survive with tactical concessions to modernity? Do they share some qualities
that helped them to survive? Are they adept at anticipating or adapting to
changes? Are their stakeholders shrewd managers of their assets? Are they
good advertisers of their cultural, economic, or environmental utility? Are
these systems able to integrate new values and functions to their products?
These are some questions to which a typology of policy relevance may
provide some answers. This research will argue that European policy
intervention can be devised at the space scale of LSGS and HNV farmland.
Structural and social constraints, as well as potential environmental assets,
are linked to specific systems. Sensible policy schemes can only be devised
after untangling these constraints.
In the following chapter, we sum up the results of a parametric analysis
of six European study areas. This study was conducted within the EUfunded research project ‘‘Landscape Development, Biodiversity and Cooperative Livestock System’’ (Caballero and Fernández-Santos, 2004;
LACOPE, 2002). These six study areas, and their respective LSGS, cover
a wide range of different ecological, social, and economic conditions and
exhibit different adaptations of the grazing system. The investigated largescale extensive grazing systems are representative for some of the most
widespread types of this kind of agricultural land use. One study focused
on the reindeer grazing system of the boreal-alpine biogeographical region
(Northern Sapmi); three LSGS represented different mountainous systems (Tatra Mountains in Poland, Bavarian Alps, and Swiss Alps). The
remaining two covered outstanding Mediterranean systems: the open fields
of Campo Branco and the surrounding Montado system in Portugal and the
cereal–sheep system in Spain.
Extensification is the process of reducing fertilizer inputs, management
intensity, and stocking rates at the farm level and is central to sustainable rural
policies. However, typology research in the LFAs is fragmented and extensification studies should adopt an approach that will allow their results to be
applied throughout Europe (Marriot et al., 2004; Strijker, 2005). Successfully
decoupling payments from production while maintaining HNV farming
systems represent a severe challenge to the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) of the EU. Studies are needed across a range of HNV areas in all
of Europe’s biogeographical zones (Beaufoy et al., 2003). The main objective
of this research was to assess whether some typology categories or common
features can be drawn from the data of the six study areas or divergences
between systems are perceptive for most headings and indicators.
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2. Presentation of Study Areas
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All study areas have in common that they represent pastoral systems
under harsh environments. A significant part of the biodiversity depends on
open land and the maintenance of particular pastures. To dismiss pastoralism
as a backward pursuit, an embarrassment to notions of modernization, is to
put aside a proven response to harsh environments. In most study areas,
except Baixo Alentejo (Portugal) and to a lesser extent Entlebuch (Swiss
Alps), pastoralists are not the owners of the land. This fact may represent
problems of mobility of herds/flocks or access to pastureland. Full pastoral
operations are carried out in the management unit (MU). This MU may
encompass more than one farming unit of seasonal grazing use. Four of the
investigated systems (Sámi reindeer management and the three alpine systems in central Europe) are still showing a pronounced seasonal migration
pattern. The distance can easily exceed 200 km in Northern Sapmi, while it
is rather short in the three alpine systems. The two Iberian systems are
sedentary, albeit not devoid of mobility and access problems, especially in
the cereal–sheep system of Castile-La Mancha (Spain). Key figures of the six
study areas are shown in Table 1. Geographical location of the seven
LACOPE study areas is depicted in Map 1. The study area of Connemara
(west of Ireland) was not integrated in this report.
2.1. Northern Sapmi, Fennoscandia
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These LSGS take up a large tract of the northern part of the Scandinavian
peninsula (Northern Fennoscandia), encompassing land of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Reindeer management culture by Sámi herders is well
entrenched in the area. National differences exist in historical background
(Sandberg, 2006), herder production strategies (Riseth, 2000, 2003, 2006),
as well as in the national legal and subsidy systems. In Sweden and Norway,
reindeer management, with a couple of regional exceptions, is culturally
and ethnically connected to Sámi people, while in Finland it is open to
everyone and mainly a side industry to agriculture. Full seasonal migration,
short-distance migration, and stationary patterns of reindeer herding can be
envisaged, the first most common in Norway and Sweden and the latter in
Finland.
In Norway, the husbandry unit is the base for most subsidies. Husbandry
unit leaders, by cultural tradition, are usually concession holders. The
concession model, dated from 1978, is the legal foundation for awarding
subsidies. Within husbandry units, other right holders, apart from the leader,
can be herders with subsidy allocation rights. In the western Finnmark area
(24,290 km2), to which the average Norwegian data are referred, 26 pasture
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Key figures of the regional agriculture
Total acreage of
LSGS per study
area (ha)g
Grassland (t/ha dry
matter)
Wheat grain (t/ha)
Orientation of the
livestock
production on
the LSGS
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
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Northern Sapmia
Tatra Mountainsb
Entlebuchc
Bavariad
Baixo Alentejoe
Castile-La
Manchaf
42,000,000
2500 g
7000 g
61,000 g
220,000
6,000,000
1.5 (mountain),
7.5 (valley)
–
Mainly heifers
7 (foothills)
0.8
2
–
Mainly
heifers
1
Meat-oriented
flocks (sheep,
black pig,
cattle)
2.2
Sheep
(milk and
meat-oriented)
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1–1.5
–
Reindeer
(meat-oriented)
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2.5 (mountain),
4 (valley)
–
Sheep (milk and
meat-oriented)
Syland et al. (2002). Reindriftsforvaltningen, 2005.
Statistical Yearbook (2002). Data only for Tatra National Park.
Regional management Biosphärenreservat Entlebuch (2002).
LBA (2002); Agrargebiet: Alpenvorland; meadows cut four to five times.
INE (2001, 2002) and de Sequeira (1988) for the productivity figures.
Caballero (2001).
Total acreage of the grazing systems under collective form.
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Table 1
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Biogeographical regions
Alpine
Anatolian
Artic
Atlantic
Black sea
Boreal
Continental
Mediterranean
Pannonian
Steppic
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Study areas
1. Northern Sapmi, Fennoscandia
2. Connemara, Ireland
3. Tatra, Poland
4. Bavaria, Germany
5. Entlebuch, Switzerland
6. Castile-La Mancha, Spain
7. Baixo Alentejo, Portugal
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1000
2000
3000
4000
5000 Kilometers
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National borders
Map 1 Biogeographical regions of Europe and location (hot spots) of LACOPE study areas.Source:http://dataservice.eea.eu.
int/dataservice/metadetalls.assp?table=Biogeo01&j=1.
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2.2. Tatra mountains, Poland
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districts, 241 husbandry units, 1279 reindeer owners, and 84,200 reindeers
are in the area (year 2003–2004). The subsidies are bound to the concession
holder who has to produce a certain minimum amount of meat to qualify.
Reindeer herders with no concession are not qualified for subsidies and with
little incentive to get into the reindeer industry. Reindeer families are
represented for one husbandry leader.
The Swedish and Finish subsidy systems are not based on concession
holders. In Sweden, the system is based on reindeer owners. Any owner
with a minimum level of meat production counts in the official statistics.
In Finland, the subsidy system requires husbandry masters to reach a minimum of 80 animals to qualify. Reindeer owners, with reindeer herding
as their main source of living, receive a headage payment of 22 € per animal.
In Sweden and Finland, one reindeer husbandry family may encompass several husbandry master or doallu (household). Regional data
for Sweden (northern Norbotten läns) average 332 husbandry masters,
1249 reindeer owners, and 56,522 reindeer in the area. Regional data for
Finland (Käsivarren paliskunta area) encompassed 128 husbandry masters,
168 reindeer owners, and 10,000 reindeer in the area (Paliskuntain, 2004).
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The LSGS in the Polish Tatra mountain (Carpathian region) are strongly
linked to milk sheep. These sheep stay from late autumn to mid-spring on
the lowland farms and graze clearings in the mountain forests or areas above
the timberline (alps) in the summer for roughly 160 days under care of a
flock master (baca). Usually, one baca, which is a small sheep farmer, gathers
the sheep of other small farmers (gazdas) and takes them together to the alps.
One average baca flock (some 300–350 sheep) can be composed of the flocks
of some 20 sheep of different owners. Sheep flocks under baca’s care are
allocated to several clearings (around 12 clearings per baca of an average size
of some 5 ha) in the alpine forests.
Some 75% of the clearings are privately owned and 25% is public (Tatra
National Park) land. The clearings have several owners who claim property
but do not have proper legal documents. Similarly, bacas cannot claim for
subsidies in the alps as they do not have proper renting documents. As a
whole result, devising and implementing proper policy schemes and incentives for moving sheep to the natural pastures in the alpine and subalpine
zone (alps) cannot be properly established without an overhauling of the
legal and institutional framework. Currently, farmers can only receive
subsidies for land and sheep they own on the lowland farms.
Although sharing shepherding for the summer season is traditional,
cooperation between different stakeholders (bacas, gazdas, and landowners)
is difficult to manage, people are independent and difficult to be engaged for
any form of cooperation. Some 20 years ago, sheep were moved to distant
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clearings (up to 100–150 km). These clearings are currently underused due
to difficulties in transportation and the low profitability. There is a need of
keeping traditional ways of milk processing, but also to fulfill EU sanitary
requirements. From mid-October to early May, individual sheep flocks are
moved to lowland farms and fed indoor with hay produced in summer,
while sheep flocks in the clearings.
2.3. UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch, Switzerland
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In the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch (canton Lucerne) there are 211 units
of alpine pastures (Hofstetter et al., 2006a) and 1015 (AfS, 2007) farm units
in the valleys in the year 2005. Some 20% of the farm units of the valleys
shared also one alpine unit, moving animals to the latter in the summer for
some 110–130 grazing days, depending on the altitude, exposition, and
grazing management (Hofstetter et al., 2006b). Boarded (external) animals
stay an average of 110 days with small variation. Owned animals stay a mean
of 130 days with larger variations, depending on whether and how much
the owner provides alpine pastures’ hay to the herd.
Most summer pastures are located in the prealpine area (67% between
1200 and 1400 m) and a small part in the high alpine area (up to 2500 m).
The dominant grazing lot is heifers from the lowland farms. Most alpine
units (72%) have only one stable and 28% more than one when allocated
pastures of different altitude.
Often, the area of the lowland farm unit in Entlebuch with an average of
14 ha (Hofstetter et al., 2006a) is small compared with the area of the alpine
unit (mean of 57 ha). As a consequence, private owners or tenants of alpine
units cannot properly stock the alpine units only with their own animals,
and thus external animals are added to the mixed herd. Owners of these
external animals pay a grazing fee to the owner/tenant of the alpine unit
(LBL, 2004a). These grazing fees, together with the subsidies, are the main
sources of income of most alpine units over the summer season. In the
alpine units of Entlebuch, most external animals are heifers and sheep from
the canton of Lucerne (Office for Agriculture and Forest, 2004).
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2.4. Bavaria, Germany
The Bavarian study area covers the German part of the Alps and the foothills
in their vicinity. In the year 2005, 50,000 cattle grazed on rough pastures
in this area (Miller, 2006). Heifers are the dominant livestock species on
these rough pastures, which are mainly alps, or less frequently grazed moorlands in the foothills. Over 40% of the area used by this grazing system is
under some form of cooperative livestock management or cooperative
livestock system (CLS). This makes the Bavarian study one of the remaining
strongholds of CLS, which were fairly widespread in Germany until the
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nineteenth century. For convenience, all CLS in the Bavarian study areas
will be labeled Allmende. Typically, several lowland dairy farmers participate
in the use of one Allmende on which they raise their replacement heifers
during the vegetation period. Despite the awarded incentives, the intensity
of land use declined within the last 20 years. The number of active members, the ones who send animals to the pastures of the Allmende, not only
dropped from 27 to 17—or 2% per year—for the average Allmende, but also
the number of animals using these pastures declined. The mean size of the
upland Allmende units in the sample was some 400 ha. The average unit is
more or less evenly divided between forest and grazing land. A shared
characteristic of the Bavarian and Swiss systems is that they encompass a
low-intensity farming unit of HNV, which is only an appendix to a more
intensive form of land use (the lowland farm unit).
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2.5. Baixo Alentejo, Portugal
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Two types of landscape characterize the Baixo Alentejo study area: the open
field on the flatland (Campo Branco) and, in the surrounding area with a
slightly rougher morphology and/or shallower soils, the Montado system.
In the open fields, farmers develop a more or less long rotation according
with the soil type, based on rain-fed cereal and extensive grazing in fallow
areas. This type of land habitat suited to steppe bird species and determined
the classification of the area as a Special Conservation Area (ICN, 2006).
The Montado system is an agrosilvopastoral system comprising an open
formation of cork (Quercus suber L.) and/or holm (Q. rotundifolia Lamk.)
oaks, combined with grazing activities (Coelho, 1997; Moreira and Coelho,
1997; Pinto-Correa, 2000; Pinto-Correa and Mascarenhas, 1999).
In the Portuguese case, a proper CLS does not exist, but rather a privatedominant property system with private grazing rights is dominant. Main
actors are large landowners, either managers of their farm-holding or
renters; medium-size farmers who frequently have to rent additional land
in support of a mixed crop and livestock operation; and small farmers and
landless pastoralists, the latter keeping their animals under renting agreements with landowners. Nevertheless, livestock production in this study
area is predominantly assured by large landowners even if, in many cases, the
wage granted to pastoralists includes the right to keep own animals jointly
with the landowner flock.
A more complicated picture appears when land uses and livestock species
are considered. In Baixo Alentejo three main land uses are dominant: the
open areas of cereal cultivation, where operate a mix of cereal cropping
with cattle and sheep grazing; the Montado, open forest of Quercus spp.
(holm and cork oaks), where mixed farming of Alentejano pig, meat cattle
and sheep may operate with cork extraction; the shrubby encroachment
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areas under large fallow periods, where hunting appears as a strong competitor to grazing activities as well as EU-supported afforestation programs.
Tourism operators may overlay in different land uses.
2.6. Castile-La Mancha, Spain
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The southern Castilian plain forms most of the basin of the Tajo and
Guadiana rivers. The whole region occupies an area of some 7.8 106 ha
and is divided into five administrative provinces (Albacete, Ciudad Real,
Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Toledo) and 916 municipalities. The central part
of the region is properly called the La Mancha plain, where arable land is
dominant (some 80% of total agricultural land, TAL).
In this Spanish study area, private landownership is dominant with some
common grazing land in the mountains surrounding the plain. Mixed arable
and sheep operations, where existing, are carried out of the same land units
(grazing allotments or polı´gonos de pastos), under private ownership of arable
land and public grazing rights, awarded to landless pastoralists (customary
use-rights). Sheep farmers (both milk- and meat-oriented) take advantage of
agricultural residues in arable land (mainly cereal stubble and fallow land).
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Field data were gathered in agreement with common headings and
indicators, based on previous coordinate effort (Caballero and FernándezSantos, 2004). Most teams except Northern Sapmi, which used public
statistics for Norway, used questionnaires as field data collection tool and
livestock farmers as individual recipients. In the case of Northern Sapmi, the
reindeer district was used as sample unit and official records as source of
information gathered at the level of the MU, in this case the husbandry unit
within district. In case of the three alpine systems, the whole MU encompassed two farm units as livestock farmers moved animals from alpine
private and commons grazing land over the summer season to farm holdings
in the lowland over the rest of the year. In the two Mediterranean systems,
the animals stayed over the year in the same MU, being private farm
holdings in the Montado of Baixo Alentejo (Portugal) and grazing allotments ( polı´gonos de pastos) composed of several farm holdings under public
allocation of grazing rights in Castile-La Mancha (Spain).
Questionnaires were drafted based on main criteria as agreed on the
matrix-heading: land uses, farm size and land ownership schemes, forage
deficit (FD), grazing facilities, stocking, grazing management, economic
performance, labor, and institutional factors. Productivity estimates were
calculated on either by working unit (WU) or land unit.
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Determining habitat and landscape features that lead to patterns of biodiversity is an important step for the assessment of the impact of extensification in agriculture. Local habitat factors for organisms are those influenced
by management practices (Jeanneret et al., 2003a) and seminatural biotopes
(Zebisch et al., 2004). The first authors stressed the influence of surrounding
land use. There are no general models relating overall species diversity to
landscape diversity, being the relationship depending on the organism
examined. Land uses have been identified in our study areas as a requirement to assess biodiversity responses. These responses to landscape and
habitat changes have to be identified by means of a multiindicator concept
in different landscapes situations ( Jeanneret et al., 2003b).
In the six study areas very different kinds of pastoral resources are used,
but grazing and nongrazing land uses were differentiated. Intensity of use of
grazing resources was also stressed either by accounting the level of use
of potential resources or the spatiotemporal distribution of grazing use.
In Northern Sapmi, winter and summer reindeer grounds are differentiated, partly within each country and partly across country borders, with
Norway having excellent summer pastures in the suboceanic mountain
ridge, and Sweden and Finland mostly winter pastures in the dry continental
woods. Thus, the annual grazing cycle follows the directions of big river
valleys, although borders’ barriers have curtailed the traditional migrations
of Sámi herders between countries (Riseth et al., 2003).
In the three mountainous areas (Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria), land
uses are differentiated by farm units (highland summer pastures and lowland
private farms). Grasslands are dominant in both farming units but the degree
of use and intensity are different with higher intensity in the lowland farm,
especially in Entlebuch and Bavaria, and some risk of abandonment of
upland pastures (Grunig et al., 2004). Nongrazing land uses corresponded
mainly to alpine forest and some protected areas.
In the two Iberian countries, pastoral resources encompassed a mixture
of arable land resources (stubble and fallow land) and natural pastures linked
to open oaks’ forest, the first being dominant in Castile-La Mancha and the
latter in the Baixo Alentejo. Nongrazing land in these study areas are mainly
more intensive cropped areas of vineyards, olives, and plots under irrigation,
as well as some protected areas such as subsidized afforestation parcels or
young tree plantations.
