This study showed that at identical beef live weight produced, the Spr-system required 18% more on-farm utilized agricultural area, excreted 14% more nitrogen and released 12% more enteric methane, but used 22% less mineral nitrogen fertilizer, 34% less fuel, 89% less off-farm fodder purchases, 73% less concentrate purchases and 5% less bedding straw purchases.
In study 3, labor, cost of production, lack of milk response, barley supply, and mold issues resulted in 2 of the farms discontinuing fodder.
Two main issues were raised; the unsustainability of transhumance (an issue they expressed as linked to competition for land and conflict) and the necessity for pastoralists to start diversifying their livelihoods by embracing crop farming and fodder banking.
The long-term solution may mean the intensification of livestock production and integration of agricultural systems, i.e. feeding cattle with farm-produced fodder (Mortimore and Adams 1998), as indicated by the pastoralists themselves in focus group discussions.
We addressed this issue within the Lebna watershed (210 km² size, located on the Cap Bon Peninsula in Tunisia), which is typified by a hilly topography, rainfed mixed farming (cereals, fodder, legumes, spices) and livestock (cattle, sheep and goat), and strong farmland fragmentation.
The average farm size under fodder production in the study area varied between the fodder producer groups and the individual producers.
On Saturday, Creatures of Comfort will be the host of in-store planting workshops with Fox Fodder Farm and UCB Pots.
"On top of that, we expect to develop our cattle and bring on a fodder farm that brings more income and economy to the community.
The pond water is periodically pumped to irrigate the fodder farm with good result.
The study area has lost 1.3 sq km of crop land, 9.6 sq km of forest land, 2.9 sq km of waste land and 3.3 sq km of fodder farm land.
Arable farming produces mainly fodder crops, except in the extreme south and around Tamworth and Lichfield, where market gardening predominates.
