Developing Fodder Systems That Enhance Animal Health/Welfare Services of Grasslands

Dear Colleagues,

Health management, in a human–animal continuum, is at the heart of the agroecological transition of livestock farming systems (Dumont et al., 2013) and also societal expectations of practices that respect animals and humans (Delanoue and Roguet, 2015). Animal health is seen here, in a preventive way, as the maintenance of a state of well-being and the ability to mobilize adaptive capacities in the face of challenging situations on an individual and collective scale (inflammatory, infectious, thermal stress, etc.) (WHO, 1946; Döring et al., 2015). As a complement to cure therapy, feeding is an identified lever to support immune functions and make animals more resistant to these challenges. Research and development actions, nutritional advice, and companies in animal nutrition highlight the benefits of a diet that integrates ecosystem, animal, and human healths in a One Health or even an Eco-Health approach.

Grasslands provide a significant part of the basic ration for ruminants, and because of their multifunctionality, they are an important pillar of the agroecological transition of livestock farming systems (Gibon, 2005). However, their role in the prevention of health problems and in animal welfare as mentioned above remains relatively poorly referenced and mobilized in practice by livestock farmers. However, in France, for example, when half of the annual ration is based on grazing, compared to rations composed of stored forages (silage), veterinary costs are reduced by more than 50% (Sulpice et al., 2019). This can be associated with a lower level of animal production, better welfare conditions, and increased functional longevity of the animals.

Since the 1980s and the strengthening of scientific knowledge on the multifunctionality of grasslands (Huyghe et al, 2014), changes in grassland management have been observed. The representations made by grassland farmers strongly influence the practices implemented (Petit et al., 2019a and 2019b). These representations are largely determined by professional factors (career, networks, value of the profession, work organization) (Couvreur et al., 2019). However, forage systems based on grassland to improve animal health are little studied as such. It seems that few farmers (dairy cattle) make the link between grassland, feeding management, and animal health. Even if it is not quantified, the link exists to grazing due to an adapted feed and the expression of a natural behavioral repertoire (Petit et al., 2020). Only some livestock farmers, in the transition to grassland systems and/or organic farming, mobilize alternative therapeutic approaches, as well as tools and advice adapted to grassland-based feeding systems, all within a holistic approach to food and health management (Manoli and Hellec, 2017; Petit et al., 2020). Indeed, the implementation of grassland-based feeding systems leads to significant changes in the design of production, performance, and therefore animal health. These changes include the reduction of inputs used and the integration of health–welfare objectives into production objectives. Thus, there is a strong need to better understand the link that livestock farmers make between grassland and animal health and welfare, as well as the indicators that could be developed to manage grasslands for four purposes: technical, health, economic, and environmental.

In this Special Issue of Sustainability, the objectives are therefore to contribute to shedding light on the conditions (barriers and innovations) for developing fodder systems that enhance the services of grasslands for animal health–welfare in a One Health or Eco-Health approach. The expected papers should develop inter- or even transdisciplinary approaches, ideally territorialized, aiming to study and clarify the following:

• The way in which the ecosystem service of grasslands associated with animal health–welfare is conceived and put into practice, not only by livestock farmers but also by stakeholders in the ruminant sectors and territories;
• Indicators developed at farm and territory scales for agroecological management of grasslands for animal health–welfare and, more broadly, for ecosystems and people;
• Technical, economic, or sociological barriers as well as innovations at the level of ruminant farms/sectors/territories, which may be at the origin of or, on the contrary, hinder the development of more integrative management of grasslands and animal health–welfare.

References:

Couvreur S., Petit T., Le Guen R., Ben Arfa N., Jacquerie V., Sigwalt A., Haimoud Lekhal D.-A., Chaib K., Defois J., Martel G. Technical and sociological analysis of grassland maintenance in lowland dairy cattle areas. INRAE Prod. Anim. 2019, 32, 399–416 DOI: https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.20870/productions-animales.2019.32.3.2940

Delanoue E. and Roguet C. Social acceptability of French livestock production: identification and analysis of the main controversies according to the viewpoints of different stakeholders. INRAE Prod. Anim. 2015, 28, 23–38

Döring T.F., Vieweger A., Pautasso M., Vaarst M., Finckh M.R., and Wolfe M.S. Resilience as a universal criterion of health. J. Sci. Food and Agric. 2015, 95, 455–465.

Dumont B., Fortun-Lamothe L., Jouven M., Thomas M. and Tichit M. Prospects from agroecology and industrial ecology for animal production in the 21st century. Animal 2013, 7, 1028–1043.

Gibon A. Managing grassland for production, the environment and the landscape. Challenges at the farm and the landscape level. Livest. Prod. Sci. 2005, 96, 11–31.

Huyghe C., De Vliegher A., Van Gils B., Peetersa A. Grasslands and herbivore production in Europe and effects of common policies. Editions Quae 2014, pp.320, 978-2-7592-2158-5.

Manoli C. and Hellec F. Re-establishing the links between animal health and herd feeding: the use and spread of the Obsalim ® method among dairy cattle farmers. Fourrages 2017, 231, 203–212.

WHO, 1946. Préambule à la Constitution de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, In Proceeding of tel qu'adopté par la Conférence internationale sur la Santé, New York, NY, USA. 19 June–22 July, 1946. p. 100.

Petit T., Gotti V., Manoli C., Couvreur S. Grasslands uses and animal health management: perceptions of dairy farmers in western France. In Proceeding of Oral communication for 28th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, Helsinki, Finland, 23–25 October 2020.

Petit T., Sigwalt A., Le Guen R., Martel G. and Couvreur S. Role of grasslands in the foraging approaches of farmers in the Grand Ouest of France. Fourrages 2019, 239, 235–245.

Petit T., Martel G., Vertes F., and Couvreur S. Long-term maintenance of grasslands on dairy farms is associated with redesign and hybridisation of practices, motivated by farmers' perceptions. Agric. Systems 2019, 173, 435–448.

Sulpice P., Manteaux J.-P., Michaud A., Fauriat A., Ollivier A., Otz P. and Longfellow H., 2019. Grazing affects animal health: an examination of survey data collected by accredited veterinarians during visits to dairy farms. Fourrages 2019, 238, 133–138.

Dr. Sébastien Couvreur
Dr. Timothée Petit
Guest Editors

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• grassland management
• animal health
• animal welfare
• one health
• livestock farmer systems