Farm size and land ownership schemes were defined either in private
grazing land or in common grazing land. The latter dominates in the
Northern Sapmi study area and in the highland pastures of Bavaria. Private
landholdings dominate in Entlebuch, Tatra, in the two Iberian study
areas, and in the lowland farms of the three alpine areas. The size of the
MU varied largely among study areas, as well as the size of farming units
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within study areas. Livestock farmers have legal grazing rights in the commons of Northern Sapmi and highland pastures of the alpine areas, private
grazing rights in all study areas, and consuetudinary (customary) use-rights
to arable pastoral resources in Castile-La Mancha. Grazing fees were applicable for allocation of grazing rights, either in commons or in private
grazing land.
Modeling the FD was defined by a mass balance of available grazing days
provided by complementary forage resources (CFR) as compared with
structural nongrazing days (Caballero, 1993, 2003). These are days along
the year where grazing is hampered by lack of vegetative growth, presence of
snow, or humid soils. The only way to avoid an FD under grazing conditions
is long- or short-distance migration patterns (trashumancia or trasterminancia).
The first migration pattern represents long-distance and horizontal movements and the latter, shorter, and vertical movements. The FD represents the
forage coverage of CFR on structural nongrazing season (SNGS).
Most areas of Northern Sapmi have operative long-distance migration
patterns though present countries’ borders and grazing restrictions based on
international border conventions, to a considerable extent, have shortened or
stopped traditional patterns for reindeer herding. Particularly in Finland, with
relatively stationary grazing patterns, supplementary feeding covers the FD.
Unfortunately, we have no sufficient data to evaluate the implications of
this fact.
In the Tatra Mountains and in the two Alps’ study areas, summer grazing
days in the highland pastures assures 100–130 grazing days and the potential
FD may occur in the lowland farms. In the two latter study areas, the
potential FD can be more acute as only a proportion of the livestock units
(LU) goes to the highland pastures. Productivity of CFR and proportion of
TAL devoted to forage conserves are key issues. In the Iberian study areas,
with stationary grazing patterns and climatic constraints, an FD may appear
if forage conserves are not provided for coverage of the SNGS.
Across study areas and farm units within study areas, grazing facilities
may differ greatly. Fences, barns, water points, milking or slaughtering
facilities, haymaking or manure handling machinery, remoteness, accessibility paths, or herders’ shelters are important indicators of less hardworking
conditions, mobility, and homogeneous grazing use. Grazing facilities are of
the outmost importance in highland pastures, remote areas, or grazing units
where the pastoralists have limited resources or rights to improve grazing
facilities such as in the Tatra Mountains or in Castile-La Mancha.
Stocking was defined as number of LU per hectare of available pastureland
over grazing seasons or grazing units. In three of the six study areas, one grazing
species is dominant: reindeer in Northern Sapmi, and sheep in the Tatra
Mountains and the Castilian plain. In the other three study areas, different
livestock species or type of animals are dominants in specific units. In the two
alpine areas of Bavaria and Entlebuch, heifers are dominant in the alpine units
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and dairy cattle in the lowland farms. In Baixo Alentejo, meat cattle is the
dominant specie followed by meat sheep, except in the holm oak Montado
where the Alentejano pig has its mostly demanded grazing territory. In these
three areas with mixed grazing, units of different species and types of animals
should be converted to LU by standard tables of equivalence to obtain the size
of the herd by grazing unit. Similarly, on each land unit, nongrazing land
should be detracted from TAL to obtain available pastureland.
In Northern Sapmi, different stocking and grazing distribution can be
related to patterns of migration of reindeer herding. In the Tatra Mountains
as well as in the Alps, differential stockings are related to lowland farm
stocking, over most of the year, and summer stocking in the highland
pastures. In Baixo Alentejo, cereal- or Montado-dominant areas may support
differential stocking densities. In the southern Castilian plain, stocking can
be related to land uses, either arable or nonarable land-linked resources.
By comparing stocking across study areas and grazing units some insight
on grazing distribution can be obtained. The question, however, of whether
study areas or specific grazing units are over- or underused remained
unchecked. This assessment would require a comparison between potential
stocking (base stocking or carrying capacity) and real stocking. Estimation
of potential stocking would be based on availability, seasonal productivity,
and quality of corresponding pastoral resources by study area or grazing
unit. However, the FD mass-balance model, applied to most study areas
except Northern Sami, may provide some insight on the adjustment of
forage supply to animals’ requirements. In Northern Sapmi, pasture surveys
have been used regularly in the latest decades. Several studies indicate
considerable overgrazing of lichen resources (particularly winter but to
some extent also fall pastures) in Finland and in the Norwegian LACOPE
area of western Finnmark as well as the adjacent Karasjok area of eastern
Finnmark (Colpaert et al., 2003; Johansen and Karlsen, 1998; Moen and
Danell, 2003).
Under the heading of grazing management, mobility of livestock across
grazing units was checked within study areas, as well as grazing days within
the grazing units. Main schemes of seasonal reproduction (mating/calvinglambing/milking seasons) allowed relating the physiological status of main
grazing species with seasonal grazing units. Grazing management also
assessed the animal lots under grazing or indoor feeding by grazing season
as well as main herding practices. The latter included whether herds/flocks
were permanently conducted or only temporarily checked.
Main grazing species, animals’ lots, animals’ breed, production objectives, and main indicators of animals’ performance were also recorded in this
heading. Different production objectives were recorded across the six study
areas and even within one specific study area.
Animals’ performance indicators were required for estimating the value
of production farming. For milking lots, marketed milk per dairy cow or per
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breeding ewe and for meat production, the mean live weight (LW) of
animals at selling or slaughter weight in the case of Northern Sapmi were
recorded. Some other productivity indicators such as milk production per
WU were also recorded. Distribution of milk production over the year or
main processing-marketing channels of important livestock products were
also recorded in most study areas.
Under this heading, some indicators of future trends in the grazing
management of LSGS were also recorded. Current or predicted changes
in LSGS management may have some ecological and economic effects.
Changes in land uses that can promote better grazing practices and productivity, trends in grazing days, animals’ lots under grazing, or trends in spatial
distribution of grazing over the MU were some management indicators
recorded. It was also important to assess the trends in the extensive grazing
operations in the face of the European debate between extensification and
intensification of LSGS (Caravelli, 2000; Marriot et al., 2004; Pinto-Correa
and Mascarenhas, 1999; von Boberfeld et al., 2002).
Economic indicators were recorded with the aim of allowing a certain
harmonization of reporting and comparison between study areas. Classical
cost-benefit analysis was the main tool devised for analysis. The heading was
divided in two main tiers: income structure and cost structure. The latter
recorded external supply of feeding inputs, animal health expenditure and
veterinary assistance, grazing fees, amortization and interests, labor (family
or waged), and other costs such as transportation, animal acquisitions, or
stock depreciation. Within the income tier, value of production farming,
subsidies, and other income sources were recorded. Net profit or losses
were calculated by detracting total cost from farming income, either with
or without subsidies. Notwithstanding this common economic framework,
we opted to maintain the traditional farm accounting of individual study
areas instead of looking for a rather artificial harmonization. The main
reason for this approach was that we were looking for a general picture of
economic sustainability emerging from data of individual study areas rather
than cross comparisons of individual study areas. These comparisons are still
possible, taking into account particularities of farm accounting.
Taking into account the high degree of heterogeneity of the farm
structure between and within study areas, the definition and selection of a
meaningful economic indicator is not straightforward. In our study areas we
have a gradient of increasing ratio of capital demand to running costs with
corresponding increase of imputed costs. The remuneration of the production factors family labor, own capital, own land, and own assets induce
imputed costs. One factor determining the relevance of imputed costs is the
productive orientation. Dairy operations, such as in the lowland farms of
Entlebuch and Bavaria, have higher imputed costs than the ones focusing on
meat production. In these areas, the imputed costs can be in the some order
of magnitude as the running expenses.
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Most of the study areas depend greatly on family labor. Whether a
farmer has to take into account this and other imputed costs depends on
his/her attitude toward farming and his/her dependence on on-farm
income. Only in Baixo Alentejo and Castile-La Mancha, family labor was
valued due to the apparent trend of relying on waged labor. To correctly
assess the economic sustainability of a given farm, one has to know the
personal valuation of the farm-specific production factors. This would allow
an adequate assessment of its imputed costs.
Having these problems with the correct assessment of the imputed costs,
we selected the cash flow as the main indicator for the cross-country
comparison of the economic sustainability. The cash flow has the advantage
that it can be traced back to ‘‘real’’ monetary transactions, reducing the
potential assessment bias. However, a cash flow of a given magnitude does
not imply the same degree of economic sustainability across the study areas.
In one system, the imputed costs might be negligible due to the low capital
demand of the system and the use of waged labor implying that the cash flow
is nearly equal to the profit. In another, the imputed costs might even exceed
the running expenses. For the study areas where these considerations play a
role, these aspects will be addressed and discussed in the respective paragraphs. In addition, peculiarities of some running or imputed costs in specific
study areas are described in the text. With respect to public handouts, the
data depict the situation in EU countries before the 2003 CAP reform.
Income and cost tiers were calculated for MU. In some study areas such
as in Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria, the whole MU is composed of two farm
units: the highland pastures and the lowland farm, with different income,
cost, and subsidy tiers attached to the respective unit. In Entlebuch, for
example, grazing fees are a source of income instead of cost as owners of the
external livestock, added to the alpine unit, pay a grazing fee to the owner/
manager of the alpine unit. In those cases, separated records were available
for each farm unit and results can be combined to get a picture of the whole
MU. For harmonization of reporting and comparison between study areas,
results were recorded for LU of the respective type of animals. In the case of
Northern Sapmi, official records were used to assess the economic performance in Norway, while Sweden and Finland data are mainly based on
herder interviews as statistics are incomplete.
Subsidies are an important tier in most extensive European livestock
systems. A befuddled complex series of subsidy schemes are operative across
study areas and even within one study area. Subsidies are awarded by EU,
national and regional governments, or shared by both, and are allocated as
direct payments, rural development schemes (agri-environment schemes,
less-favored areas, and so on), specific grazing practices, and specific grazing
units (a pool of public handouts). Notwithstanding this confusion, total
subsidies were recorded by manager/owner of the MU and expressed as
percentage of total value of production (OECD, 2001).
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Under the labor heading, number of WU was recorded per MU on
each study area. Labor was differentiated as familiar or waged and as full- or
part-time employment. Labor productivity was rated as value of production farming per WU or number of LU/WU. The working hour (wh)
annual standard was 1800 Awh. Working intensity was classified as
High (H), Medium (M), and Low (L), regarding care intensity and
migration/stationary models of herding.
Legal and institutional frameworks were important especially in those
study areas where grazing rights are shared or regulated by some regulatory
institution. Entitlement of property rights or renting contracts were also
important for grazing regulation or subsidies’ allocation in some areas such as
the Tatra Mountain. Government regulations of grazing rights’ and subsidies’
allocation were especially important in study areas dominated by common
lands (Northern Sapmi) or landless pastoralists (Castile-La Mancha). Farmers’
opinions were recorded on the sustainability of the legal and institutional
framework regulating the grazing operation, recent management trends, as
well as the main destabilizing or limiting factors of the grazing systems.
3.2. Management units
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The reindeer husbandry matrix was based on the average economic data
from the LACOPE target areas in Northern Sapmi. For Finland, only one
district or MU was included in LACOPE. Economic data for this district
were available. For Sweden, however, only mean regional data of national
target areas were available. These regions included several districts: Northern
Norrbotten Mountain Sámi (nine districts). In Norway, most data were
available on district level, here used for western Finnmark (26 pasture
districts). LACOPE districts are within these regions with one exception in
Sweden. The numbers provided in the data matrix are average for these
regions, as individual districts (siida in Norway/Sámi village in Sweden) data
were not available. In these latter two countries, the MU was the husbandry
unit within reindeer districts, where economic data were gathered and most
subsidies allocated. National models (three matrices) are based on regions
corresponding to each country (Norway, Sweden, and Finland). The
national differences were larger in the income tiers than in the cost tiers as
a consequence of differences in herder production strategies (Riseth, 2000,
2003), differential prices of reindeer meat, as well as national subsidy systems.
In this study area, data were available for the three national models of
reindeer herding (Norway, not a member of the EU; Sweden and Finland
members of the EU).
Two farming units constitute the grazing system in the Tatra Mountains.
The whole MU is thus composed of the lowland farm and the clearing alps.
In order to gain a more profound insight in the system, a specific questionnaire was designed for each farming unit that took into account their
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respective peculiarities. As a result of the breeding scheme (one lambing per
year), the milking period corresponds to the summer season where traditional cheese making (bundz and oscypek cheeses) takes place. During the
lowland farm period, marketed lambs and subsidies are the main sources of
income.
In Entlebuch, the whole MU is composed of two farming units, one in the
valley as a private farm and one in the alpine pastures (67% as a private unit,
26% as tenant, and 7% in some private or public cooperative agreements).
In Bavaria, the MU also encompassed two farming units. The lowland
private farm, where animals stayed over the year. The land is in the
ownership of the farmers or rented and is individually exploited. The
second type of unit is the cooperative upland Allmende, where farmers
sent their heifers for the summer grazing season. These units can be in the
ownership of different bodies (private person, local authority, cooperative,
and so on) and are jointly used and managed from the lowland private
farmers. Although specific incentives are awarded for the use of upland
pastures, only some 28% of lowland farmers send the totally of their heifers
to the Allmende where they are raised under extensive grazing (Niemeyer
and Rosenthal, 2003).
The study area of Baixo Alentejo is the only one where the MU
coincides with individual farm holdings.
Individual holdings in Castile-La Mancha, mainly devoted to cereal
cultivation, are grouped in large grazing allotments (polı´gonos de pastos)
that encompass patches of diversity of resources such as cereal, annual
legumes and sunflower stubble, shrubby-steppe vegetation (eriales), natural
pastures, and fallow lands. The agricultural land of each municipality is
divided, according to its size, into several polı´gonos and each small
landowner, having a parcel within the polı´gonos, receive a per hectare
grazing-fee paid by landless pastoralists who rented. More than 90% of
sheep farmers rely on the polı´gonos de pastos and some of them add small
parcels of owned or rented land outside the official system. As arable farming
is the primary land use objective and crops are interspersed, the polı´gonos
are unfenced, and sheep flocks should be permanently conducted with
high working intensity. Individual polı´gonos corresponds to MU in this
study area (Caballero, 2001).
3.3. Sampling process
The matrix of data in Northern Sapmi was based on different public and
private sources, and encompassed data from national reindeer models in
Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The Norwegian reindeer husbandry administration publishes an annual economic report based on numbers and
accounts from the reindeer herders and their supervising organizations
(konomisk Utvalg, 2004). In Sweden and Finland, there are no annual
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economic publications. The Swedish data are based on a joint publication
issued by the Swedish bureau of statistic and Swedish reindeer-herding
organization (SSR, 1999). The Finnish data were received from nonpublished sources given by the Association of reindeer herding cooperatives for
the year 2003.
Of a total population of 2751 farmers in the Tatra area, 40 lowland sheep
farms were sampled. The results for the summer season corresponded to
17 flocks under the care of a main shepherd (baca-unit) and additional labor
support by younger shepherds. Data gathered correspond to the year 2003.
A main heading-based questionnaire was sent to the 230 owners and/or
managers of the alpine units in the Entlebuch Reserve and 107 completed
questionnaires were gathered. Effective rate of response to the different tiers
of the questionnaire varied from 75% to 100% of the filled questionnaires.
Other sources of reported information were used and recorded in the
corresponding heading. Most managers and owners of the alpine unit
(some 90%) have a farm unit in the valley. Information on these farm
units was mostly recorded from BfS (2004) and AfS (2004). Data for both
farm units corresponded to the year 2003.
In the prealpine and alpine agrarian regions of Bavaria still exist around
1200 alps, in 155 thereof more than one farmer is involved in their exploitation (Allmende). For the purpose of this study, 56 farms participating in
CLS and 34 Allmende were surveyed. Of the 56 farms, 38, 13, and 5 are
located in the agricultural regions of the Alps, prealps, and prealpine
moraine belt, respectively. Of those farms, 43 had entitlements to use the
Allmende: 33 of those are located in the Alps and 10 in the prealps. The left
13 farms did not posses any entitlement but board their animals on the CLS.
Average farm size increased from 29 LU in the Alps to 62 in the prealps and
82 in the prealpine moraine belt.
In the same way, a number of 34 upland units were investigated. Most of
them are located in the alpine region (25), 5 are situated in the prealpine
area, 2 in the prealpine moraine belt, and 2 in the southern Bavarian
foothills. Mean size of the upland Allmende unit is some 470 ha and ranges
from 10 to 7400 ha. The average unit is more or less divided between forest
and grazing land. Data for both units corresponded to the year 2003.
In the study area of Baixo Alentejo, 15 mixed-operating farm holdings
were sampled. Data corresponded to the agricultural year 2003–2004.
Official records of sheep farmers in Castile-La Mancha, entitled of EU
subsidies, amounted to some 8000. In the study area, 231 sheep farmers of
the whole region were sampled with the criteria that the 5 provinces were
to be represented by at least 5 farmers on each one of the 21 counties in
the region. The survey tool was a questionnaire drafted according to main
headings and totally 72 variables of quantitative and qualitative character.
Surveyed sheep farmers were previously contacted for the local veterinary
staff of the Animal Health Associations or Agrupaciones de Defensa Sanitaria
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(ADS) in its Spanish acronym. The staff concerted working meetings with
their corresponding affiliates to explain the objectives of the survey and
content of the questionnaire. In this way, the rate of response was almost
100%. Data gathered in this study area corresponded to the year 2002.
