Towards an innovative forage system in mixed cropping and livestock farming: the initiative launched in Lusignan

In order to address the new challenges facing the dairy farming sector, a think tank comprising INRA researchers, a representative from GIS Elevages Demain, and partners from the professional and voluntary sectors has jointly developed a research project on innovative forage systems within a mixed crop-livestock farming framework. This group recommended the development of new systems that make the most of the abiotic and biotic factors of the environment and the effects of climate change, whilst conserving increasingly scarce resources (fossil fuels, water) and maintaining or improving soil fertility. These new forage systems, described as ‘bioclimatic’, also aim to preserve the various environmental compartments and help mitigate global warming, whilst ensuring that the needs of livestock herds and the expectations of farmers and civil society are met. The group also considered the construction of such a system at INRA’s Forage and Environment Experimental Unit (UEFE) in Lusignan, Poitou-Charentes. For this unit, the overall objective will be to design, implement and evaluate a bioclimatic system adapted to the future climatic conditions of western France. Indeed, the current climatic conditions in Lusignan foreshadow those likely to prevail in around twenty years’ time in western France, the country’s main dairy-producing region. The system, combining arable farming and livestock rearing, will be designed using an agroecological approach based in particular on diversifying forage in terms of species and mixtures, production periods and farming methods, in order to promote the system’s resilience. Woody species will be introduced to secure the forage supply during periods of water stress, limit heat stress in animals and vegetation cover, make use of water present in the deeper soil layers, and to store carbon. The system will also be designed to maximise grazing, expand the use of legumes, and recycle water and nutrients. The temporal and spatial arrangement of this diversity and of the herbaceous, shrubby and tree layers will be organised in such a way as to ensure a secure forage supply and provide a balanced diet for ruminants. Adjusting to the animals’ needs through calving periods, or by selecting a more suitable genetic type or even breed, will also be investigated. Finally, water and energy management will be optimised at farm level to conserve or recycle these two resources as much as possible. The co-design work is ongoing, and we invite you to contact us (sfi@listes.inra.fr) if you would like to contribute. In the longer term, this project also aims to consolidate scientific thinking on bioclimatic forage systems.