Farm animals are an important and integrated part of most organic farms. They make valuable contributions to the productivity and sustainability of organic farming systems. In addition to this strong economic bond between humans and animals in organic farming, there is also a moral (and sometimes emotional) bond with animals as sentient beings and fellow human beings on this planet. This places a responsibility on humans for the welfare of farm animals. However, the development of organic livestock has been slower than that of organic vegetable production. There are several reasons for this, historical and philosophical, as well as the fact that animal production research is often more expensive and difficult to carry out compared to crop research. However, research with organic animals has increased considerably in several European countries lately, and as a result, higher efficiency and productivity in organic animal production, as well as better animal welfare, can be expected.
There is great interest in organic farming in Europe, both among politicians and among consumers and farmers. Organic agriculture is subsidized by the EU, and the Commission is currently working on an Action Plan for organic food and agriculture. Animals are an important part of most organic farms and research is now being done to develop better organic systems in many European countries. Therefore, we can expect organic animal production to increase over the next few years. At the same time, there are challenges and dilemmas that the organic movement and organic farmers must face and resolve in order to improve animal production and maintain credibility and trust among consumers, for example in relation to animal welfare.
In organic farming, agriculture is often referred to as an agroecosystem. An agroecosystem is a community of plants and animals interacting with their physical and chemical environments that have been modified by people to produce food, fiber, and other products for human consumption and processing. The objective of organic agriculture is to design a quilt of agroecosystems within a landscape unit, each mimicking the structure and function of local natural ecosystems, thus acquiring their resilience and sustainability. Ideally, the organic farmer manipulates the natural ecosystem to achieve sustainable production, using an understanding of ecological relationships while trying to minimize the use of external inputs and damage to the environment.
Although it is possible to create agroecosystems without farm animals, animals provide substantial advantages for the productivity and sustainability of the system. For example, farm animals play an important role in biomass processing and nutrient recycling. Organic farming systems with herbivores are generally more productive than those without. Animals can fill otherwise unused trophic niches, for example marginal land not otherwise suitable for agriculture. However, to create sustainable agroecosystems, the animal component must meet certain requirements:-
1. The selection of species and breeds must be adapted to the production of crops suitable for the area, to the resources available on the farm or in the region, and to the local agroclimatic conditions.
2. The number of animals must be balanced in relation to the possible agricultural production and available resources.
3. Farming systems must be designed to avoid damaging the environment and minimize the use of fossil energy.
Ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, have a particularly important role in agroecosystems, processing leguminous forage plants. These are the backbone of organic crop production due to their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. To get enough nitrogen in an organic crop rotation, about a third of the crops should be vegetables. In practice this means that organic animal production must be based on ruminants (and that these be fed as ruminants). In contrast, monogastric animals, such as pigs and poultry, require high-quality protein in their diets. These animals can be considered to be in competition with humans for food, at least to the extent that they use protein sources suitable for direct human consumption. Therefore, it is sometimes argued that monogastric animals should be considered marginal in organic farming, mainly to be fed agricultural waste. They can also contribute to the agroecosystem by producing useful services, such as biological control of weeds or pests.
Development approaches to organic animal production in developing countries must be based on realistic and practical situations. First, the limitations and complexities of the export market for animal products must be recognized, while there are greater market opportunities for organic animal products at the local level, for example, indigenous chicken meat and eggs. Practical approaches to organic farming must build on and build on locally existing animal production systems that already closely resemble prescribed organic practices, such as those mentioned above for indigenous ruminant and chicken production. Local standards and guidelines for organic animal husbandry should be initially considered and developed from such existing farming practices. Further development of such standards will be an ongoing process based on practical experiences gained from the production, processing and marketing of the resulting organic animal products.
The success of promoting organic livestock at the national level will depend on many important factors, including government policies and legislative supports, socio-economic infrastructure, farm training and extension, as well as other technical supports.