4. Results
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Typology of grazing systems with policy relevance can be addressed as a
combination of analysis-related categories and systemic assessment of common features or trends. Even if a great deal of variation can be found for land
use or grazing management indicators, both within or between systems,
some common features may arise such as poor economic performance, scarce
labor supply, abandonment, consolidation, legal or institutional drawbacks,
and poorly devised subsidy schemes. From these main identified issues,
policy actions can be derived although proper devising and implementation
should be consistent with particularities of the individual systems. The
interesting point in comparative typology of our six study areas is to untangle,
if existing, these common features in the wide range of variation of most
indicators. This report deals mainly with analysis of descriptive categories. In
Section 5, however, we will try to uncover common features and trends to
the six study areas. Between-system variability will be recorded in tables by
indicating study areas’ averages of main indicators, and within-system variability of some significant indicators will be recorded in the text. For those
study areas with two farming units per MU (Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria),
indicators will be differentiated or weighed either in tables or in the text.
CO
Land uses were related by their potential contribution to the forage supply.
In Northern Sapmi and the alpine study areas, nonarable land makes the
most significant contribution to pastoral resources, mostly as natural grassland. In the two Iberian study areas, however, pastoral resources derived
from arable land made a significant contribution to the feed supply
(Table 2).
In the study area of Northern Sapmi, boreal forest/open tundra and
natural alpine grassland dominate while cultivated agricultural lands are
limited to valley and fjord areas, in North Norway about 1% of the total
land area (Statistics Norway, 2004). Most of grasslands and large proportion
of forest/tundra can be used as summer and winter grounds, respectively,
for reindeer herding. Imagining a scale from continuous outfields via plots
of outfields and managed pastures to plots of infields and indoor feeding, the
Northern Sapmi system is still to a very high extent based on feeding from
continuous unmanaged pastures.
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Table 2 Land uses and pastoral significance in the six study areas (% TAL)
Indicatora
Arable land
Nonarable
Land
Pastureland
Tatra
Entlebuch
Bavaria
Baixo
Alentejo
Castile-La
Mancha
1
99
3
97
0.5
99.5
1
99
40
60
65
35
80
93
99.5
80
75.3
85
Data corresponds to the lowland farm units in Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria.
F
a
Northern
Sapmi
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In the Tatra Mountains, land uses recorded in Table 2 corresponded to
the lowland farm unit. In the alpine unit (sheep in bacas’ care for the summer
grazing season), arable land was underrepresented but pastureland (clearings
in the forest) accounted for some 30% of TAL. The rest were alpine forest.
In the study area, clearings and forest were in the proportion of 1:1 in
hectare.
In Entlebuch, the data recorded corresponded to land in the lowland
farm. In the alpine unit, unproductive land and forest take up some 40% of
the land, the rest being pastureland of natural grasslands (51%), nature
protected areas (5%), and grazing forest (4%).
Similarly, land uses for Bavaria corresponded to the lowland farm unit.
In this case, 60% of the farm hectare was composed of intensively managed
land (intensive pastures plus arable land) and 20% corresponded to the
extensive managed land (litter meadows and alpine pastures). Some 20%
of the land managed in the lowland farms were composed of forest.
Referring to the 1999 agricultural census the study area of Baixo
Alentejo counted with more than 220,000 ha of TAL of which, 40%
corresponded to arable land (temporary crops and fallow), 40% to area
under permanent pastures and oak forests, and 20% of shrubland. Broadly,
we can consider two different systems. The first, corresponded to cereal
growing areas where residues (cereal stubble) are used by cattle and/or
sheep and, the second, to the open-forest dominant areas (Montado) where
cultivation was only occasional and where a mix of suckle cows, sheep, and
Alentejano pigs were operating. Nongrazing land areas included shrubby
invaders where only hunting may operate and some nongrazing cropland of
vineyards, olives, and parcels under irrigation.
In the southern Castilian plain, arable land was dominant, especially in
the central part of the region (La Mancha) where arable land takes up
some 80% of TAL. Nonarable land was more significant in the foothill
and mountain areas surrounding the plain. In this study area, pastureland
included cereal, legumes, and sunflower stubble in the arable land, and
natural pastures, eriales (shrub-steppe vegetation), and grazing Mediterranean forest in nonarable land. Nongrazing land uses included mainly
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vineyards, olives, and irrigated parcels in the arable land part and dense
Mediterranean forest in the nonarable part, encroached by shrubby invaders
because of lack of grazing use.
In most study areas, the coefficient of variation (CV) of many land use
variables exceeded 0.8 or even 1, indicating very skewed distributions.
For instance, in the sample of lowland farms of the Tatra Mountains,
nonarable land per farm was 15 17 ha and area of natural grassland per
farm was 13 16 ha. In the sample of Baixo Alentejo, the mean total
pastured area was 379 322 ha, corresponding to 89% of the total area,
while the proportion of arable land/TAL was 67 72%. In the sample of
Castile-La Mancha, proportion of arable land over TAL was 65 28%
(Table 2), and the proportion of natural pastures plus eriales over TAL was
17 17%. These two and all other land use variables showed asymmetrical
distribution (absence of normality) as rated by the W-test of normality
(Shapiro and Wilk, 1965).
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4.2. Size of farm-holding, land prices, and grazing fees
CO
RR
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In Northern Sapmi, the farm-holding size was of less relevance as reindeer
grazing is organized by pasture districts and husbandry units. In the western
Finnmark area (Norway), with 24,290 km2 and 241 husbandry units, the
mean size was some 10,000 ha per husbandry unit (Table 3)
In the Tatra Mountains, the average renting price of pastureland (9 €/ha)
and the grazing fee (4 €/ha) corresponded to the lowland farm unit
(Table 3). In the alpine unit (sheep in bacas’ care), mean grazing fees were
4.8 €/ha in public lands (Tatra National Park) and 36 €/ha in private lands.
The mean size of the alpine unit was 46 ha/baca flock. The price of land is
currently under adaptation to the free market rules but the number of land
transactions in the study area of Tatry and Podhale are very limited.
Attachment to the land is part of the cultural character and, most frequently,
land is transferred within the family. Even land lease is not based on written
contracts and even long periods of occupancy do not mean any right for the
leaseholder. Land transfer prices are much lower when ‘‘within the family’’
(some 2300 €/ha) than for ‘‘outsiders’’ (some 4000 €/ha). In other Carpathian
regions, such as Beskid Niski, prices are much cheaper (some 1000 €/ha),
transactions are more frequent, and do not carry so deep emotions.
In Entlebuch, the mean size of the sampled lowland farm was 14 ha
(Table 3) and the mean size of the alpine unit was 57 ha. Managers/owners
of the lowland farms do not own enough animals to stock one unit of
alpine pastures. They should rely on external animals to stock properly the
alpine units. Owners of these external animals pay a grazing fee to alpine
owners/managers (Wirz Handbuch, 2004). This side income represented
the main income tier (59%), together with subsidies (41%), for the alpine
unit operation. For this reason, luring external farmers to bring their animals
RR
Table 3 Farm-holding structure, prices, and grazing fees in the study areas
Indicator
Size of the farm holding (ha)
Size of herd/flock (LU)
Price of the lowland farm (€/ha)
Rent of the lowland farm (€/ha)
Grazing fees (€/ha)
MU using LSGS (%)b
a
b
EC
Northern Sapmia
Tatra
Entlebuch
Bavaria
Baixo
Alentejoa
Castile-La
Mancha
10,000
48
NA
NA
NA
100
15
12.7
4000
9
4
90
14
15.6
32,000
500
286
20
37
40.7
25,000
143
22.5
28
425
141
3250
50
17
NA
500
82
4900
50
3.2
90
TE
D
PR
OO
In Northern Sapmi, mean size of the husbandry unit in western Finnmark (Norway). NA (not applicable). In Baixo Alentejo mean size based on the agriculture census
was 65 ha. However, average LSGS involved larger farmers as it is represented in our sample (mean size 425 ha).
Management units (MUs) using cooperative pastures or extensive grazing units (i.e., alpine units in Tatra, Entlebuch or Bavaria, rented pastures in Baixo Alentejo
or polı´gonos de pastos in Castile-La Mancha). Approximately, the land price on the alpine unit of Entlebuch ¼ 10,000 €/ha.
F
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to the Alps for summer grazing was of paramount importance for the
sustainability of the alpine system. In this case, the grazing fee stated in
Table 3 was a mean estimation of external grazing fees and represented a
source of income. Estimation1 was based on grazing fee paid by the most
represented lot (1- to 2-year-old heifers).
In Bavaria, the total hectare of the farms ranged from 3 to 124 ha with a
mean size of 37 ha (Table 3). The cooperative upland Allmende ranged from
10 to 7400 ha with an average of 468 ha. The grazing fees in the Allmende
were much lower as in the other alpine regions. Mean seasonal stocking
(some 120 grazing days) on these units reached 0.9 LU/ha and mean grazing
fee was 25 €/LU. Mean grazing fee in the alpine unit (Allmende) was thus
some 22.5 €/ha (Table 3). However, it should be stressed that in a lot of
cases (around 50% of the Allmende), no grazing fees were claimed. The other
indicators represented in Table 3, for this study area, are mean sizes and
prices in the lowland farms.
In the Baixo Alentejo sample, the mean size of farm holdings was
425 256 ha, but only 72 178 ha corresponded to permanent natural
pastures. According with expert knowledge information in all the reference
area (Alentejo), it is frequent the acquisitions of grazing rights on a year basis
(or part of the year) with the grazing fees ranging from 10 to 20 €/ha per
year according with the quality of the land. In the few cases of our sample
where the acquisition of grazing rights was reported, the grazing fees
attained 17.5 €/ha. Renting land (some 9% of TAL) on a yearly basis or
for larger period showed a wide variation, 7 €/ha as a minimum to 63 €/ha
as maximum. In Baixo Alentejo study area the price of agriculture land
ranged from 1500 to 5000 €/ha according with the quality of land.
Considering the whole area of the Baixo Alentejo, this range would be
enlarged if good clay soils of the Beja area (land price ranging from 4000 to
7500 €/ha), or if land located inside the perimeter from the new Alquevadam irrigation system (10,000 to 15,000 €/ha) were taken into
consideration.
In Castile-La Mancha, mean size of farm holdings (500 ha) corresponded
to the MU ( polı´gonos de pastos) where individual sheep flocks are maintained. These MUs are aggregation of individual farm holdings with mean
regional size of some 30 ha. In some counties and municipalities, the
polı´gono may encompass the landholdings of up to 80 landowner cultivators.
Grazing fee corresponded to the sheep allotments under public allocation of
grazing rights ( polı´gonos parcelarios). Rented pastureland by private landowners was two to three times higher, although private landowners, who
do not own a flock, rarely rent their land for sheep grazing.
1
External grazing fee in Entlebuch ¼ 0.9 LU/ha 2.5 heifers/LU 1.27 €/heifer per day 100 days ¼
286 €/ha.
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Within study area variation for indicators of this heading was also
large. In the Tatra Mountains, for example, mean size of farm holdings
was 15 17 ha, and average area of bacas’ flock was 49 13 ha in the
clearings of the alps. In Entlebuch, the altitude of 95 huts of sampled alpine
units varied from 900 to 1600 m. Some huts were located in the high alpine
area (up to 2500 m), with corresponding variation in size and land
uses, land prices, and grazing fees, derived from differences in accessibility.
In Bavaria, lowland farm size ranged from 3 to 124 ha in the sample and land
price of agricultural land may reach a maximum of 32,000 €/ha (mean of
25,000 €/ha). Although mean size of the Allmende unit is some 470 ha,
considering the nongrazing land (forest and wasteland) it may reach
more than 7000 ha. In Castile-La Mancha, mean size of the polı´gonos was
499 513 ha or a CV of more than 100% and mean grazing fees 3.21
3.51 €/ha. Mean price of land for selling or renting showed less variation
with values of 4900 1325 €/ha and 50 17 €/ha, respectively.
PR
4.3. Institutional economics
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RR
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The investigated LSGS were closely linked to specific property rights,
especially the ones organized in a collective form (in the following mentioned as CLS). The CLS studied manifest a number of institutional features.
First, to some extent, CLS have accommodated a certain welfare institution
within their own institutional limits by providing livelihood security to
people with very limited alternative possibilities. Second, CLS provided
access equity and conflicts resolution for its participants as a functional
necessity. Third, there are complex relations between the institutional
system and the mode of production including embedded cultural features
making the production system viable. Fourth, CLS by mostly being based
on some form of rotational and limited use of pastures contributed to
resource preservation and ecological sustainability. Concluding on institutional properties, CLS had much in common with common-pool resources
(CPR). The users have to make collective agreements and have to decide
how the resource use can be arranged in such a fashion so that the benefit of
each user is proportional to the effort of that user. Moreover, CLS had in
cases served as a vehicle for the social distribution of goods among
the deprived segments of the population and thus had a potential to
contribute as a buffer to take care of the destitute parts of a population.
A comparative analysis of the organization and structural form of the
grazing systems presented the role different groups of actors play in these
systems and their interrelationships (Gueydon et al., 2004). We could
distinguish four main groups of roles: the landowners, resource owners,
livestock owners, and pastoralists. The role of the landowner was to provide
a part or all of the pastoral resource. The role of the resource owner was to
hold the right to exploit a part or all of the resource. The role of the
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livestock owner was characterized by the fact that he/she owns some or all
the animals grazing on the resource. Finally, the role of the pastoralist was to
conduct on his own or together with others the herds on the resource.
As shown in Table 4 the landowner can be a single entity for example
the state such as in Northern Sapmi and Bavaria. It can be several individual
persons acting independently like in the Tatra, in Baixo Alentejo, and also
in some cases in Northern Sapmi and Bavaria. It can finally be a community
of landowners like in Castile-La Mancha and sometimes in Bavaria or a
formal legal entity like in Entlebuch and sometimes in Bavaria.
In Northern Sapmi, Castile-La Mancha, and Entlebuch, and in the more
frequent setting of Bavaria, community of people (landowners or livestock
owners) jointly owned the resources. In Baixo Alentejo and in the Tatra
Mountains the landowners were likewise the owners of the resource. They
rent the land or sell the resource for grazing activities under market conditions. The land and resource’s ownership was separated in Northern Sapmi,
Castile-La Mancha, and in some cases in Bavaria. The land belongs to
individual landowners or the state but these entities do not have any
statement to issue concerning the utilization or the distribution of the
pastoral resource. In most cases the landowners received only limited
revenues, if at all, for contributing their land to the system.
In all cases, livestock was individually owned, implying that profits from
the exploitation of the resource by selling marketable products, receiving
subsidies related to the number and kind of livestock or related to the way
the grazing is performed, were not shared.
In most cases, except in Bavaria and Northern Sapmi, the direct utilization of the resource was under a single appropriator. Generally in cases of a
single appropriator, the pastoralist was one of the livestock owners who may
board animals of other livestock owners on his own account (Tatra and
Entlebuch) or was being paid a fixed wage by livestock owners (alpine areas
of Bavaria and sometimes in Entlebuch). In Baixo Alentejo, it was also
frequent that the herdsmen combine a fix wage with the right to freely graze
their own animals. In the prealpine region of Bavaria the livestock owners
were also pastoralists as the work requirements for taking care of the
livestock do not demand the employment of a herdsman. In Northern
Sapmi, the pastoral-related work like herding and preparation of the herd
for slaughtering was done cooperatively by the Sámi. In the Tatra Mountains, the pastoralist can be landowner and therefore also one of the resource
owners and he frequently owns a significant part of the herded livestock
himself.
The clarification of the different groups of actors and their role gave
indication on the action which are collectively undertaken and consequently help to systemize the notion of ‘‘cooperative systems’’ within the
different regions. Two different types of activities were carried out together;
these were the collective provision of the land and the collective utilization
Actors
CO
Landowner
(resource
provider)
Northern Sapmi
RR
Individual
landowners
Tatra Mountains
Entlebuch
Bavaria
Individual
landowners
Community of
landowners
(formal)
Community of
landowners
(informal or
formal)
State
Individual
landowner
Joint ownership
of landowners
EC
Resource owner
Livestock owner
Pastoralist
(resource user)
a
b
State
Collective private
bodya
Joint ownership of
Sámi (siida)b or
reindeer pasture
‘‘district’’
Jointly the members
of siida
TE
Individual
landowner
Individual
pastoralist
Joint ownership
of
landowners
D
Baixo
Alentejo
Castilla-La
Mancha
Individual
landowners
(Community
of) small
landowners
Landowner
Joint
ownership
of sheep
holders and
landowners
Individual
pastoralists
Individual
pastoralist
PR
Joint ownership
of livestock
owners
Community of
right holders
Individual livestock owner
Individual
Same as ‘‘resource
pastoralist
owner’’ (or
herdsmen)
OO
F
Finnmark State and preliminary property during process of land reform (Sandberg, 2006), Norway; crown/state in Sweden/Finland but Sámi land claims.
Norwegian expression. In Sweden it is the Sami village and in Finland Paliskunta (cooperative). But in essence it is the same form of organization among the three countries.
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Table 4 Actors involved in the cooperative livestock systems (CLS)
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of the resources. Table 5 gives an overview of the presence of these actions
in the different grazing systems. One major reason to opt for collective
action was to realize economies of scale or to reduce transaction costs
(Gueydon et al., 2004).
The degree of governmental involvement varied significantly between
the different study areas. In Northern Sapmi, Castile-La Mancha, and
Entlebuch, the systems were strongly regulated by external rules and specific
public laws. In contrast, the authorities in the Tatra Mountains, Baixo
Alentejo, and Bavaria were not involved in the management of the systems apart from general regulations dealing with ‘‘good agricultural practices.’’ These rules applied to all farmers or in the case of Baixo
Alentejo to the farmers benefiting from the Zonal Plan of Castro Verde,
which is an EU agri-environmental measure aimed at the preservation
of steppe birds such as the Great Bustard (Otis tarda). Moreover, the
investigated systems ranged from ones with a relatively rigid internal
structure and rule system, like in Entlebuch and Bavaria, to others with a
high degree of governmental involvement, like in Castile-La Mancha and
in Northern Sapmi.
