IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i20p5868-d279209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Amazing Grazing: A Public and Private Partnership to Stimulate Grazing Practices in Intensive Dairy Systems

Author

Listed:
  • René Schils

    (Agrosystems Research, Wageningen Plant Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Bert Philipsen

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Nyncke Hoekstra

    (Agriculture, Louis Bolk Institute, 3981 AJ Bunnik, The Netherlands)

  • Gertjan Holshof

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Ronald Zom

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Idse Hoving

    (Livestock and Environment, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Kees van Reenen

    (Animal Health & Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Marcia Stienezen

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Cindy Klootwijk

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
    Animal Production Systems, Wageningen University, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Joop van der Werf

    (Animal Health & Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Léon Sebek

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Nick van Eekeren

    (Agriculture, Louis Bolk Institute, 3981 AJ Bunnik, The Netherlands)

  • Ingrid van Dixhoorn

    (Animal Health & Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Agnes van den Pol-van Dasselaar

    (Animal Nutrition, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
    Department Grassland and Grazing, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, 8251 JZ Dronten, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In many intensive dairy regions in northwest Europe, a decline in grazing is observed. In the Netherlands, the proportion of dairy cows with access to pasture is declining, as well as the time spent grazing per cow. The decline in grazing is seen as an unwanted trend by many stakeholders and is, thus, under debate amongst dairy farmers, the dairy chain, and society. Therefore, a public–private partnership was initiated to encourage grazing by providing farmers with usable means of improving their grazing systems. The partnership involved stakeholders from the dairy farming community, dairy and feed industry, agrotechnical industries, advisory services, and research. The objective of this partnership was to develop and stimulate technological innovations and management measures that increase fresh grass intake at pasture. The innovation network combined an integrated research approach with farmer working groups and broader stakeholder interactive meetings. The project started with a comprehensive grass intake framework, which was the foundation for exploration of innovations. The framework consisted of six interlinked components: soil, grass growth, grass supply, grass intake, feed supplementation, and cow behavior. In a continuous interactive cycle, strategic choices were made to focus on potentially effective innovations. The use of a public–private partnership to develop usable innovations that encourage grazing practices proven to be a good approach to develop a shared vision among stakeholders. It provided a basis to work together toward innovative practices and to disseminate the outcomes to the foreseen users. The approach succeeded in design concepts for two specific innovations, i.e., weekly grass growth predictions and daily fresh grass intake tracking. We demonstrated that meaningful grazing and fresh grass intake are possible in intensive dairy systems with high stocking rates and high levels of supplementary feeding.

