Since 2013, the ATF-EAAP Special Session during the EAAP Annual Meeting aims to bring together animal science with practice of animal production and connect researchers, policymakers, industry representatives and societal organisations. Every year, a different topic is addressed during this session. Once again, and for the third time, the EAAP Commission on Livestock Farming Systems and the ATF have worked together to organise a one-day symposium.

Background

The EU will introduce a Framework Law on Sustainable Food Systems in 2023. In this context, what are sustainable livestock systems, which common ground could they have and how will they differ from region to region? Policymakers, civil society, NGOs, consumers, the agri-food sector and scientists all want to better define and contribute to more sustainable livestock systems. However, there is no clear definition of what a sustainable livestock system is, how to assess the state of existing systems, and the direction in which they must evolve. In the meanwhile, food security has grown in importance because of the recent crisis occurring in Europe. How to combine food security, resilience and sustainability should be at the centre of research and innovation and policy initiatives.

This topic will explore the key attributes of sustainable livestock systems, the trade-offs and synergies between different aspects of the systems and their interactions with other parts of the food system. It will also explore how current livestock systems can evolve to be more sustainable and will examine methodologies to assess the sustainability of livestock

• The benefits and trade-offs of livestock systems from an economic, social and environment viewpoint
• Assessing the sustainability of livestock systems and its different levels
• Barriers for young farmers to enter livestock farming systems
• The role of livestock systems in rural economies and job creation
• The role of livestock systems in providing nutrient-rich and affordable foods
• Sustainability and healthy and robust livestock
• Livestock systems in the context of climate change and the effects of heat and water shortage
• Intrinsic qualities of livestock products in food and non-food uses
• The place of animal welfare concerns in sustainable livestock systems and benefits/trade-offs with the three main pillars of sustainability
• Contribution to culture
• Tools to assess and improve sustainability; development of new metrics, feeding and breeding…

Aim

The symposium aims to contribute to:

• Engage a dialogue with various stakeholders;
• Address how research and innovation can support the livestock sector;
• Provide input to European research and innovation agendas and to public policies to secure Europe’s role as a leading global provider of safe and healthy animal-derived products;
• Support knowledge development and innovation;
• Foster ownership by farmers

The outcomes of the session will be discussed with a large panel of European stakeholders during the 13th ATF seminar, in Brussels, on 15 November.

Outline general programme

Sessions 2 (morning) + 14 (afternoon):

8:30 Welcome & introduction. By Frank O'Mara, ATF President  & Michael Lee, President of the EAAP LFS Study Commission

8:45 Friend or Foe? The role of animal-source foods in healthy and environmentally sustainable diets. By Lutz Merbold, Agroscope

9:15 The economic sustainability of dairy production systems in the EU and beyond. By Fiona Thorne, Teagasc

9:45 Methods to assess the sustainability of livestock systems: challenges and opportunities. By Evelien de Olde, WUR

10:15 Coffee break

10:45 SustAinimal – a multi-actor knowledge centre for livestock in future Swedish food systems. By Mårten Hetta, SLU

11:00 Breeding livestock for sustainable systems. By Pieter Knap, Genus-PIC

11:30 PANEL DISCUSSION with the speakers and the audience

12:15 Use of grazing with dairy goats to design sustainable food systems. By Hugues Caillat, INRAE

12:30 Benefits and limits of farm animals to control herbage mass, pests and weeds in orchards: a review. By René Baumont, INRAE

12:45 A new concept for agro-ecological efficiency at different scales of ruminant production systems. By Hieu Nguyen-Ba, INRAE

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Multiple mitigation strategies may lead to reduction in emissions for mixed Kenyan dairy systems. By Lutz Merbold, Agroscope

14:15 Assessing multifunctionnality of livestock breeds and species at global level. By Roswitha Baumung, FAO

14:30 Predicting sustainable futures: does disease in early life result in trade-offs in ewe productivity? By Jade Duncan, Moredun Research Institute

14:45 The welfare of housed and grazing beef cattle assessed by hormones levels and physical check scores. By Jordana Rivero, Rothamsted Research

15:00 Creating a Shared Framework for Standardizing Life Cycle Assessments in Livestock Production Systems. By Laurence Smith, University of Reading

15:15 Defining operational sustainability and the need for systems approach in assessing livestock farming. By Anders Herlin, SLU

15:30 The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef; multi-stakeholder engagement driving progress worldwide. By Ruaraidh Petre, Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

15:45 Coffee break

16:15 Developing a decision support system for integral sustainability improvement of Dutch dairy farm. By Marion De Vries, WUR

16:30 Animal welfare index in sustainability assessments. By Lotta Rydhmer, SLU

16:45 Sustainability analysis of large-scale dairy farming in China from water-energy-labor nexus insight. By Xinyi Du, China Agricultural University

17:00 Characterizing the socio-economic and environmental performance of Irish beef and sheep farms. By Cecilia Ayala, WUR

17:15 Benchmarking the sustainability performance of pastoral dairy-beef production systems. By Mark Kearney, Teagasc

17:30 Measuring, Reporting and Verifying Farm Sustainability (Food Futures). By Ryan McGuire, Queen's University Belfast - Institute for Global Food Security

17:30 Closing. By Frank O'Mara, ATF President & Michael Lee, President of the EAAP LFS Study Commission