TE
Table 5 Organization forms and collective actions in european grazing systems
Organization forms
RR
EC
Study area
N. Fennoscandia
Tatra Mountains
Entlebuch
CO
Bavaria
Baixo Alentejo
Castile-La
Mancha
Sámi pasture ‘‘district’’
(formal) Siida
(cultural origin)
Private property of the
alpine meadows
Private property under
private or
cooperative law
Allmende
Private property of
agroforestry area and
rarely transhumance
to rented cereal areas
Polı´gonos parcelarios
Source: Gueydon et al. (2004).
Collective
provision of
the land
Collective
utilization of
the resource
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
(Yes)
(Yes)
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
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4.4. Institutional and legal frameworks
CO
RR
EC
TE
D
PR
OO
F
Present status of extensive grassland management systems is derived from
land-use rules and institutions. Past traditional forms had to be adapted to
the pressure of social changes and improved economic environment in most
developed countries of our study areas. This may require new forms of
production, sensible institutional and legal frameworks, and proper schemes
of support in pursuit of economic, environmental, and social values. Whether
these changes can be devised and implemented without losing the traditional
values of these systems is a main challenge that can be addressed under a
regeneration approach. The matrix headings compiled some farmers’ opinions
on these issues already addressed by experts’ knowledge in previous work
packages of LACOPE (Riseth et al., 2003).
In Northern Sapmi, land-use policies and constraints regulating reindeer
herding have been described by Riseth et al. (2003). In this area, land
development had an impact on reindeer traditional pasturing areas. The
UN report GLOBIO (UNEP, 2001) has researched the human impact and
found that about 26% of the grazing areas in northern Norway have been
lost in recent times and that there are serious impacts on about 50% of
all grazing areas in Norway. The future prospects seem clearly negative and
the situation is much similar in the whole Northern Sapmi.
In the Tatra Mountains, farm protectionism has changed since the
liberalization on July 1, 1989. Since 1992, an assistance program for agriculture and farms has been developed. The local government, called gminny,
provides some farms assistance but barely for mountain sheep farming.
LSGS in the Tatra Mountains was plagued with structural and legal
problems between the main social actors: sheep owners ( gazdas), shepherds
(with a main shepherd ¼ baca), and landowners. Improvement of the legal
and institutional framework was probably the most limiting factor that
should be addressed before introducing instruments of the new CAP policy
(structural rural development and direct payments). Written documents of
ownership are lacking and some land ownership ‘‘runs in a family’’ with
most people respecting but without legal documents to prove it. There is
a need to maintain traditional grazing practices as part of a cultural background but also to fulfill EU sanitary requirements for milk processing.
Technical support and measures to stress cooperative behavior are also
required.
In Entlebuch, private property and private grazing rights were dominants (67%) in alpine units. One MU was usually composed of one farming
unit in the lowland and one alpine unit. The livestock farmer managed both
units during the summer grazing season driving down to the lowland valley
farm for hay harvesting. Leasing of alpine units from private owners was also
common in Entlebuch (26% of alpine units) while some farm cooperation
by public or private law were less common in Entlebuch (some 7% of alpine
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units). In these cases only members of the whole local community or
members of private law cooperation had a share of grazing rights.
In Bavaria, the Allmende (CLS) system, in the sample, encompassed several
cooperative forms depending on land property, legal form, and grazing rights.
Land property comprised three categories: private (7% of whole surveyed
hectare), public (71%), and cooperative (22%). In the surveyed study area, a
short minority of Allmende (41% of the total number of sampled units) was
organized as a collective organization with the land under the property of the
cooperative. Also, frequent were types of public-owned land rented to livestock farmers (23% of units) and fractional ownership and management (23%
of units). The most frequent legal form of the Allmende was a registered
cooperative (42%) or registered association (9%). An important part of units
(30%) did not present any registered legal form.
Regarding the level of use of grazing rights, only 32% of upland units
managed a full use of grazing rights. However, in 34% of the Allmende less
than 60% of grazing rights were used. In those CLS an underuse was
apparent. Grazing fees were paid in only some 50% of CLS. In these
units, grazing fees per LU varied from 0 up to 90 €/LU with average of
25 €/LU and 75% quartile of 30 €/LU per annum. Many units charged no
or low grazing fee due to the decline in the number of animals that are sent
to the alpine pastures. The Allmende therefore created an incentive for the
owners of boarding animals. Members have also additional ancillary rights
for hunting, mowing, or wood collection although sampled farmers indicated insignificant use of such rights. Users can be classified as active or
passive members, depending on whether they send their animals to the
alpine pastures. Some users were not members and do not have entitlements. They are, however, allowed to bring their animals to the units and
have to pay a compensatory fee. The average proportion of passive members
in the surveyed Allmende amounted to 34.5%. Half of the Allmende, showed
a proportion of 25% of passive members. Otherwise, the average active
members by units decreased from 27 to 16.6 (38%) in the last 20 years,
confirming a general trend to underuse of alpine pastures.
Work overload, less family labor, and difficulties to organize the alpine
labor were the main causes of abandonment of, especially, the less productive areas (e.g., calcareous mines) and the steep slopes of the Allmende, with
subsequent forest encroachment. At the same time, an intensification trend
was observed in the lowland private farms. First calving of highly productive
breeds, mainly Brown Swiss and Simmentaler, was advanced to an earlier date
and feeding conditions of heifers improved with the aim of improving milk
performance. Under this trend, the significance of the Allmende for the
lowland dairy farmers became partly redundant.
In Baixo Alentejo, the institutional and legal framework did not have the
same impact and importance as it happens in Castile-La Mancha. In fact,
since the relations between landowners and livestock owners are regulated
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by the market and by the ordinary laws regulating all economic activities,
livestock production shared the usual institutional and legal requirements of
the other economic activities. Acquisitions, rental procedures, and grazing
rights were subjected to the ordinary law, but many contracts were only
informal, following gentlemen agreements between the landowners and the
farmers or landless livestock owners. Other legal frameworks with incidence
on the area resulted from the regulations involved on protected areas, as well
as the voluntary adhesion to the Zonal Plan of Castro Verde.
In Castile-La Mancha, 86% of surveyed farmers indicated that a regulatory
institution for the management of the grazing polı´gonos and allocation of
grazing rights was required. Of those in favor of a regulatory institution,
45% of the sheep farmers indicated that the Local Grazing Commissions
(LGC) should be under the umbrella of the local council and 46% indicated
that LGC should be independent (private associations of arable and sheep
farmers). Regarding of grazing rights, 49% of the surveyed farmers favored
direct allocation by LGC and 47% indicated allocation by inner consensus
within pastoralists. Only 4% of sheep farmers favored allocation by free
auction.
4.5. Forage deficit
CO
RR
EC
TE
D
Availability of pastoral resources was seasonal in all study areas. Snowcapped
land throughout winters in alpine areas and dry and hot summers, with soilmoisture deficit, in Mediterranean areas determine an SNGS, over the year.
An FD may appear if available forage conserves do not meet the structural
nongrazing days. The forage coverage model was based on a mass balance
by comparing forage conserves availability with animals’ requirements.
In extensive systems of grassland management it can be assumed that at
least the basal diet of animals is met by on-farm forage supply and thus a
strategy of forage conserves has to be implemented to meet the SNGS.
If not, animals should be supplemented with marketed forage or concentrates during the SNGS. A large FD may thus indicate an LSGS disconnected from land-based resources and progressively relying on external feed
sources (Caballero, 1993). A summary of the forage coverage model in the
different study areas is recorded in Table 6.
In Northern Sapmi, traditional migration patterns in the Sami area were
hampered by between-countries border barrier and thus, FD was a serious
concern for many of husbandry units practicing short migration or stationary patterns of reindeer herding. In Finland, CFR have become increasingly
important from the 1980s onward (Kumpala, 2001). Coastal adaptation
reindeer management in Norway also used some CFR under difficult
winter conditions. The FD was of less relevance for reindeers herding
under traditional full migration patterns. In this case, summer pasture
grounds more nearer the coast and winter forest grounds in the interior
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c
d
e
f
g
125
125
5000
7500
7000
1440
4000
NA
0.5
0.65
0.65
<0.005
0.85
1.42
NA
245
286
NA
111
99
0–60
205
NA
0.15
0.0191
1.1
0.2
0.2
345
90
32
115
90
74
Maximum in Finland. NA, not applicable.
SNGS, structural nongrazing season.
CFR, complementary forage resources.
TAL, total agricultural land.
LU, livestock units.
Days met by CFR.
Forage coverage ¼ [1 þ (CFR-SNGS)/365] 100 (100% would mean a balanced situation and thus
absence of FD). Animals’ requirements for maintenance stated as 12-kg hay/LU per day.
D
b
290
Entlebuch
TE
a
290
Tatra
OO
SNGS
(days)b
Productivity
of CFR
(kg hay/
ha CFR)c
CFR/TAL
(ratio)d
Stocking
(LU/ha)e
Days on
CFRf
Forage
coverage
(%) g
Bavaria
CastileLa
Mancha
Northern
Sapmia
PR
Indicator
Baixo
Alentejo
F
Table 6 Estimation of the forage coverage in the study areas
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can as a rule meet the forage supply over the year. However, in Sweden,
CFR to some extent are used on migration and during the calving period
(Âhman, 2002; Åhman and Danell, 2001). Migratory reindeer herding in
Finnmark Norway to some extent also used supplementary feeding
in winter due to difficult grazing conditions with ice creation.
In the mountainous study areas such as Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria,
the whole animal lot (sheep) in Tatra or a proportion of specific lots (mainly
heifers) in Entlebuch and Bavaria are moved to the alpine units during the
summer season. In these cases, the FD may apply only to the lowland farm
over the year. In Entlebuch, only 20% of the lowland farmers sent their
animals to the alpine units representing 8% of total LU in the study area.
In Bavaria, most forage supply was provided by green forage or forage
conserves, while pasturing representing a small fraction, even during the
grasslands’ growing season. Under these conditions, a forage model has been
developed by the Bavarian’ team which assess the forage supply-animal
consumption balance of energy over the year (Roeder and Gueydon,
2005). This tool may provide an estimation of the potential versus real
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stocking of Bavaria lowland farms and an indication of level of stocking
(under-, over-, or balanced supply of forage resources). In our estimation of
the FD, grazing days was weighed by the proportion of LU (mainly heifers)
that graze.
In the Tatra Mountains, the summer grazing season represented 160
grazing days. It was assumed that the lowland farm does not provide grazing
days, the SNGS amounted to 205 days. While sheep are on the alps for the
summer season, 50% of TAL (CFR/TAL ¼ 0.5) can be mowed (one or two
cuts) with mean productivity of 5000 kg of hay/ha CFR of available hay.
Mean stocking in the lowland farm was some 5 ewes/ha or 0.85 LU/ha.
Under this average scenario, days met by CFR would represent 245 days.
As SNGS represented 205 days, an oversupply (111%) was apparent under
average conditions and animals’ basal requirements of 12-kg hay/LU per
day. Under these conditions, the FD model indicated that a minimum of
0.42 CFR/TAL (42% of TAL) devoted to forage conserves was required to
meet a SNGS of 205 days.2 Similarly, if days provided by CFR equal the
SNGS (null forage deficit), stocking could be increased to 1.01 LU/ha TAL
without incurring in FD.3
Application of the FD model to Entlebuch and Bavaria lowland farms
required some assumptions. In these cases, only a small part of the lowland
farmers bring their animals to the alpine units. In these cases, we will
consider a ‘‘mode’’ dairy farm situation on which farmers keep their animals
in the lowland farm over the year, heifers being the only lot in the lowland
pastures. In this case, grazing days should be weighed for the proportion of
heifers-LU on the total lots. We assumed that heifers graze for 180 days and
dairy cows are kept indoor. If heifers represented some 30% of total LU, the
real number of grazing days was 60 or some 300 nongrazing days.
An estimated ratio of CFR/TAL ¼ 0.65 was considered for both study
areas. Stocking in Entlebuch was rated at 1.42 LU/ha TAL on farms at
mean altitude of 800 m (BfS, 2004). For Bavaria, the stocking level was set
to 1.1 LU/ha of TAL, as the average farm keeps 41 LU and has 29 ha of
TAL under private ownership and an additionally attributed share of 9 ha
under cooperative management.
Mean yield of available CFR under medium-intensity farms was rated as
7500 kg/ha of hay-equivalent and 7000 kg/ha in Entlebuch and Bavaria,
respectively. Some other estimations of hay yields for typical alpine regions
are available (Gruber et al., 1999). Under these assumptions, days met by CFR
amounted to 286 and 345 days, respectively.4 Maintenance requirements were
CFR required to meeting the SNGS in Tatra as a ratio to TAL. CFR/TAL ratio ¼ (205 0.85 12)/5000
¼ 0.42 or 42% of TAL. As actual CFR/TAL is 50%, a small oversupply was apparent.
3 Increasing potential stocking in Tatra for a balanced situation. Stocking ¼ (5000 0.5)/(205 12) ¼
1.01 LU/ha TAL, up from 0.85 LU/ha of current average stocking.
4 The forage deficit model in Entlebuch and Upper Bavaria (days met by CFR): Entlebuch, (7500 0.65)/
(1.42 12) ¼ 286 days; Upper Bavaria, (7000 0.65)/(1.1 12) ¼ 345 days.
2
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estimated as 12-kg hay/LU per day. Given within-farms variability, it should
be stressed that applicability makes sense for individual farms. In Bavaria, for
example, the forage supply-energy demand forage model stated a trend of FD
on larger farms (more than 2000 GJ of NE of forage demand) and a forage
oversupply on small farms. Nevertheless, this exercise illustrated that the
average lowland farm was almost balanced in Entlebuch (99%) with a light
oversupply (115%) in Bavaria.
To estimate FD in Baixo Alentejo study area it was necessary to take into
account the following assumptions. Even if the animals stay outside in the
grazing plots all over the year relevant grazing days is far less than 365.
Due to climatic conditions, we assumed that during two and half months in
the winter period and from beginning of September to mid-October it was
not possible to count on pasture to feed the animals. Therefore SNGS
corresponded to 125 days. It was also assumed that, in average, we can
count on 40% of the land as permanent grassland and the others 60% are
involved in a 4-year rotation, meaning that CFR/TAL ratio is 0.15.
Considering that the average of straw production is 2000 kg/ha, which is
equivalent to 1440 kg/ha hay, and considering a stocking density of
0.2 LU/ha (Delgado, 2004), CFR corresponded to 90 days.5 The forage
coverage (deficit) would be 90% or an additional 5.8% of TAL devoted to
forage conserves to reach 100%.
In Castile-La Mancha, the proportion of TAL devoted to forage conserves was much lower than in the alpine study areas, but also stocking on
the MU ( polı´gonos) was much lower. CFR takes up land devoted to annual
forage legumes (mainly vetches) and green cereals, both harvested as hay.
But as landowner cultivators are not owners of the sheep flocks, they have
little incentive in forage conserves, as these crops were not subsidized.
Otherwise, landless pastoralists, who may have an incentive to increase
the feed supply, were, for the most part, not owners of the land. However,
a minority of them may own or rent some parcels for forage conserves
cultivation.
In the sample of 231 sheep farmers, CFR represented 1.91% of TAL
(CFR/TAL ratio was 0.0191) and mean stocking was 1.17 ewes/ha TAL or
0.2 LU/ha TAL (1 ewe ¼ 0.17 LU). Mean number of grazing days stated
by sheep farmers was 240 days or SNGS ¼ 125. With these data and mean
productivity of available CFR of 4000-kg hay/ha, the estimated number of
days provided by CFR amounted to 32 days5 and the CFR would only
cover 26% of SNGS. Under these average conditions the CFR/TAL to
cover the actual FD (93 days) would require an additional 5.6% of TAL
devoted to forage conserves. This can be done by a trade-off to forage
5
The FD model in Baixo Alentejo and Castile-La Mancha (days met by CFR): Baixo Alentejo, (1440
0.15)/(0.2 12) ¼ 90 days; Castile-La Mancha, (4000 0.0191)/(0.2 12) ¼ 32 days.
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legumes and green cereals from plenty of available fallow land (some 20% of
TAL). This average exercise conceals a great variation within farmers. For
example, statistical measures of distribution for CFR/TAL and stocking
showed values of 1.9 5.1% of TAL and 1.2 0.9 breeding ewes/ha of
TAL, respectively. With these variations, it was clear that the model should
be applied to individual farms. Nevertheless, the average model exercise
illustrated that, in this study area, the forage coverage was only 74% and the
FD situation was more common than in others.
Tatra and Bavaria managed an oversupply of forage resources. One study
area (Entlebuch) presented an almost balanced situation and in the two
Iberian study areas (Baixo Alentejo and Castile-La Mancha) an FD was
apparent, to a largest extent in Castile-La Mancha (Table 6).
4.6. Grazing infrastructure
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Extensive grazing management is usually a hardworking labor-intensive
operation. In developed countries, where most of our study areas are
located, availability of labor for these operations is in short supply and it is
expensive. One of the main causes for the unsustainable state of the extensive grazing operations is that young European farmers are barely enthused
toward the LSGS operation as they may find alternative labor opportunities
in other sectors. This problem can be aggravated if grazing units lack
minimum grazing infrastructures or, as it is some times the case, the land
ownership structure or legal and institutional framework do not favor
proper implementation of grazing facilities. In our six study areas, a wide
range of situations were found. First of all, the systems can be differentiated
between those requiring permanent or semipermanent herding, such as in
Northern Sapmi (Norway), Tatra, and Castile-La Mancha, and those
requiring only occasional care, such as in Baixo Alentejo and alpine units
of Entlebuch and Bavaria. In the lowland units of the two latter study areas,
even no herding of animals at all was needed as most lots were under
indoor-feeding conditions. A scaled account of availability of main grazing
infrastructures in the six study areas is shown in Table 7.
