Kathryn Ellis - Improving Organic Animal Farming (Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science): 46

As editors of this book we are very grateful to all those authors who so willingly contributed their valuable time and expert knowledge thank you. We also wish to thank all those who reviewed chapters and who offered constructive advice and guidance. In particular, we would like to give special thanks to Gidi Smolders for his continuous support during what has been a long journey and also to author Lindsay Whistance for taking on additional tasks in helping us to bring this book together. We are grateful to Francis Dodds, Amanda Renwick and the team at Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing for their patience, help and encouragement. We would also like to acknowledge Sophie Prache of INRA for the cover image.

We dedicate this book to Willie Lockeretz and Vonne Lund, from whom we learned such a lot and with whom we share many great memories.

Mette Vaarst, Aarhus University, Denmark; and Stephen Roderick, Duchy College, UK

The world has changed dramatically and in so many ways over the past half century, and this has profoundly influenced our farming and food systems. As the human population grows and changes, the way we exploit land, water and natural resources, and the way we produce and transport feed and food across continents, impacts on our behaviour as ). Consequently, it is becoming increasingly urgent that we include these broad issues in our discussions of the future of food and farming, including the way in which we perceive, engage with and organize the animals that have such a key role in our food and ecosystems. All the elements of current global development urbanization, industrialization, population rise, food insecurity, environmental degradation, climate change and other universal issues call for more equitable and balanced agricultural systems, including new and innovative ways of keeping and integrating animals into our food production systems. These are all big issues, and they will not, of course, be addressed and resolved fully in a book about organic animal farming, but they do, nonetheless, warrant proper consideration in any analysis of the future development of organic animal farming.

During the twentieth century, organic farming was established throughout the world as one of the leading alternatives to an industrialized farming and food sector based on and dependent on external inputs such as fossil fuels and antibiotics. Organic farming and food systems have continued to develop, driven and carried forward by different factors and motivations across multiple contexts. Certified organic animal produce is booming in many countries, evidenced by an increasing general interest in organic production () are now well established and create societal concern. Large parts of our food systems provide us with such foods, and as a response to this globalized farming industry and food trade, organic farming in different forms certified or not presents an alternative to a broken food system. In some cases it may include opportunities for closer connections between farmers and consumers in shorter supply chains, with more transparency, and with respectful relationships between humans, animals and the environment.

As well as the opportunities, organic farming clearly does not come without its challenges. Some of these are highly farm specific, where the animals and farmers are the key actors, whereas others are universal challenges that face all citizens and animals. Organic food has itself become, to a large extent, commercialized and part of transnational food and trading systems involving the movement of feed and food around the world. Fortunately, the organic principles as formulated by providing appropriate animal nutrition, establishing better methods of health promotion and disease management, reducing reliance on antibiotics as well as ways of enhancing animal welfare and more effective integration of animals within farming systems. Many of these are seen within the light of global environmental and food security challenges. We have also incorporated a series of chapters that focus specifically on key species, with a brief to authors to identify the major challenges and opportunities to organic animal farming with respect to the key principles and values that have come to define organic farming globally.

Each author was faced with the dilemma of both focusing on the important factors, decisions and choices influencing their particular specialist area, whilst also providing a more holistic perspective that encompasses the multiple objectives of organic farming and the needs and desires of our wider society. Whereas most of the research and published experiences of organic animal farming has been of European origin, we are proud of the wider range of issues and perspectives covered in this book. In addition, we have endeavoured to reach out to systems and regions which, although perhaps in their infancy in formal organic development, have a significant future contribution to make towards, and benefit to gain from, more innovative, equitable and responsible methods of animal farming.

Many organic farms operate under economic pressure, being parts of the same food system as industrial farming aimed at producing large quantities of cheap food. Furthermore, organic farming operates under huge cultural, geographical, climatic and structural diversity which shapes the way in which farmers and citizens perceive what is organic? This particular aspect serves to highlight why it is imperative to have clear organic principles that emphasize holistic ways of thinking which, in turn, provides opportunities for and encourages thoughtful integration of animals into whole farming systems, and communities. This point is one of the major reasons for including a chapter on the guiding organic principles, rather than specifically addressing standards and certification. Organic farming has core guiding values and should not be viewed just as a legal entity that gives consumer confidence and opportunity for adding economic value. Organic standards and certification have a common reference point in the principles, but it is these principles that guide the overall ethos and future development. There is no doubt that in interpreting legal requirements for organic farming, the guiding principles can be severely tested and hence the need to place principles above label, although it is fully accepted that labels, under some market conditions, are a necessary tool. Organic standards are constantly adjusted in accordance with development of new knowledge and changes in external conditions, for example climatic changes, socio-economic demands and political imperatives.

The aim of this book is to explore how organic animal production can be further progressed to contribute to protecting our natural resources for the future whilst maintaining the highest ethical standards, as well as providing global food security and sovereignty goals that are embedded in the organic principles. By exploring the importance of these principles of ecology, health, fairness and care within Chapter 2, Susanne Padel provides us with the initial platform and discusses how the principles contribute to the development of agro-ecological systems that include animals, as well as highlighting the challenges and conflicts that emerge when we endeavour to embed these principles within our farming systems.

Moving beyond the principles to the practice of applying organic farming in a range of environments, there is a clear requirement for adaptability. Organic agriculture is very much about robustness and resilience, and the choice of animal species and breeds is challenging and important. Choosing the right species of animals adapted to the environment in which they are kept is a key requirement in organic farming to ensure they are sufficiently robust to cope, for example, with an outdoor life and not to be dependent on the inputs that are commonly found in intensive or industrial farming. More specifically, choosing the right breed of animal for the conditions in which it will live, produce and behave naturally is a crucial determining factor. A good example to illustrate how the principles and the standards are out of step is the issue of designed breeds for organic poultry farming, whereby a single breed has been developed to produce a single product that is either eggs or meat, but not both. In this example, breeding may be viewed as having taken us in a direction where animals are no longer viewed as partners within the organic farm, but components designed to meet a single outcome, and the production imperative is not one based on optimizing the efficiency of the farms natural resources but on an economic system driven by external inputs. There are other interesting debates around breeds and breeding, including whether or not artificial breeding techniques should be permitted, whether sexed semen provides a positive or negative contribution to animal welfare and whether, and to what extent, gene technologies should be used as breeding tools.