Suggested Citation

  • René Schils & Bert Philipsen & Nyncke Hoekstra & Gertjan Holshof & Ronald Zom & Idse Hoving & Kees van Reenen & Marcia Stienezen & Cindy Klootwijk & Joop van der Werf & Léon Sebek & Nick van Eekeren &, 2019. "Amazing Grazing: A Public and Private Partnership to Stimulate Grazing Practices in Intensive Dairy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5868-:d:279209
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5868/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5868/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. O’Brien, Donal & Shalloo, Laurence & Patton, Joe & Buckley, Frank & Grainger, Chris & Wallace, Michael, 2012. "A life cycle assessment of seasonal grass-based and confinement dairy farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 33-46.
    2. Hermans, Frans & Geerling-Eiff, Floor & Potters, Jorieke & Klerkx, Laurens, 2019. "Public-private partnerships as systemic agricultural innovation policy instruments – Assessing their contribution to innovation system function dynamics," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 88, pages 76-95.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mathilda du Preez & Monique H. Arkesteijn & Alexandra C. den Heijer & Małgorzata Rymarzak, 2022. "Campus Managers’ Role in Innovation Implementation for Sustainability on Dutch University Campuses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Nyncke Hoekstra & Gertjan Holshof & Ronald Zom & Bert Philipsen & René Schils & Nick van Eekeren, 2020. "The Effect of Grazing System and Level of Concentrate Protein Feeding on Milk Production and N Use Efficiency of Dairy Cows on Peat Meadows," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Torres-Avila, Angelica & Aguilar-Ávila, Jorge & Santoyo-Cortés, Vinicio Horacio & Martínez-González, Enrique Genaro & Aguilar-Gallegos, Norman, 2022. "Innovation in the pineapple value chain in Mexico: Explaining the global adoption process of the MD-2 hybrid," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    2. Yehia Zahran & Hazem S. Kassem & Shimaa M. Naba & Bader Alhafi Alotaibi, 2020. "Shifting from Fragmentation to Integration: A Proposed Framework for Strengthening Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System in Egypt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Andrea Arzeni & Francesca Giarè & Mara Lai & Maria Valentina Lasorella & Rossella Ugati & Anna Vagnozzi, 2023. "Interactive Approach for Innovation: The Experience of the Italian EIP AGRI Operational Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    4. Ramírez-Gómez, Carlos Julián & Rodríguez-Espinosa, Holmes, 2022. "Local public-private partnerships to promote innovation in agricultural value chains: the case of cocoa in Colombia," Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural (RESR), Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural, vol. 60(4), January.
    5. Tiago G. Morais & Ricardo F. M. Teixeira & Nuno R. Rodrigues & Tiago Domingos, 2018. "Carbon Footprint of Milk from Pasture-Based Dairy Farms in Azores, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Giuseppe Todde & Lelia Murgia & Maria Caria & Antonio Pazzona, 2018. "A Comprehensive Energy Analysis and Related Carbon Footprint of Dairy Farms, Part 2: Investigation and Modeling of Indirect Energy Requirements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, February.
    7. Philip Shine & John Upton & Paria Sefeedpari & Michael D. Murphy, 2020. "Energy Consumption on Dairy Farms: A Review of Monitoring, Prediction Modelling, and Analyses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-25, March.
    8. Harrison, B.P. & Dorigo, M. & Reynolds, C.K. & Sinclair, L.A. & Dijkstra, J. & Ray, P.P., 2021. "Determinants of phosphorus balance and use efficiency in diverse dairy farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    9. Yu-Chen Yang & Yi-Chich Chiu & Cheng-Yih Hong, 2020. "Analysis of Cost-benefit and CO2 Emissions of Solar Energy-Intelligent Poultry Feeding System: Application of NPV and Dynamic Environmental I-O Model," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 178-184.
    10. Jiao Feng & Nannan Wang & Guoshuai Sun, 2022. "Measurement of Innovation-Driven Development Performance of Large-Scale Environmental Protection Enterprises Investing in Public–Private Partnership Projects Based on the Hybrid Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Paul Aseete & Andrew Barkley & Enid Katungi & Michael Adrogu Ugen & Eliud Birachi, 2023. "Public–private partnership generates economic benefits to smallholder bean growers in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 201-218, February.
    12. Pagani, Marco & Vittuari, Matteo & Johnson, Thomas G. & De Menna, Fabio, 2016. "An assessment of the energy footprint of dairy farms in Missouri and Emilia-Romagna," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 116-126.
    13. Wilde, Kerstin & Hermans, Frans, 2024. "Transition towards a bioeconomy: Comparison of conditions and institutional work in selected industries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 50, pages 1-1.
    14. Cronin, Evelien & Fieldsend, Andrew & Rogge, Elke & Block, Thomas, 2022. "Multi-actor Horizon 2020 projects in agriculture, forestry and related sectors: A Multi-level Innovation System framework (MINOS) for identifying multi-level system failures," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    15. Asha Ally Hatibu & Essegbemon Akpo & Gerald Alex Lukurugu & Joseph Nzunda & Patrick Okori & Chris O. Ojiewo, 2022. "Upscaling Groundnut Seed Production and Delivery through Long-Term Public–Private and Development Organization Partnerships: Experiences from Tanzania," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.
    16. Sara Zanni & Mariana Roccaro & Federica Bocedi & Angelo Peli & Alessandra Bonoli, 2022. "LCA to Estimate the Environmental Impact of Dairy Farms: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, May.
    17. Ayrapetyan, David & Befort, Nicolas & Hermans, Frans, 2025. "From local markets to global legitimacy: A materialization perspective on technological innovation system's dynamics," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 54(1).
    18. Njuki, Eric, 2022. "Sources, Trends, and Drivers of U.S. Dairy Productivity and Efficiency," USDA Miscellaneous 323860, United States Department of Agriculture.
    19. Georgios Kountios & Spyridon Kanakaris & Christina Moulogianni & Thomas Bournaris, 2024. "Strengthening AKIS for Sustainable Agricultural Features: Insights and Innovations from the European Union: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    20. Hafiz Muhammad Abrar Ilyas & Majeed Safa & Alison Bailey & Sara Rauf & Marvin Pangborn, 2019. "The Carbon Footprint of Energy Consumption in Pastoral and Barn Dairy Farming Systems: A Case Study from Canterbury, New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-15, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5868-:d:279209. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.