In Northern Sapmi, permanent reindeer herding was dominant in
Norway with high working intensity and less time for husbandry units’
leaders to be engaged in alternative sources of income (waged labor). Up to
the late 1950s the migrating reindeer herders used to be full pastoralists
moving the whole family with the herd year around. The sedentary process
was promoted by obligatory schooling, making the families to settle in
standard housing, often in fall areas, or on the border between fall and
winter areas. The adult men follow the herd and live in huts and travel back
to the family, by snowmobile in winter and by car in summer, as the
collectivity of herding work often open for taking turns. In summer areas
families often have second homes. In Northern Sapmi, fences are used for
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Table 7 Available grazing infrastructure in the six study areas
L/M
L/M
H
NA
NA
A
A
A
A
A
A
NA
NA
A
A
A
A
A
A
NR
NA
A
A
NR
NA/A
L
P
L/M
P
M/H
O
M
O
M/H
O
L
P
Entlebuch
L/M/H
H
A
A
L/M/H, Low, Medium, High; A, available; NA, not available; NA/A, not available dominant;
NR, not relevant; P, permanent; O, occasional.
PR
a
L/M
Tatra
F
Working
intensity
Fencing
Water
points
Barns and
shelters
Milking
facilities
Accessibility
Pattern of
herding
Bavaria
CastileLa
Mancha
OO
Indicatora
Baixo
Alentejo
Northern
Sapmi
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longitudinal divisions between districts and to some extent also between
different season pastures and also as leading fences to corrals for herd roundups (for calf marking, herd divisions, slaughter, and so on). Low and
medium working intensity were most common in Finland and Sweden,
respectively, and related to stationary and short-distance migration patterns
of reindeer herding.
In the alpine units of the Tatra Mountains, fencing was not required as
clearings have forest borders. However, almost permanent care of sheep was
required, as shepherds have to move animals daily for milking, occasionally
between rented clearings, and permanently because of predator problems
mainly with bears and wolves. Although sheepfolds were available,
most shepherds’ hut lacked electricity supply and milking facilities. There
was a need of keeping traditional ways of milk processing, but fulfilling
with EU sanitary requirements, which means some new equipment. Idle
far-reaching clearings have problems of mobility. With increasing interest in
summer grazing, these alpine pastures may be used only if transportation
problems are solved. Most of lowland farm units were provided with
electricity supply, but most dwellings, shelters, and barns were in most
need of overhauling and repair.
In the alpine units of Entlebuch, the lowland farmers, managing an
alpine unit, go up with their animals (mostly heifers) for summer grazing
and live in huts located in the alpine units. Temporarily, they may come
down to the farm for hay supply. Most huts were located at a good accessible
place. Some farmers (28%) owned more than one hut if they are managing
alpine pastures located at different altitudes or they are managing heifers and
dairy cattle. Most of alpine units (90%) had energy supply facilities, public
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electricity (60%) being the most common source of energy. Generators and
solar panels were other sources. Many alpine units with public electricity
also had solar panels for lighting and use wood and gas for cooking. According to Swiss standards, 45% of huts were in very good or good condition
and 35% were in need of improvement in the medium term. Regarding the
equipment of the stables, the situation was more or less the same, with more
than 30% of the stables in need of renovation in the medium term. Although
a minority of alpine managers operated with dairy cattle (some 22% of total
LU in alpine pastures), a big majority of them had milking facilities. Of those
alpine units included in the Entlebuch sample, some 88% had direct move
by road and only 6% had move by paths. Incidentally, one alpine unit had
access by a small cable car, but only for materials. In the lowland farms of
Entlebuch, most dwellings and stables were in good condition as farmers
may combine husbandry and tourism activities, and they received subsidies
and free of interest loans for repairing and overhauling.
In the alpine units of Bavaria, mobility to some areas of the Allmende was
difficult and demands special equipment such as four-wheel drive vehicles.
Other areas of difficult access such as steep slopes or less favored land areas
such as calcareous mires tend to be less and less used. As a whole, mean time
by car from the lowland farm to the Allmende units was some 15 min by road.
alpine units were fenced and most dwellings were in good state of repair.
In Baixo Alentejo, most private farms were fenced along large plots
(mean size of 21 ha) with at least some infrastructure aimed to provide feed
and water to the animals. The most modernized have automatic devices
while the other only can count on more rustic facilities. Mobility does not
pose any particular problem, unless when grazing parcels are far from the
stables and other grazing areas. Daily movements varied according to
the species: while suckle cows frequently do not return to the stables on a
daily basis, sheep usually come to the stable or at least to a sheepfold near to
the headquarters, the same pattern to the pigs. Manure was not a problem in
these operations due to the low concentration of animals that only during the
night achieve levels that could cause concern. Furthermore the traditional
practice of rotating the location of the enclosures, determining also the
rotation of the family orchards that took advantage of the fertilization
provided by the animals, contributed to avoid excess manure. What caused
concerns was what happens to the soil of the enclosures where the pigs are
kept where not only almost all vegetations disappear but also where the soil
structure is negatively affected due to the normal animal behavior when in
circumscribed areas.
In Castile-La Mancha, the grazing infrastructures and the location of the
allocated polı´gono had an incidence on grazing use and spatial distribution of
grazing. Usually, grazing use decreased as the distance between the center
of the polı´gono and the village nucleus increased. On an average size municipality (some 8000 ha and 16 polı´gonos), the mean distance can be 4 km.
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4.7. Labor
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Theoretically, access to the polı´gonos by shepherds conducting their flocks
is mandatory and regulated in the Local Grazing Management Plans
(Ordenanzas Locales de Pastos in Spanish). In practice, in many municipalities
the Ordenanzas are not up-to-date and many drove paths have fallen to
the plough by increasing intensity of cultivation. Most arable farmers abide
by the law allowing access of flock to grazing parcels. However, they do not
show cooperative behavior claiming that sheep flocks interrupt land practices or harm land infrastructure or crops. Additionally, grazing (cereal,
legumes and sunflower’s stubble, fallow lands, eriales, and natural pastures)
and nongrazing parcels (irrigation, vineyards, and olive orchards) are interspersed within the polı´gonos, hampering movement to specific parcels. Some
56% of sheep farmers had their sheepfold located in the polı´gonos and the rest
(44%) in the villages or their surroundings. This last group of sheep farmers,
when operating a milking flock, has to move the flock on grazing days from
the sheepfold to the polı´gonos and back for sheltering, milking, and water
supply. Under these grazing practices, sheep flocks should be permanently
conducted and a trend toward less grazing days and heterogeneous distribution of grazing use (far-reaching parcels less used than those near the village)
was apparent. Most sheepfolds either in the village or in the polı´gonos had
water supply (85%) and feed storing facilities (89%), but only 10% of them
had proper manure disposal facilities, and 45% of sheep farmers arranged
machinery for handling manure. Milk- and meat-oriented sheep flock were
more or less evenly distributed in the region and in the sample. Of those
milk-oriented in the sample, 55% had milking facilities and 45% milked by
hand. The question of manure disposal was of great environmental significance. Those sheep farmers with the sheepfold near the village may accumulate heaps of manure near the villages until disposal by interested
cropping farmers, with sanitary risks and hazards of leaching to aquifers or
runoff to surface waters.
CO
The extensive systems of grassland management in Europe can still be
considered a family-business operation. Most of these systems represent a
hardworking operation carried out in remote and LFAs within a much
more favorable general economic environment. The labor constraint is
thus, at present, one important limitation for the sustainability of extensive
systems of grassland management in Europe.
In some study areas, such as Northern Sapmi, reindeer herding was a
source of social cohesion for the Sámi families and households and the
general social rating of the reindeer farmers is high. In this area, most
laboring was family job, although some farmers may have an extra source
of income with occasional wage labor. Sámi lifestyle was centered on
reindeer herding and their annual cycle of work tasks were organized in
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accordance to the pasture cycle. Within the Sámi society, being a herdsman
(badjeolmmus) has a high societal status reinforced by the revival of Sámi
language and culture (Riseth, 2006).
In the Tatra Mountains, family labor was dominant in the lowland farm,
but 7 out of the 40 sampled farms had waged labor. For the summer grazing
season, sheep of several lowland owners are gathered in large flocks
and conducted by the baca shepherd. The supporting labor of the baca
shepherd is paid in cash. The baca shepherd net income was the difference
between income from cheese production and costs from grazing maintenance and additional supporting labor. Usually, it is counted as 100 sheep
per shepherd and they owned some 1250 € per grazing season (some
4 months in the mountains) plus food and accommodation. Grazing management was harsh work by lack of grazing infrastructures and technical
improvements, but in this less-developed study area, young farmers have
few options to alternative jobs.
In Entlebuch, family was also the main source of labor in the lowland
farm, but waged labor support was required for managing alpine grazing
units. In this case, external animals in the alpine unit required permanent
(dairy cows) or occasional caring and waged labor was required. Farming
job was standardized by WU (Arbeistkrafteinheit, AK) depending on animal
species and on sloping land. Most alpine units (63%) had between one and
three WU and 23% less than one. Caring of dairy cows (less dominant in
alpine pastures) was permanent while caring of heifers (dominant livestock)
was occasional, lowland farmers managing an alpine unit need help during
summer from family labor or employees and labor was usually the main tier
of costs. The decreasing interest of young people to work as farmers
was mostly caused by high labor inputs, isolation on the Alps, hard work,
and poor economic perspectives. However, stabilizing factors in this area
such as off-farming income from tourism, intact family life, regard by the
regional community, and good social integration were incentives for social
sustainability.
In Bavaria also, most farming job in the lowland farm was carried out by
the family, while most job in the alpine unit (Allmende) was waged (some
80% of working hours). Part-time job dominated in smaller farms of the
Alps agrarian region with some 50% of the farm in this region (n ¼ 38)
having less than 50% of the household income derived from farming. The
profit estimates were based on labor reimbursement of 10 €/h for labor on
the Allmende. Mean labor demand on the Almende, which were mainly
grazed by heifers, sums up 9 h per grazing season and LU.
Although most of the farms in Baixo Alentejo were family farms, hired
labor was more relevant in larger farms, which use most of the area.
Nevertheless, the declining trend of the wage labor was evident from the
observation of the census. Herdsmen jobs are nonattractive from a sociocultural point of view. In these extensive farming systems, it has been
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possible to increase the substitution of labor for capital (fences, automatic
feeding and drinking devices, machinery, and so on), making labor easier
and less constraining.
In our sample (n ¼ 15), the mean WU per farm was 3.4 1.7. Family
and wage work corresponded to (60.4 26.4)% and (39.6 26.4)%,
respectively, of labor demand. In this sample, two cases only used family
labor, five used essentially family labor, four used more permanent wage
work than family labor, and four used wage work but only part time. In the
cost structure of surveyed farms, family job was accounted for by the real
wages of the region.
In Castile-La Mancha, family labor was dominant in smaller flocks while
a combination family and waged labor support was dominant in larger
flocks. In this case, most waged labor was carried out from immigrant
population. With mean regional flock size of 485 396 breeding ewes,
mean provincial numbers of WU per flock were 1.55 0.75 (n ¼ 51);
1.28 0.58 (n ¼ 41); 1.83 1.08 (n ¼ 49); 1.56 0.88 (n ¼ 39); 1.52
0.78 (n ¼ 51) for the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Toledo, respectively. The mode for all sheep flocks was 1 WU
per sheep flock. Proportions of the only waged or both family waged flocks
have increased in the last years with decreasing number of flocks and
increasing flock size. Some 30 years ago more than 90% of sheep flocks
were operated with family labor only. Immigrant implication is filling the
void of barely enthused young Castilian farmers toward the sheep operation.
In this study area, the social rating of the shepherd job was low even within
their own farming communities although, paradoxically, the production of
the Manchego cheese was promoted as a seal of regional identity. Grazing
infrastructure and management should be improved and higher professional
rating of the shepherd job enhanced to achieve higher social integration.
Higher labor productivity in the two Iberian study areas was mostly the
result of larger herd/flock size (Table 3).
4.8. Productivity estimates
CO
Extensive systems of grazing management are characterized by low output
related to the farmed area. In the EU, most of these systems also are located
in areas with physical environmental constraints such as poor and dry soils or
steep slopes in mountain areas. In our six study areas, the most contrasting
biogeographical European regions were represented from the alpine-boreal
zone in Northern Sapmi to the Mediterranean zone in Baixo Alentejo and
Castile-La Mancha. But within specific study areas, some contrasting trends
of intensification were also represented. In Northern Sapmi, for example,
different patterns of reindeer migration can be found. In Norway, a full
migration-extensive pattern was more common with full-time reindeer
husbandry and subsidies allocated to husbandry leaders. In Sweden and
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Finland, the subsidies were allocated to reindeer owners who are paid by
meat production. They had an incentive for part-time job and more intensive forms of production (short migration or stationary patterns of herding).
Productivity estimates were required to assess economic performance.
In Entlebuch and Bavaria, two farming units (alpine and lowland pastures)
were integrated in the whole MU with very different levels of intensification.
A common feature of these two systems is a combination of one unit with
regulated stocking and a function of nature conservation (alpine unit) with an
intensive use in the lowland farm unit with high use of farm machinery (indoor
feeding of grassland conserves dominant). In the Tatra Mountains, however,
although the system was based on the use of the same two units (alpine and
lowland units), more extensive forms of production were dominant. In Baixo
Alentejo and Castile-La Mancha, climatic and soil constraints limit the intensification and productive outputs. In fact, these two latter systems can be
considered as modified forms of past traditional systems dating from before
the introduction of farm machinery in the early 1960s. The crop subsystems
have evolved in response to new technologies (crop varieties, mineral fertilizers, and farm machinery) as requirement for cutting costs and less labor
demanding operations. The livestock subsystems, however, had changed less
and can still be considered as open grazing and extensive operations.
In Northern Sapmi, productivity was estimated for the Norwegian part
based on public statististics (konomisk Utvalg, 2004; Reindriftsforvaltningen,
2005) and the numbers in Table 8 are regional average numbers for western
Finnmark (Norway). The numbers are based on 1.8 WU per husbandry unit
(mainly family labor), 8.33 reindeer per LU, and 350 reindeer per husbandry
unit. Accordingly, the average labor productivity was 23.3 LU/WU. Compared
to the other study areas land productivity was extremely low (Table 8). The main
reason was very low-intensive land use (3.5 animals per km2). Labor productivity
was at a low medium level both in livestock and in income.6
In the Tatra Mountains, labor productivity was estimated as a weighed
mean (9 LU/WU) of those in the lowland farm (3 LU/WU) and sheep in
the alpine unit (17 LU/WU). Productivity of labor7 was weighed for days in
the lowland farm (205) and days in the alpine unit (160). Land productivity
was valued by estimating a weighed stocking (5.88 ewes/ha) and value
added by ewe resulting of the addition of lamb selling in the lowland
farm (19 €/ewe) and processed milk in the alpine unit (47 liters/ewe and
24 €/ewe). Total value was 43 €/ewe and land productivity was 253 €/ha.
Lambs are marketed at mean LW of 11.6 kg and, the number of sold lambs
by breeding ewes was 0.6. If labor productivity is estimated as €/WU, the
For internal comparison, the best performing region of Sámi reindeer husbandry (South Trondelag/Hedmark) had these indicators outcome: €/ha ¼ 2.7; LU/WU ¼ 41.5; €/WU ¼ 33667.
7 Productivity of labor in Tatra ¼ (17 0.44) þ (3 0.56) ¼ 9 LU/WU.
6
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Table 8 Main productivity indicators in the six study areas
3.3
Land
productivity
(€/ha)
23.3
Labor
productivity
(LU/WU)
15,912
Labor
productivity
(€/WU)
a
Tatra
Entlebuch
Bavaria
253
1570
1500
188
162
9
17.9
31.5
43
41
2276
28,016
31,500
22,914
39,073
F
Indicatora
CastileLa
Mancha
Baixo
Alentejo
OO
Northern
Sapmi
In Northern Sapmi data represented only Norway (western Finnmark). In Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria
data represented the combined alpine and lowland units. Productivity related to only farming income.
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estimation8 would be 2276 €/WU. While sheep are on the alps, it was
estimated one shepherd per 100 sheep (17 LU). For our mean sample of
340 sheep per baca flock corresponded to 3.4 shepherds.
In Entlebuch, the mean altitude of the lowland farm was 800 m (range
600–1000 m) and the mean altitude of alpine pastures was 1300 m. Mean
growth rate of younger cattle in the lowland farm was 0.62 kg LW/day.
However, in some alpine pastures located between 1700–2600 m growth
rate may decrease at 0.1 kg LW/day. For a grazing season of 100 days this
difference represented some 50-kg LW. Similarly, milk productivity of
dairy cattle in the lowland farm was 6000 liters/cow per year, but for the
small number of dairy cattle in the alpine pastures, productivity may
decrease to an equivalent of 15 liters/cow per day (100 days on summer
pastures). Usually, the small number of dairy cattle in the alpine pastures
used the best quality pastures, although of the 230 farming units of alpine
pastures in Entlebuch (2003), only 17 maintained dairy cattle and only
7 produced alpine cheese. Productivity data recorded in Table 8 corresponded to an average MU (LBL, 2004b). Other productivity estimators for
upland Swiss pastures are available (Mayer et al., 2003).
Roughly, a mode MU consists of a lowland farm and the alp, on the
18 LU use 14.6 ha while on the alp 34.2 ha of rough pasture are used by
the equivalent of 12.5 LU. Production income9 per MU, including 7366 €
of grazing fees, was nearly 48,000 € of which over 70% are derived from
milk sales. Based on this mode MU, the standardized productivity equals
993 €/ha, 1570 €/LU, or 28,016 €/WU (Table 8).
8
9
Productivity of labor in Tatra ¼ (43 €/ewe/0.17 LU/ewe) 9 LU/WU ¼ 2276 €/WU.
Production income per lowland farm in Entlebuch: (6000 12.5 0.464) ¼ €34800 for milk sales plus (420
5 3.25) ¼ €6825 for meat sales or a total of €41625 per farm or 2312 €/LU.
