A global approach to better cope with climate change
Climate change requires us to do things differently. An approach that has long been known but little used in agriculture enables us to take a global look at farms and to sustainably improve their practices: the whole farm approach.
Imagine you own a farm and an agrologist suggests you add a cover crop to your rotation. At first glance, it sounds simple, but your experience tells you it’s not. In fact, to properly integrate this new crop into your rotation, you also need to consider the availability and cost of its’ seeds, their fertilization, the machinery required for harvesting, your storage capacity and even your sales channels.
Unfortunately, agrologists’ recommendations rarely take all these ramifications into account. But… that’s not entirely their fault. “The agronomy faculties themselves are segmented: they house a soil department, a phytology department and an animal health department,” says Jacques Nault, co-founder and vice-president of agronomy at Logiag. “There’s never a department of agricultural practices integration!” In practice, it’s the farmer who has to deal with the sometimes unexpected consequences of his or her agrologist’s recommendations.
Logiag has decided to do things a little differently. To support farms in their climate transition, our agrologists use a promising but little-used method: the whole farm approach. Unlike more traditional methods, the whole farm approach always takes a global view of farms, enabling agronomic recommendations to be better coordinated and avoiding any undesirable effects.
Another way of looking at farms
The whole farm approach has two main characteristics: it doesn’t look at farms as a set of more or less independent operations, but as a unique system, and it takes into account each of their components and their interactions. Thanks to its holistic view, the whole farm approach can improve both the financial health of the farm and the health of its’ soil, while helping to combat climate change. Properly applied, it makes it possible to improve the conditions and operation of a farm in a progressive and sustainable manner.
For example, the systems approach can help a farm sow enough forage to feed its herd, produce just enough manure to fertilize its fields, or raise just enough heifers to meet its milk quotas. Whatever the mandate, the objective remains the same: to better connect all the farms’ parts through increased valorization of internal resources, minimal use of inputs, reduced nutrient losses and maximization of soil organic carbon. Finally, because the whole farm approach helps farms to better manage their resources, it also contributes to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A complete analysis, from inputs to finished product
The whole farm approach begins with an analysis of the entire farm, using data from its AEFP, GHG inventories, crop rotation and productivity, nutrient status and soil drainage, among others.
The nutrient status, for example, evaluates how much potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus the farm receives and discharges. The ideal is to achieve a balance, meaning that each input is constantly recycled and never leaves the farm. In plain English, this could mean that the fertilizers spread on the fields are used to grow crops intended for animal feed, and that their droppings… fertilizes the fields. Of course, it also means that the farm has minimized soil erosion or volatilization of its inputs, and that its fields are not needlessly accumulating nutrients.
Determining the right number of heifers to raise
The whole farm approach helps us to understand the multiple ramifications of a challenge confronting many Quebec farms: heifer shortage or surplus.
Many dairy farms in Quebec raise too many heifers, often because they systematically keep all those born on the farm. Yet this is detrimental to their profitability. These “surplus” heifers have to be fed, cared for and housed. What’s more, the space they occupy could be put to better use, for example, to improve living conditions for other animals. Finally, to nevertheless use their surplus heifers, many farms retire their cows earlier than planned, resulting in further losses.
That said, keeping too few heifers is no better! It can lead to a shortage of mature cows and, consequently, milk production below quota. Farms in this situation sometimes have to resort to keeping lower-quality cows, or urgently purchasing additional animals whose price, genetics or health don’t quite match their production system.
In short, the number of heifers on a farm is a question that goes far beyond the barn. It can affect profitability as much as the health or genetics of the animals.
However, finding the right number of heifers to raise (and maintaining it!) requires a good management system. This system must enable you to: plan cow reproduction, monitor heifer growth and feeding, control their health and well-being, and ensure follow-up and evaluation. In short, finding the right number of heifers requires a whole farm vision, taking into account data from the field, the silo and the barn.
Produce your own forage of sufficient quantity and quality
The whole farm approach is also useful for assessing forage needs. The first step in this assessment is to look at herd size. From this comes the number of hectares required to grow enough forage to feed the animals, and the choice of seeds that will produce forage of the desired quality. Then, all that remains to be done is to integrate these crops into a crop rotation plan, which includes plots reserved for livestock feed.
A well-designed crop rotation produces quality fodder, which reduces losses and therefore feed costs. Home-grown feed also contributes to good animal health and productivity. Provided, of course, that it is stored properly!
Taking action
Although the whole farm approach looks at all the components of a farm, it never recommends changing all operations at once. On the contrary, in collaboration with their agrologist, producers choose a few practices they want to implement progressively over a five-year period.
Once this transition plan is well established, a follow-up is carried out over the next months and years to measure its effect on the farm’s productivity, the health and well-being of its herd, its carbon sequestration or the reduction of its GHGs. The farm and agrologist then adjust the plan, if necessary, before moving on… to the next strategy!
Ultimately, the systems approach brings progressive and lasting changes to farm operations, because it looks at all of its component parts at once. Once again, Logiag is breaking new ground with a promising agronomic approach that avoids quick fixes and recommendations that produce undesirable effects.