Durabilité des exploitations d'élevage multi-espèces en France et en Europe : bénéfices observés, freins et leviers pour leur déploiement

Abstract

One of the principles of agroecology is that the management of animal and plant diversity within livestock farms can enhance their sustainability. To go beyond this theoretical principle, we analyze the farm operation and performance of multi-species livestock farms, i.e. farms where at least two animal species are raised. In grassland-based systems, the complementarity of sheep, cattle and horse grazing behaviour reduces the use of feed concentrates, especially for sheep. Parasite dilution in mixed grazing systems benefits small ruminants and horses, and makes it possible to reduce the number of anthelmintic treatments. Adding a small monogastric enterprise to a beef or dairy system makes it possible to value farm co-products (whey...); milk processing is often associated with on-farm processing and opens up the possibility of short-distribution channels of diversified food baskets, which enhance farm viability. Work organization plays a key role in the way different species are integrated on the same farm. Rather than focusing on the maximization of within-farm diversity only, what matters is to reach an overall consistency of the system that the farmer is able to manage. Finally, we discuss the obstacles to the scaling-out of multi-species livestock farms, linked to a socioeconomic system built to benefit from the economies of scale offered by specialisation. To overcome these obstacles, we propose levers upstream (innovating for multipurpose equipment and infrastructures), downstream (reorganizing the collect chain) and around these farms (revisiting training and advice) that must be thought out in a coupled manner.