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For Bavaria, the calculations of the revenues are based on the information on the production amounts of each farm and the average Bavarian
prizes in autumn 2004. Dairy farms represent 79% of the farms by production objective and 91% of LU in the sample. The average farm realizes
market revenues of 42,500 €. In case of an average farm 75% of these
revenues can be attributed to milk and 25% to meat sales. This corresponds
to roughly 1500 €/ha, 1000 €/LU, 31,500 €/WU, and 13 €/Awh.
In the Baixo Alentejo, sample the average total pastureland was
379 322 ha and mean of 141 96 LU/farm or 0.44 0.30 LU/ha
corresponding to a total income of 1289 1040 €/LU with costs of
943 662 €/LU. The system was strongly dependent on subsidies that
represented, in average, 588 294 €/LU or 196 159 €/ha. The weighed
average labor productivity was 43 21 LU/WU or 22,914 17,403 €/WU
without subsidies. Finally, land productivity was 188 148 €/ha without
subsidies.
In Castile-La Mancha, a mean polı´gono of 500 ha (mean of 82% pastureland) stocked at a rate of 1.17 animals/ha (1 breeding ewe per ha). Animals’
productivity was some 100 liters of marketed milk per breeding ewe per
year, which was sold at mean price of 0.9 €/liter. Similarly, milking oriented
flocks sold 1.4 lambs per ewe at a mean LW of 13.2 kg/lamb and mean price
of 3.9 €/kg LW. Total sales per breeding ewe were 90 €/ewe for milk and
72 €/ewe for meat or a total of 162 €/ewe and roughly the same 162 €/ha.
Mean labor productivity was different for milk-oriented sheep flocks
(242 ewes/WU) or meat-oriented sheep flocks (367 ewes/WU). In milkoriented flock the labor productivity was equivalent to some 41 LU/WU
(0.17 LU/ewe). Taking into account this equivalence, the value added by
ewe (162 €/ewe) was equivalent to 953 €/LU and productivity by WU can
be estimated at 39,073 €/WU.
Averaging productivity indicators by study area illustrated differences
between study areas but concealed a great deal of variation within study
areas. In Entlebuch, for example, farm size ranged from 0 to 1 ha (2% of
farms) to more than 30 ha (4% of lowland farms) with farms between 10 and
20 ha representing some 48% of total lowland farms. Size of farms may affect
productivity indicators as well as lowland farms using or not an alpine unit
(20% of lowland farmers using). Of those using an alpine unit, some 16%
bring dairy cattle to the alpine unit and only seven out of 230 alpine units in
Entlebuch produced alpine cheese. Similarly, mean LU per lowland farm
was only 16 but the mean alpine farming units allotted 27 LU of which 52%
were heifers, 23% dairy cattle, 9% sheep and 7% suckle cows. The workload
also varied depending on whether the lowland farmers also operated an
alpine unit. In this case, WU in the lowland farm should be supplemented
with full-time family or waged labor, if the manager brings dairy cattle to the
Alps, or part-time family waged labor for heifers, suckle cows, and sheep.
Similarly, land productivity showed a decreasing gradient with increasing
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altitude. In the lowland farms at mean altitude of 800 m (range of
600–1000 m), mean stocking was 1.42 LU/ha (97% of TAL was grassland)
and mean grassland productivity was 7500-kg hay/ha. In the alpine unit at
mean altitude of 1300 m stocking was 0.5 LU/ha TAL (only 60% of TAL is
pastureland) and mean land productivity was 3000-kg hay/ha. At higher
altitudes of 1800–2000 m productivity decreased to some 1500-kg hay/ha.
In Bavaria, differences in productivity between lowland and alpine units
are also acute. Year-round stocking in the lowland farms was some 1.4 LU/ha
TAL (if just privately managed TAL is considered), but only 0.4 LU/ha in the
Allmende. Within the farmers’ sample differences in productivity were related
to farm location. Sampling units are located in three agrarian regions with
increasing levels of land productivity—Alps (Alpen), prealps (Alpenvorland),
and prealpine moraine belt (Voralpines Hügelland). The intensively managed
grassland and arable land represented more than 80% of land uses in the two
latter areas. In contrast, it represented only 50% of land use for the farms
located in the Alps. Increasing land intensity and mineral nitrogen application
were also related, with 13%, 46%, and 60% of farms located in the Alps,
prealps, and prealpine moraine belt using mineral nitrogen, respectively.
These differences in land structure and intensity had an impact on land
productivity. While similar in overall average farm size, including forests,
farms in the three areas stocked a mean of 29, 62, and 82 LU per farm,
respectively. Mean productivity of grasslands in the whole sample was 41 MJ
NE for lactation per hectare but values ranged from a minimum of 14 to a
maximum of 78 MJ of NE for lactation per hectare.
In Baixo Alentejo, large variation of productivity was observed. The
results from our small sample showed high figures for standard deviations
suggesting that larger samples will provide even large variation, and this
happens either on animal, work, or land productivity.
In Castile-La Mancha, mean values of animals’ productivity concealed a
large variation. Ewes’ yield of marketed milk presented a CV of 58% (98 57
liters per ewe per year). Data presented in Table 8 represented means of
milk-oriented sheep flocks (n ¼ 112 in a whole sample of n ¼ 230) for
harmonization of reporting. Production objective, however, was a main
cause of variation within this study area. Flock size in milk- or meat-oriented
sheep flocks presented values of 428 430 (n ¼ 112) and 540 354 (n ¼ 118)
breeding ewes per flock, respectively. LW of lambs at selling had values
of 13.1 4 and 20.0 4.4 kg LW, respectively, and corresponding
labor productivity showed values of 249 99 ewes/WU and 367
150 ewes/WU, respectively.
Despite the fact that all systems are regarded as marginal, within the
national and regional context, big differences in the market revenues per
hectare indicated large differences in the productivity of the systems. The
market revenues per WU, however, showed less difference for the study
areas located in the EU-15. Only for Tatra it was significantly lower.
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4.9. Economic performance
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Two main assumptions supporting EU policy toward extensive systems of
grassland management are that these systems are not economically sustainable but, as they may deliver some social and environmental functions not
properly factored in farm prices, they should be awarded some public
handouts. Neither of both assumptions has been properly tested. In this
section, we will address the first part of the assumption (economic sustainability) by applying a classical cost-benefit analysis to the economic data
gathered in our six study areas. Given the wide variations in production
objectives, farming practices, and general economic environment between
the six study areas, economic sustainability should be addressed within each
study area. After this, a general picture of sustainability may or may not
appear. The data gathering process was agreed on within LACOPE
(Caballero and Fernández-Santos, 2004). This previous coordination effort
facilitated comparisons and harmonization of reporting. Profit or losses of
the farming operations were estimated either with or without subsidies, and
main data were related to the same unit (€/LU) for comparisons. The
implication of public handouts was valued as the ratio of total subsidies to
value of production farming (Table 9).
In three study areas (Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria), the MU or operating
unit was composed of two farming units (the alpine unit and the lowland
unit), each one with their own structure, practices, and subsidies. Field
economic data were recorded for each farming unit but an economic
appraisal was also performed for the whole operating unit. One of the
main problems for proper economic appraisal was recording of subsidies.
Many policy schemes were operating in the six study areas. Subsidies can be
awarded by the EU or by national and regional governments, and being
allocated as production subsidies, environmental schemes or direct headage
payments (by head of animals). All were accounted as public handouts. In our
income accounting (Table 9), we will refer only to farming-derived sources
of income (value of production farming). In some areas other sources of
income such as tourism will be reported in the text. Data recorded correspond to the year 2004 in Tatra and Baixo Alentejo; to 2003 in Northern
Sapmi, Entlebuch, and Bavaria; and to 2002 in Castile-La Mancha.
In Northern Sapmi, data reported in Table 9 are divided into specific
columns for each of the three countries due to the diversity of economic
structure. The Norwegian part corresponds to the region of western Finnmark and represented the average of 241 husbandry units, 84,200 reindeer
in the area, and 1279 reindeer owners. These data represented means of 350
reindeer per husbandry unit, 66 reindeer per owner, and 5 owners per
husbandry unit (Reindriftsforvaltningen, 2005). For Sweden and Finland,
the main data are herder interviews material from one district in each
country. In the north of Sweden (province), reindeer husbandry master
Indicator
RR
Farming income (A)
e
Total costs
Total subsidies (B)
Net cash flow
without subsidies
Net cash flow with
subsidies
Ratio (B)/(A) (%)
Total subsidies (€/ha)
Year of records
a
b
c
d
e
Northern Sapmi
c
Norway
790
443
656
347
Sweden
d
EC
Finland
120
169
33
–49
1003
16
83
3
2003
27
0.1
2003
419
196
167
223
d
40
0.4
2003
Tatra
(€/LU)
253
509
176
256
TE
390
a
D
80
a
Baixo
Alentejo
Castile-La
Mancha
1606
650
784
956
1291
820
270
471
701
943
588
242
953
865
141
88
1740
741
346
229
21
380
2004
84
196
2003
15
140
2002
Entlebuch
PR
70
105
2004
b
a
49
491
2003
Bavaria
OO
In the case of Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria a combined MU is considered (lowland farms plus alpine pastures). Lowland farms only in Entlebuch had farming income
of 2312 €/LU and total subsidies of 1060 €/LU.
This profit conceals a great of variation within individual samples with 35% of milk-oriented sheep flocks having losses without subsidies. Subsidies in €/ha correspond
to the cultivator, not to the landless pastoralists.
Based on public statistics (konomisk utvalg, 2004; Reindriftsforvaltningen, 2005).
Based on herder interviews in one MU each country. In Finland, cost of supplementary feeding is not included.
Family labor not included in Northern Sapmi, Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria.
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Table 9 Main economic results of operating units in the six study areas
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(unit or household) was 332 husbandry masters and 56,522 reindeers.
Reindeer owners numbered 1249 and each husbandry master had in average 170 reindeers. In Finland Käsavarren paliskunta (district) reindeer husbandry dollu (unit or household), 128 husbandry dollu and 10,000 reindeer
were in the area. Reindeer owners numbered 168.
The EU agricultural subsidy programs do not involve the reindeer industry
in Sweden. The argument is that the Swedish’s reindeer husbandry operation
is an exclusive right for the Sámi people and thereby not open to all European
citizens ( Jernsletten and Klokov, 2002; Ulvevadet and Klokov, 2004).
We noted that both income and cost tiers were clearly higher in Norway
than in Sweden and Finland, which limits the differences in the level of
profit without subsidies. In Sweden and Finland, animal stock increases are
not included in the income tier due to uncertainty of data. Particularly in
Sweden this probably means an underestimation of farming income.
In Finland, an additional uncertain factor is the cost of supplementary
feeding, which is not included in the calculation due to the uncertainty of
extent, cost, and its coverage. Strikingly, the subsidy level is very high in
Norway and intermediate in Sweden and Finland. Compared to other study
areas, two national operations in Northern Sapmi (Norway and Finland)
turn a profit without subsidies. With subsidies, the profit is high in Norway,
Finland operates at an intermediate level and Sweden showed a loss.
While data for Norway are confirmed, we have indications that farming
income is underestimated for Sweden and costs for Finland. Notwithstanding these uncertainties, we have preferred to show the trends in
the three countries. The low to very low level of subsidies per area in the
three countries is a good indication of very low intensity per area of
the reindeer production.
In the Tatra Mountains, main source of income came from processed
milk (marketed cheese) during the summer grazing season, while sheep on
the alps (24 €/ewe). Marketed lambs on the lowland farm represented some
19 €/ewe to a total income from production of some 43 €/breeding ewe.
Total costs included 70 €/ewe in the lowland farm and 10 €/ewe on the alps
or a total of some 80 €/ewe. Subsidies were only allocated to sheep in the
lowland farm and amounted to some 30 €/breeding ewe. In this case, the
sheep business was unprofitable even if accounting subsidies in total farm
income. Only by adding nonfarming income sources such as tourism
services (equivalent to some 23 €/breeding ewe) can the farming enterprise
turn profitable. It should be noted that the summer period of sheep on the
alps was profitable even without subsidies due to the fact that the milking
period occurred during this season and sheep gathered in large flocks
accounted for higher labor productivity than in the winter period in the
lowland farm.
In the farms of Entlebuch, farming income and cost tiers were derived
from the lowland and the alpine farming units, providing that the livestock
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farmers bring their animals to the Alps. If this is the case, we considered
an average lowland unit of 14.6 ha and 18 LU with total sales of 41,625 €
per lowland farm (see productivity tier) plus 7366 € per alpine unit in
grazing fees. Total farming income in the whole operating MU of 48,991
or 1606 €/LU for a standard MU stocking 30.5 LU (Table 9).
A main cost tier not included in Table 9 is the remuneration of family
labor. Taken a full cost approach, labor represent some 50% of total costs
(Höltschi, 2006), if one takes the standard rate of 15.7 €/wh. For an average
MU with 30.5 LU, the remuneration of family labor would imply additional
costs of 1583 €/LU.
Subsidies in the alpine units of Entlebuch represented 80 €/LU as sheep
and 200 €/LU as heifers. For a standard unit stocked with 80% heifers and
20% sheep, represented 176 €/LU. For stocking of 0.8 LU/ha and an
alpine unit with 34.2 ha of pastureland, subsidies valued 141 €/ha and
total of 4822 € per alpine unit.
According to government allocation, subsidies for the average lowland
farm in Entlebuch comprised general area-payment subsidies, compensation
for harsh production conditions, and contribution to environmental performance, for a total of 19,087 € per farm (14.6 ha) or 1307 €/ha. Subsidies
in the lowland farm were more than 10 times higher than in the alpine units.
Weighed mean for an average MU in Entlebuch10 with 34.2 ha (70%) of
pastureland in the alpine unit and 14 ha (30%) lowland farm would receive
491 €/ha and 784 €/LU (Table 9).
For an average situation in the Swiss alpine region,11 the average lowland farm was 18.6 ha and received 31,098 or 1672 €/ha (Swiss Federal
Office for Agriculture, 2004). If combined with an alpine unit of 37 ha of
pastureland (receiving 141 €/ha), the weighed average would be 646 €/ha.
In Bavaria, the 56 farms surveyed in the sample participated in 17 different
Allmende. Of those farms, 43 had CLS locally inherited entitlements and
13 were boarding farms, paying a grazing fee. In this case, however, livestock
farmers were less lured to send their heifers to the Alps than in the study area
of Entlebuch, and contribution of grazing fees by external animals was of
much less significance. In most CLS, most of the required labor was waged.
For the Allmende, the main source of revenues was public handouts. For this
study area, data showed in Table 9 corresponded to economic performance of
the mean lowland farm, without taking into account only the labor and fodder
saving of using the alpine pastures.
For the average farm, the total amount of public handouts amounted to
400 €/ha but only 8.800 € per farm since the larger farms received lower
Weighed average farm support in Entlebuch (30% lowland unit and 70% alpine unit) ¼ (1307 0.3) þ (141
0.70) ¼ 491 €/ha.
11 Weighed average farm support in the whole Swiss alpine region (33% lowland farm and 67% alpine unit) ¼
(1672 0.33) þ (141 0.67) ¼ 646 €/ha.
10
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public handouts per hectare. Farming revenues for lowland farm summed
up to 50.800 €, not including side income by agrotourism and forestry.
Total costs, excluding family labor but including capital cost and depreciation, amounted to 51.400 € per farm. Of these total costs roughly a third are
depreciation for buildings and machinery. The depreciation was calculated
based on standard costs, which might underestimate the maximum useful
life of these facilities especially for the very small farms, which are very
frequent in the sample. The figures presented in Table 9 deviate to some
extent from the data just presented. This is for two reasons. First of all, no
depreciation is included in the stated costs. Second, larger farm, measured in
LU, are more profitable than smaller ones, therefore if the economic
indicators are related to LU the farm they show has a slightly more positive
picture.
Taking into account these assumptions, the average farm made a loss
even before remunerating family labor. These mean results for the average
farm in the sample (n ¼ 56) of Bavaria conceals a great deal of variability
between larger and small farms and between agrarian regions. Only 26 of
the 56 farms in total had profits. Especially, 24 of the 38 farms in the Alps
showed losses. However most farms had a positive cash flow, and only four
small farms showed negative calculated cash flow per hectare. These negative cash flows can be largely attributed to the conservative assessment of the
revenues. Especially direct marketing was more common in the small farms
in the Alps. Further, it should be kept in mind that these farms continued
farming for noneconomic reasons. As a further general pattern it can be seen
that the cash flow increased with increasing farm size. This holds especially
for the farms outside the Alps. The farms in the Alps often compensated
small herd sizes with the large quantities of land, which are eligible for
nature conservancy or compensatory payments and which can be managed
at low costs. As stated before, some of the economic agricultural activities of
especially small farms were omitted in the calculation. Therefore, the real
cash flow and profits of these farms per hectare could be a few hundred
higher than stated. The profits per hectare as well as the cash flow per
hectare showed the same general patterns in relation to land use intensity.
Farms with a higher average stocking rate per hectare had a higher profit as
well as cash flows. Since the cash flow was positive for most farms at least
short term sustainability seems to be assured. The cash flow as well as the
profits showed that farming was most profitable in the prealpine moraine
belt and least in the Alps.
The processed costs in the farm were very high if they are compared
with other study areas. Some authors have related these high costs with
intensive use of farm machinery and low incentives to raise suckle cows and
heifers under grazing conditions (von Boberfeld et al., 2002).
Economic results from the Baixo Alentejo sample showed a clearly
divergent situation before and after subsidies. Only three farms in the sample
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showed positive results before subsidies and, interestingly, all of them
produced Alentejano pig. Furthermore, the only producer specialized in
Alentejano pig was the most successful before and after subsidies. Results of
the sample (n ¼ 15) without subsidies ranged from 810 €/LU to 841 €/LU,
the mean was 242 436. Considering the situation with subsidies
the panorama was much better, but three farmers still presented
losses. The results ranged from 1659 €/LU to 254 €/LU with a mean
346 489 €/LU. The ratio of subsidies to total income (including subsidies)
was 46 21% and the ratio of subsidies to value of production (without
subsidies) was 84 55%.
