Moving from livestock consulting to transition support: where do we stand in France?

Abstract

With 187,000 livestock farms representing 40% of total agricultural activity, livestock farming contributes to the agricultural economy, to the country’s food sovereignty, to the vitality of rural regions and to the maintenance of landscapes. It faces major challenges such as climate change, product price volatility, animal health and the well-being of livestock farmers. These challenges call for a renewal of skills on the part of farmers, as well as an overall technical support system surrounding livestock farming, in order to initiate more sustainable and resilient practices. The authors carry out a literature review on the current state of livestock consulting, which is called upon to adopt a more global approach, to work in networks, and to adopt integrative methods to promote multi-performance livestock farming. Fifty thousand people, working in public and private organizations, provide French livestock farmers with multi-purpose advice, or specialized technical and economic support. After fostering privatization, public policies are now controlling conflicts of interest and encouraging the sharing of knowledge among different stakeholders. In an uncertain and complex context, livestock farmers and their advisors, supported by digital tools, have to take into account the social expectations of livestock farmers, the specificities of the farm and more complex production systems, in order to adapt innovative solutions to each situation. Livestock consultancy has thus moved away from a top-down prescription approach to a more interactive and participative approach to transfer knowledge and support farmers.