The great variation observed in this small sample suggests that, at least,
identical variability could be found in larger samples. The number of
observations was too low to try to extract statistical evidence correlating
the results with any kind of variable, namely productive orientation.
In Castile-La Mancha, farm economic results were mostly dependent on
the production objective (milk- or meat-oriented sheep flocks), and the size of
the flocks. Data gathered in Table 9 corresponded to an average of milkoriented sheep flock (n ¼ 112). In this case, farm market revenues were
coming from milk sales to Manchego cheese-making facilities and meat sales
of early-weaned lambs. Total farm revenues represented 162 €/breeding ewe
(953 €/LU). Total costs represented 147 €/breeding ewe (865 €/LU) of
which the two main tiers were labor (45%) and supplementary feeding
(39%). The average milk-oriented sheep flock would make a small profit
of 16 €/breeding ewe. However, data recorded for meat-oriented sheep flocks
(n ¼ 118 in the sample) showed a net loss without subsidies of 12 €/breeding
ewe. Subsidies awarded to the sheep operation included direct headage
payment plus a top-up payment to LFAs, amounting to 24.04 €/ewe for
milk-oriented flocks and 30.05 €/ewe for meat-oriented flocks. When
subsidies were included, the average farm turns a small profit.
These data, however, concealed a great deal of variation within the
sample. Farm profit of milk-oriented sheep flock (n ¼ 112) showed mean
values of 16 41 €/breeding ewe with 35% of milk-oriented sheep flock
showing losses without subsidies. When subsidies were included, mean
farm profit showed values of 40 41 € per ewe and even 17% of individual
farms showing a loss. Similarly, in meat-oriented sheep flocks, mean
profit without subsidies showed values of 12 38 €/breeding ewe with
58% of farm showing losses. When subsidies were included net results
were 18 39 €/ewe with yet 24% of meat-oriented flocks with losses.
As expected, the economic results among the six study areas varied greatly
in the total income (farming revenues plus subsidies), as well as in the total costs
and proportion of public handouts on farming revenues. Farming income
varied from 1606 €/LU in the MU of Entlebuch to 253 €/LU in the whole
MU of Tatra. In this latter study area, total costs were much higher
than farming income, although farmers may have side-income from tourism
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services. If in Entlebuch one would only take the figures for the lowland farm,
farming income would account to 2312 €/LU, the highest of all study areas.
The proportion of subsidies to value of production farming also varied greatly
from 15% in Castile-La Mancha to around 85% in Norway and Baixo
Alentejo. It was illustrating how in those study areas (Tatra and Entlebuch),
where the low-input units were included in the analysis, showed the poorest
economic performance if family job were included. In the case of Tatra, the
alpine unit was unsupported. In the case of Entlebuch, the alpine unit had
much less agricultural output (only external grazing fees) and agricultural
support than the lowland farm unit and all jobs (family or waged) were rated
at standard rate. The combined operation was unprofitable mainly because
families accept a lower wage rate for working in the Alps. This idealism,
however, may have a limit.
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Within this tier, main trends in grazing management were recorded by
study area regarding specially the following subjects—animals’ lots under
grazing, trends in spatial distribution of grazing and trends in grazing days.
Some others study-area related indicators were also recorded. Grazing
management trends were recorded by comparing the present situation
with available data of some 20–30 years ago.
Long displacements of herds (trashumancia) across grazing units and
seasons were operative only in Northern Sapmi, but only under full migration patterns. Short displacements (trasterminancia) of some animals’ lots
between lowland farms and highland pastures were operative in the Tatra
Mountains and the two Alps study areas. In Baixo Alentejo and Castile-La
Mancha, grazing patterns were mostly stationary across the year with herds/
flocks displacements between seasonal resources within one specific MU.
In Castile-La Mancha, a small proportion of sheep flocks (some 2%) in the
sample still practiced the old trashumancia across the cañadas from summer
pastures in the north of the region to winter pastures in the south. Currently, lorries or trains displace sheep. Also in Baixo Alentejo, a very small
proportion of cattle and sheep herds still practice the trashumancia to cereal
stubble fields over the summer season unless occasional sanitary rules restrict
displacements.
Indigenous livestock breeds were dominant in most study areas except in
Entlebuch and Bavaria where more productive breeds are dominant, indicating an increasing level of intensification, specially in the lowland farms.
In Tatra, indigenous sheep breed (Polska owca górska) is dominant for the
production of regional cheeses. In Entlebuch, Original Brown and Simmentaler Fleckvieh dairy breeds are indigenous, but more productive breeds are
increasing (Brown Swiss and Red Holstein). In Bavaria, highly productive
breeds such as Brown Swiss and Simmentaler are dominant. In Baixo Alentejo,
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indigenous sheep (Merino) and pig (Alentejano) are dominant, but cattle
crossing with foreign breeds is frequent and the same in Castile-La Mancha
(indigenous Manchego sheep). The importance of autochthonous livestock
breeds for the sustainability of extensive livestock systems has been stressed
(Blanc et al., 2004). Herd-conducting patterns were very different across the
study areas depending on availability of grazing infrastructures, type and
distribution of grazing resources, labor availability and cost, and grazing
behavior of the specie.
In Northern Sapmi, the reindeer husbandry has changed in the last
20–30 years from a subsistence pastoralism to a motorized and marketoriented industry. With the motorized vehicles, the Sámi could keep
much bigger herds and, in recent years, the number of animals has increased
considerably in several of the regions (Kautokenio, Karasjok, and Finnish
Lapland) of Northern Sapmi. The implications included decreasing animal
weights, reduced offspring rates, increasing predators, emergent dependence on artificial feeding, increasing socioeconomic stress, and avoiding
traditional long-migration patterns. The level of support and policy schemes
varied between the three countries but headage payments and direct price
support played a great role. Reindeer herders have an incentive to increase
stocking density with these systems of support and overgrazing may result
on specific areas. At the same time, and as a consequence of access restrictions across borders, traditional migration patterns were hampered and some
pasture areas are unused or underused due to grazing prohibition. Dissolution of national borders between Norway, Sweden, and Finland is required
and new area-payment schemes of subsidies devised and implemented
in favor of long-term pattern of seasonal land use and pasture adaptation.
In the Tatra Mountain area, the number of sheep has decreased from
some 300,000 to 60,000 in the last 30 years, especially in the downturn of
change since the liberalization of the Polish economy in 1989 and lower
demand and prices for meat, milk, and wool. This lower size of regional
sheep flocks is having an influence on stocking of alpine pastures over the
summer grazing season. Far-reaching grazing meadows in the clearings of
the forest are becoming less used or abandoned on mobility problems. The
alpine pasture lack of a proper system of subsidy support mainly because
property and grazing rights are not clearly defined. A rehearsal of the grazing
system should start with a proper legal and institutional framework with
appropriate claim of property and grazing rights. Currently, mean number
of owners claiming property on private clearings (mean size of some 5 ha)
was 32. Some indicators to assess the degree of intensification/extensification in the Carpathian region are available (Fereniec, 1999; Krajcovic,
1990; Krynski, 1976; Manteuffel, 1981; Statistical Yearbook, 2003).
In Entlebuch, the same trend toward abandonment of the far-reaching
alpine units was observed. Here, however, only 12% of alpine units did not
have road but, care of animals in far-reaching alpine units represented a
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harsh working and expensive operation due to high standard wage-labored
cost of Switzerland. Animal care was restricted by labor cost and thus, dairy
cows, requiring permanent herding and care, was the least present lot in the
alpine units. Generally, heifers’ care was at least once a week, but nearly one
third was cared for twice a day. Care intensity depends on weather conditions. The care of suckle cows and sheep was more occasional. Stocking
density in alpine pastures is law-regulated (Sömmerungsverordung). Organic
fertilizers, as dung and liquid manure, are allowed only if produced in the
stable of alpine units and spread during dry weather. Only Phosphor and
Kali are allowed as chemical fertilizers and use of other chemicals require an
especial permission. N-fertilizers are not allowed since 1970s, when common use of N-fertilizers promoted the spread of weeds in alpine pastures.
Currently, most alpine units (95%) used dung and a big majority (78%) used
liquid manure usually close-by the alpine huts. Underuse is a regular trend
in alpine pastures with shrub and forest encroachment. These areas have to
be cleaned by hardworking and costly operations.
In the sampled lowland farms of Bavaria, most (80%) were dairyoriented. Only one farm in the sample was not keeping any cattle at all.
The farm’s productive orientation influenced the number of animals kept.
Usually dairy farms were the largest. The dominant cattle breeds were
Simmental (53% of farms) and Brown Swiss (dominant in 29% of farms),
with old regional breeds present in 15% of the farms (mainly part-time
farms). Regional breeds were usually maintained in small herds of some
16 LU by part-time farmers. Heifers on the Allmende were mostly from
dominant breeds. Of the 56 sampled farms, only 14 applied N-mineral
fertilizers to grassland, and the rest were under the K34 Bavarian agrienvironmental scheme that does not allow the application of N-mineral
fertilizers. Seven farms complied with organic farm standards. Complying
with organic standards was easier for small than for larger farms but the
first have less comparative advantages. Organic farming implied a surplus
income of 5%.
Winter-spring calving was the most frequent calving season. This breeding scheme allowed to meeting the higher energy demands for milk
production with spring flushing meadows. Three to four harvests per plot
were common with a high percentage (some 65%) of land uses devoted to
conservation as hay or silage. Plots under grazing were usually used by
heifers or suckle cows. Outside the Alps, dairy cattle barely grazed at all.
In Baixo Alentejo, livestock production knew important shifts in the last
20 years but showing an oscillating pattern according to the variations of the
determinants of change that is socioeconomic factors such as subsidies and
availability of wage labor. The first movement corresponded to the increase
of meat sheep production compared to the others species. This was followed
by a declining trend of the sheep production that was being substituted for
meat cattle during the last 10–15 years. This shift was essentially provoked
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by a more attractive animal premium. In this last period, it was also observed
an important increase of extensive Alentejano pig production, mainly in oakholm Montados, where the acorn allows premium prices to these animals.
Differently from other livestock, pig production determinants were essentially
market driven.
In Castile-La Mancha, 46% of the milk-oriented flocks kept the milking
lot under indoor feeding for some 4–5 months, with only maintenance and
gestating ewes (four first months) under grazing. In meat-oriented sheep
flocks, ewes are kept indoor usually 1 month before and 1 month after
lambing. Sheep farmers used all kind of available resources but a trend was
observed for less grazing days and heterogeneity of spatial distribution of
grazing. A large majority of sheep farmers (77%) indicated less outdoor
grazing feeding than 20 years ago and only 3% more grazing days. The main
reason given by farmers was lack of grazing resources in the polı´gonos due to
increasing intensity of cultivation in fallow and stubble-land. Lack of
grazing resources, hardworking conditions and daily drove of flocks from
near-the-village sheepfolds to the polı´gonos are promoting less use or abandonment of far-reaching polı´gonos or parcels and some overuse of plots near
the villages. A consolidation trend was apparent in the regional flock. In the
last 20 years the numbers of flocks decreased at a rate of some 3% per year,
but the number of sheep remained almost the same at the regional level.
Average flock size increased from some 200-breeding ewes in the 1970s to
more than 400 at present.
4.11. Main limiting factors
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Livestock farmers were questioned on main factors that may hinder present
use of land-based resources on LSGS or may favor stabilization of the
grazing systems.
For Northern Sapmi, we based our assessment of limiting factors on our
total material. Generally, the different adaptations (migration types) within
Sámi reindeer management face various concrete problems. Tables 8 and 9
showed that Sámi reindeer management is a low-profit industry and a lowintensive land-user. We noted that the industry was subsidized not only
from public budgets, but also from other income (Karlstad et al., 2002;
Labba and Riseth, 2007). The low-profit situation does not seem to be
limiting as the cultural valuation of staying in business seems to be very
important (Ciuryk and Niemeyer, 2003; Labba and Riseth, 2007; Riseth
et al., 2005; Riseth, 2006). However, on a general basis much of the
problems could be traced much back to: (1) an encroachment/disturbance
problem and (2) a seasonal pasture balance problem. If these problems were
reduced, clear overgrazing problems also might be scaled down/brought
under better control. Both problems have external reasons as (1) depends
on the property rights situation and the general development of society’s
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technical infrastructure while (2) in addition to nature conditions depends
on national borders, border closures, and bilateral conventions (Riseth et al.,
2004).
In the Tatra Mountains, the small size of the plots in the lowland farms
and large number of owners of clearings in alpine units makes difficult the
implementation of efficient grazing systems. Surveyed farmers also indicated
a lack of cooperation between stakeholders but specially sheep owners and
shepherds (gazdas and bacas) and, some time, landowners. Long-term renting contracts would contribute to stability and much easier management.
Technical assistance was also cited as a main limiting factor especially
required for milk processing facilities and animal transportation to farreaching alpine units, presently underused. Finally, the most cited limiting
factor was a lack of proper legal and institutional framework. Without
proper allocation of property rights and grazing rights it was difficult to
devise and much less to implement grazing rights contracts or even a
sensible scheme of policy support for the alpine pastures.
In Entlebuch, a majority of surveyed farmers (78%) rated as good or
medium the future of the alpine unit operation. When questioned about the
main conditions for increasing stability, the most cited responses were the
luring of external farmers to bring animals to the Alps (32%) and increasing
subsidies for alpine pastures (32%). Other less cited responses included
nature contract, cooperation with tourist facilities or improving marketing
of products. It seems that luring lowland and external farmers to bring their
animals to the Alps was a main condition for long-term stability of the
system. Notwithstanding this response, 9.9% of farmers abandoned
the operation between 1985 and 1996 and 12% of farms gave up between
1997 and 2003.
In Bavaria present incentives for luring farmers to bring their animals to
the Allmende (CLS) are higher for small farms located in the Alps agricultural
area. Most farmers derived less than 10% of the forage supply and less than
5% of the revenues from the CLS. Present scheme of subsidies do not
incentive the use of CLS. Nevertheless, for the average surveyed farm, the
granted amount of public handouts per ha dropped from 380 €/ha of
agricultural land to 340 €/ha, if corresponding share of the CLS was
included. This situation is changing in the course of the implementation
of 2003 CAP reform. Until 2004, direct payments played a minor role and
the lowland dairy farmers have little incentive to comply with stocking
limits. Under new cross-compliance rules for direct payments, dairy farmers
may have an incentive to comply with stocking limits by outsourcing heifers
to the Allmende.
In Baixo Alentejo, the most frequently referred limitations to livestock
farming were the market price of meat products, the scarcity of labor, the
soil and climatic constraints of the region, and the lack of land to buy or
rent. Therefore, farmers adjust by favoring livestock species with better
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market prices, more favorable public handouts, and less labor demand. The
rejection of the herdsmen profession forces an adaptation of the workload
through new forms of management and better infrastructure and machinery
that allow them to bypass the need of permanent care of the animals
(Vicente et al., 2005).
Other constraints, besides the ones that result from the soil and climatic
conditions, result from the lack of cooperation between farmers. If there are
some signs of cooperation concerning marketing and livestock sanitarymedical help that was enforced by the government and primarily funded by
the EU. All the other dimensions of cooperation are totally absent or only
represent incipient attempts.
In Castile-La Mancha, main limiting factors cited by sheep farmers
included cooperation with landowners–cultivators, improving grazing
infrastructures for less hardworking conditions and overhauling the legal
and institutional framework. These conditions had no clear arrow of causality. Landless pastoralists may expect better cooperation by landowners but
landowners-cultivators do not have proper economic incentives to facilitate
the grazing use of their lands, although most of them abide by the law.
Hardworking conditions are to some extent inherent to the structure of
land-based resources (unfenced polı´gonos), but also stressed by lack of grazing
infrastructure. As a result, young Castilian farmers are barely enthused
toward the sheep grazing operation. The rehearsal of grazing law ( JCCM,
2000) has not derived a general social consensus.
4.12. Interface to biodiversity
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On this research, the current socioeconomic status, limiting factors, and
main trends of the surveyed LSGS were to be addressed. However, this
research had also the subsequent objective of paving the way for further
interdisciplinary research between the socioeconomic and ecology groups
within the LACOPE project. For this reason, some grazing management
indicators of ecological significance are stressed on this heading.
In Northern Sapmi, three questions connected to border restrictions are at
stake from an interdisciplinary point of view: (1) The relatively stationary
coastal reindeer herding in Norway have very limited winter pastures and
would gain much of increased access to winter pastures in continental Sweden
and Finland. (2) The stationary adaptation in continental Finland leads to
trampling of lichen resources and increased dependence of supplementary
feeding. Change to cross-boundary migrations would increase support the
double herd size without supplementary feeding and increase productivity by
one third due to access to cool mountains in summer. (3) Migratory reindeer
herding in northern Sweden have limited access to summer pastures in
Norway and have their summer pastures in areas better suited for fall pasturing
(Riseth et al., 2004). Eliminating these restrictions would increase reindeer
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summer pasturing in the Scandinavian mountain ridge and thereby promote
grazing at biodiversity hot-spots of arctic-alpine plant rarities dependent of
disturbance by grazing (Fuelling et al., 2004; Olofsson and Oksanen, 2005).
In the Tatra Mountains, the summer grazing season with sheep in bacas’
care in the alpine units (clearings) was of the outmost importance for economic
results of the whole MU as well as for cultural assets and indigenous product (cheese processing in the alps). The ecological effects of abandonment of
the summer grazing operation in the clearings are at the stake.
In the Swiss Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the use of the
lowland farm seems not to be at stake, as is sustained by generous handouts.
However, not all the managers/owners of lowland farms take their animals
to the alpine units. In this case, we have assessed the economic effect of the
MU with or without operating an alpine unit or the economic effect of MU
operating alpine units but with or without external grazing fees. The
question of abandonment of the alpine unit, with much lesser support, is
more acute in this study area, with corresponding lower grazing use in the
upland pastures.
In Bavaria, the number of entitled farmers sending their animals on the
Allmende tends to decline. The alternative of valuing the economic status of
the lowland farms with or without using alpine pastures seems sensible
and feasible with present economic data. The question of abandonment of
far-reaching and low-productive grazing grounds in upland pastures may
have ecological significance.
In Baixo Alentejo, one controversial question was the foundation of
subsidies granted to cereal production on the grounds of environmental
schemes. On the one hand, this practice is easily understandable in the
restricted area of the Zonal Plan of Castro Verde where the cereal-fallow
rotation is of importance as habitat for steppe birds. Differently is subsidizing
wheat in other areas that looks more as a way to substitute coupled subsidies
that no longer can be granted. Another question was the existence of contradictory policy measures with impact on the competition for the land use,
which have great impact on grazing and in biodiversity. In fact, subsidies to
afforestation of agricultural and pasture land are not only contradictory with
the needed open spaces for target birds, such as Great Bustard, but also reduces
the area devoted to grazing and increases the risks of fire. These practices may
contribute to decreasing biodiversity levels.
In the southern Castilian plain the mixed cereal and sheep operation is
hindered by scarcity or poor mobility to grazing resources, lack of grazing
infrastructures, and harsh-working operations. Cultivators–pastoralists relationships were not cooperative and current scheme of subsidies promoted a
divergence of interests between the two social groups. The grazing operation based on the use of agricultural residues in arable land can be considered
as a secondary option of land use and thus the landless shepherding operation based on the use of the polı´gonos (MU) is under risk. Under the present
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decoupling scheme for direct payments, rated as 75% for cereal and 50% for
sheep in the Mid-Term Review of the CAP, 2003, cereal farming’ consolidation can be expected with corresponding increase of tilling intensity and
less available resources for the sheep operation. Under this scenario, it
would be sensible to assess the interdisciplinary effects of mixing cereal
and sheep versus growing cereal as the only operation or the effects of
crop rotations with declining tilling intensity (unploughed fallow land) and
increasing hectare of annual legumes. These latter cropping and management alternatives, apart from their effects on soil quality and cereal yields
(Lacasta and Meco, 2006), may have an incidence on the habitat suitability
of target steppe birds such as Great Bustard. Some 50% of the world
population of this specie is concentrated in the Spanish cereal regions
(Alonso et al., 2003).
One common ground for most study areas, except Baixo Alentejo, was
the presence of problems of mobility of herds/flocks and/or problems of
access to specific grazing grounds. The first were more apparent in Tatra
(transport to far-reaching clearings in the Alps), and to some extent in
Entlebuch and Bavaria and the second in Northern Sapmi (country borders
barriers). Castile-La Mancha was a case study of both mobility and access
problems. Landless pastoralists drove animals on grazing days from sheepfolds near the villages to the grazing allotments ( polı´gonos), and back for
sheltering, watering or milking. Accessibility, even to far-reaching polı´gonos,
was allowed, but mobility was hampered of lack of drove paths and interspersion of nongrazing parcels. On the other side, accession was only
allowed to particularly allocated polı´gonos, and access to nongrazing grounds
(growing cereals, vineyards, olive orchards, and irrigation parcels) was
mandatory prohibited. For all study areas and from an ecological point of
view, occasional overgrazing in specific parcels can be hazardous, but a
lesser magnitude than heterogeneity in spatiotemporal distribution of
grazing-use.
5. Discussion
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One of the main findings of this comparative typology was to assess
that the intensification and abandonment threats were not totally unrelated.
Strong attachment to traditional forms of production may bear these systems
more prone to be abandoned. Our real goal is to devise management plans
for these systems without losing their main assets.
The six analyzed systems encompassed a wide range of variation in
environmental and structural conditions within corresponding categories
on the main headings-indicators analyzed. However, within this ample
variation, some common trends aroused.
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Regarding land use, overstocking was more occasional than usual, being
inconsistent with a frequent concern stressed in the policy schemes and
agri-environmental measures (Oñate et al., 1998; Primdahl et al., 2003).
Land-based grazing resources were not usually in short supply, but we have
found heterogeneous distribution of grazing lots over the available resources
with widespread abandonment of the far-reaching or less-quality grazing
grounds. This trend may have consequences on the succession vegetation
changes and environmental assets of these LFAs. This general trend was
coupled, in some study areas, such as Entlebuch, Bavaria, and Castile-La
Mancha, with high-nutrients-demanding lots, such as milking animals,
unlinked to land-based resources. This again, may have consequences for
the maintenance of autochthonous breeds and indigenous quality of
regional products.
All areas faced also climatic constraints limiting the duration of the
grazing season. Strategies of forage conserves or CFR were devised to
meet the corresponding FD. In the cases of Northern Sapmi, Tatra, Entlebuch, and Bavaria, the main strategy was to move some lots of animals to
different grazing units to remove grazing pressure in the lowland farms over
the summer season. This was coupled with a supply of forage conserves in
the lowland farms, which help to meet the structural FD. In the Iberian
systems, however, animals stayed over the year in the same grazing units.
In this case, the only strategy was to devise a supply of forage conserves for
the SNGS. Our results showed that, especially in Castile-La Mancha, such a
strategy was not fully in operation, with correspondent regional FD. The
same occurred in Baixo Alentejo where farmers deal largely by buying
external feed supplies.
Another common ground of these systems was their poor economic
performance and the need to support the systems with public handouts.
This research, however, has not addressed the issue of whether this poor
performance is structural or there could be some management alternatives
that may improve the economic results without affecting their main environmental assets. This is of importance as the two main assumptions in
support of public handouts to these systems are the structural unprofitability,
and the one that presumes that these systems may deliver environmental
assets not factored in farm prices. The first assumption relates to the content
of this report. Our results showed that, under current land use and grazing
management practices, the repeal of subsidies would render these systems
economically unsustainable. To test the hypothesis of structural unprofitability, the individual farming data collected on each study area should be of
use for further modeling on management alternatives. What this research
revealed is that subsidies make the difference between gain and loss for many
farmers in the study areas and thus, under present schemes, farmers do not
have any incentive to look for alternatives that are not yet devised and much
less implemented. Further results will show that these alternatives may exist
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and that current policy schemes would need to be adjusted for the new
practices being implemented (Roeder et al., 2005).
Notwithstanding these common grounds, large differences between
study areas were found regarding the policy schemes in practice and the
total amounts of handouts diverted to the systems. Although it is common
knowledge on the largesse of the EU, our results revealed that the two nonEU countries (Norway and Switzerland) supported our two study areas
with larger handouts. In the case of the Tatra Mountains (Poland), the
situation regarding public handouts is at an impasse. Current policy schemes
of support were devised after liberalization of agricultural markets in Poland,
but new schemes, under the EU umbrella, are in the process of being
devised and implemented. In this study area, subsidies represented a large
amount when stated in relative terms, but this was mostly the effect of a low
value of production farming in the Tatra Mountains.
Our results showed the limitation of comparing public handouts in
relative terms (OECD, 2001), both between or within study areas. Tatra
and Entlebuch, for example, had similar ratio of total subsidies to value of
production farming. However, the MU in Entlebuch can be supported as
seven times higher when valued in €/ha. In this latter study area, the lowland
farm unit and the alpine unit presented similar ratio (around 50%). However,
the lowland farm was supported at 10 times higher per area when, paradoxically, it is the alpine unit that concentrates most natural values. Even value of
production farming can be artificially inflated by higher prices (an indirect
subsidy or handout), as it is the case of milk price in Entlebuch (60% higher
than in Bavaria). In this case, an indirect support can be rated as value of
production, deflating the ratio.
The main issue regarding public handouts is the lack of a methodological
approach at the European level to test how these schemes should be devised,
implemented, and controlled. This is a big issue as large amounts of
taxpayers money is at stake and farmers’ decisions on land use and practices
are mostly driven by policy schemes, with corresponding environmental
and social consequences. Farming practices within specific systems are
restricted by physical constraints such as climate and soil factors, but policy
schemes cannot have the same category. We may find sensible alternative
farming practices, with economic, environmental, or social assets that
cannot be implemented because they are not favored by proper policy
schemes. In short, policy schemes should be devised only after proper
knowledge of structural, social, and environmental constraints of extensive
grazing systems. Our report can be a good example of this approach.
Although we have found a common ground of economic unsustainability,
the specific schemes for overhauling should be regionally tailored and
adapted to specific conditions of our study areas.
We also found differential grounds regarding social inclusiveness and
cooperation between the surveyed grazing systems that are usually related to
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money poured into the systems. In Northern Sapmi, Entlebuch, and, to a
lesser extent, Bavaria, the main functions of the systems were supported and
entrenched by the whole population. In other systems, in addition to poor
economic performance, we have found a social fragility with institutional
and legal frameworks that do not accomplish their functions (Castile-La
Mancha) or were almost nonexistent (Tatra Mountains). This makes a point
for this sustainability tier to be taken into account when devising policy
frameworks (RDP, 2005). Faltering institutions and legal systems should be
rebuilt and economic infrastructure improved on these fragile systems.
Farmers’ attitudes toward their grazing operations were not monolithic
across our study areas. European young farmers are barely enthused about
extensive livestock operations, but family turnover was more assured in
those study areas such as Northern Sapmi (Norway) and Entlebuch which
poured more money into their systems and operated with better grazing
infrastructures. In the case of Northern Sapmi, a further cause of stability is
the isolation of the area and the cultural ties to the livelihood. Alternative
jobs, if available, are often used as supplements (Labba and Riseth, 2007;
Nordin, 2006; Riseth, 2006). Just the opposite was occurring in Castile-La
Mancha, where the vicinity of Madrid lures many young farmers to alternative jobs in the Spanish capital. Our results showed that, let to their own,
these systems may be swept away by the market forces operating under a
surrounding environment of better economic and social conditions. This
finding supports the EU approach of pouring handouts, but does not
support the current policy framework in its functions of integrating these
systems in the mainstream economic of developed countries, and stabilizing
the rural population in the LFAs of the EU.
Other more market-oriented experts and institutions (Anderson, 2004)
support the view of repealing handouts and trade barriers altogether. Our
results, however, showed that our main objective should not be simply to
eliminate the supply of subsidies but rather to undermine the demand for it.
Subsidies should be redirected to the extensive livestock systems and their
HNV farmland under Rural Development Policy (RDP) guidelines, and in
support of sensible management alternatives that may render these systems
more sustainable in the future (Moreira, 2004).
Of the two main threats facing European livestock systems, intensification and abandonment, the latter was more apparent in our study areas. In
some study areas, such as Entlebuch and Bavaria, we have found an intensification trend in the lowland farm units coupled with a related abandonment of the low-input and extensive alpine units. In any case, in Europe,
there is a common knowledge and corresponding extensive literature on the
negative impact of intensification on nature values (Benton et al., 2002;
Chamberlain et al., 2000; Donald et al., 2002; Newton, 2004; Ormerod and
Watkinson, 2000; Watkinson and Ormerod, 2001). Important policy
schemes, such as agri-environmental measures, have been devised and
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implemented to mitigate this impact (Oglethorpe and Sanderson, 1999;
Oñate et al., 1998; Primdahl et al., 2003), although with mixed effects
(Critchley et al., 2004; Kleijn et al., 2006). But what our results showed is
that abandonment is the first concerning risk in our less favored study areas.
In this case, agri-environment schemes are less suited and rural development
plans should be devised with the aims of improving economic profitability
and social cohesion for these LFAs. Paradoxically, these areas concentrate a
great deal of European HNV farmland (Baldock et al., 1996) and receive
much less support than agricultural intensive areas, as shown by our results.
Our results thus showed that the LFAs of the MU were less supported
than more intensively used grounds. In Entlebuch, the alpine unit was much
less supported than the lowland farms. In Bavaria, premium by area was
higher in the lowland farms than in the Allmende, although support by wh or
LU was not so different In the Tatra Mountains, sheep farmers received
handouts for their lowland operation but any incentive for using the clearings of the alpine unit. In Castile-La Mancha, cultivators and pastoralists
were paid separately, although they use the same land unit. As being the
sheep operation in most danger of abandonment, pastoralists are supported
to a much lesser extent than arable farmers. These and many other inconsistencies plagued the EU current schemes of support, mainly because these
schemes are horizontal in scale, sector-oriented, and have not being devised
taking into account specific structure as well as values and constraints of
particular grazing systems.
Rather than seeking to improve a simple rigid general model of policy
support, we should be encouraging a more diverse range of economic
practices and respecting the different values that they reflect. However,
for communication to be transparent, we must all be speaking a common
language of economic, environmental, and social assets. From our results,
several management goals emerged in support of the main framework:
CO
1. To improve mobility, accessibility, and grazing infrastructures. The main
goals of this management scheme would be to facilitate grazing management, relieve pressure on harsh-working conditions, improve spatial
distribution of grazing, and fulfill with EU rules on animal management
and sanitary rules of slaughters and milk-processing. Our results illustrated that most of our study areas showed constraints regarding these
goals, although to a different level. The questions of mobility, accessibility, and poor spatial distribution of grazing were shared at a higher level
than the constraints on grazing infrastructure or poor sanitary conditions
in milk processing.
2. Promoting proper legal and institutional frameworks. In this case, we
found different level of social fragility in our grazing systems, from
Northern Sapmi, where social inclusiveness, cooperation, and support
attitudes were apparent, to the Tatra Mountains, where even land
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property rights or grazing rights were not properly documented or
assured. The latter situation was also present in Castile-La Mancha
where, although a management institution (LGC) was legally in charge,
its operation was failing by lack of managerial and technical support. Our
results showed different categories in our study areas regarding natural
assets and product values, but also divergences in social values. In this
latter case, categories were not an asset but one hazard.
3. Encouraging professional labor supply. Structural harsh environments,
on most of our analyzed systems, and failings in grazing infrastructures
rendered these extensive systems hardworking. Family-labor and familybusiness turnover was not assured. Progressively, these systems are more
and more relying on external waged labor. Professionalism of present and
newcomers should be upgraded to improve the social rating of the
herders/shepherds jobs and assure labor supply. This scheme may include
the implementation of grazing schools within study areas (Agricultural
Education and Extension Center LBBZ Schüpfheim, mountain School
Hondrich, and Plantahof GR in Switzerland are good examples).
4. A management plan in support of regional products. Up to now, pouring
taxpayers’ money to these systems has been justified on the basis of
environmental and social assets. However, the perception of these values
by the society is somewhat blurred. The general high social rating of
these systems could be exploited for marketing of premium products. For
this aim to be reached, quality assurance practices should be devised and
implemented on maintenance of autochthonous breeds, extensive production methods and fulfillment of EU sanitary, and welfare rules for
animals and processing products. Regulatory Councils can be established
in pursuits of these practices and promotion of grazing systems and
regional products of potential links with nature conservation. Good
examples of this development plan are the productions of reindeer
meat in Northern Sapmi, alpine cheeses in Entlebuch and Berner Alpkäse
AOC in Switzerland (cows’ milk), Tatra cheeses (ewes’ milk), Alentejano
pigs products and cattle and sheep meat in Baixo Alentejo, and Manchego
cheese (ewes’ milk) in Castile-La Mancha.
CO
But the strong dependence on this pillar of income is very risky since the
economic viability of the systems greatly depends on external decisions.
A fine example of the low predictability of the political decisions in this
sector is the recent development of the EU’s rural development policies.
Within the framework of the 2003 CAP reform the council intended to
strengthen the funding for rural development, but not even 2 years later in
fall of 2005 the EU funds for rural development in the EU-15 were greatly
reduced (CEU, 2005).
Current state of development for these regional products was far from
the objectives devised in this plan. In the Tatra Mountains processing of
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alpine ewes’ milk did not comply with EU sanitary rules. In Entlebuch, only
7% of alpine units processed cows’ milk, and in Castile-La Mancha,
although a regulatory council was functioning, attachment to production
rules (indigenous breeds and linking to land-based resources) were not
assured. Of these two main pillars for indigenous products’ assurance, the
latter is more at risk. Our results showed a progressive detachment of
production methods from land-based grazing resources, as consequence of
harsh working conditions on grazing units and higher costs of changing to
wage from family labor conditions. The cost of bringing animals to grazing
grounds, including waged labor and grazing fees should be lower than
income, including value of production and subsidies.
PR
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5. An assessment tool that allow, on the basis of available geographic data
(CORINE data, biotope mapping, digital terrain models), save upper
and lower bounds for acceptable stocking levels for each MU. This
would allow to emphasizing the linkage between public payments and
the provision of environmental services. In many mountain areas the
productivity of pastures varied significantly and to establish a minimum
stocking (0.5 LU/ha) makes little sense.
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Large-scale extensive systems in developed countries can be categorized
as losers within a hyper-competitive economic environment. In dealing with
losers, we may assess whether these systems are ‘‘born losers’’ (structural or
chronic) or there are some alternatives to improve their economic and social
performance. Our results supported the view that, although these systems are
plagued with structural and physical constraints (harsh climatic conditions,
poor soils, mobility, accessibility, steep slopes), much can be done to correct
many other nonstructural constraints (insensible policy schemes is probably
the most important) in support of alternative management plans.
Most pundits would agree on the requirement to overhaul and modernizing the extensive livestock systems in Europe to refrain the abandonment
trend. The question is what path should be chosen to that end. If we remain
strongly attached to traditional production rules, more farmers may detach.
But if loose rules are devised modernizing would mean increasing number
of farmers at the expense of lack of fidelity to extensive principles. At the
end, both paths can take place, but customers and taxpayers should be aware
of the differences with proper discriminating rules and information channels. It is in this latter task where the modernizing path cannot be
questioned.
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