Anna Hessle

Agricultural intensification has resulted in the loss of plant species richness in European grasslands. Multi‐species seed mixtures (MSSM) are one strategy to fulfil key requirements of sustainable pasture management, enhancing biodiversity and reducing the need for inputs like fertiliser nitrogen. Why farmers decide for or against using MSSM remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted an online survey exploring European farmers' intention to use MSSM on pastures ( n = 688). Using a structural equation model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we found that the perceived behavioural control, which shows the individual's perceived own ability to use MSSM, significantly affected farmers' intention. Within the perceived behavioural control, the compatibility of MSSM with the farm infrastructure was the most important item. Furthermore, the perceived behavioural control correlated strongly positively with the farmers' attitude towards the behaviour and the subjective norm, which reflects the farmers' concern about the views of persons important to them. Additional Kruskal‐Wallis tests and pairwise post hoc Wilcoxon tests pointed to significant differences in the intention between specific groups when categorised by stocking rate, agroclimatic zone, country, educational level and organic vs. conventional management. The awareness of MSSM had a large effect on the intention, and current users (49% of respondents) showed the highest intention to use it further. To foster the uptake by farmers, various MSSM suitable for different farm infrastructures and climatic conditions are needed. Payments for successful establishment of MSSM could support their use. To enhance the awareness of MSSM, the European Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems are promising.

To safeguard an agricultural landscape with high biodiversity, livestock grazing on semi-natural pastures is crucial, and steers are well suited to such production systems. This study compared meat quality, including technological traits, sensory attributes, and fatty acid composition, of purebred dairy steers (D) and dairy × beef crossbreed steers (C), reared in two distinct production systems. Sixty-four steers (thirty-two per breed type) were included. Half were kept in a production system that had relatively high feed intensity (H), with one grazing summer on semi-natural pastures and slaughtered at 21 months of age. The other half were kept in a production system that had low feed intensity (L), with two grazing summers on semi-natural pastures and slaughtered at 28 months. Colour, water holding capacity, Warner–Bratzler shear force, sensory attributes, and fatty acid profiles were measured on the Musculus longissimus lumborum. Meat from L steers with two grazing seasons was darker (p = 0.003) and contained a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (p = 0.006) than meat from more intensively reared H steers. Meat from C steers was perceived as having a coarser fibre structure (p = 0.022) with an acidic odour (p = 0.040) compared to D steers. Additionally, cooked meat from L steers was evaluated as having a pinker appearance by an analytical sensory panel (p = 0.008). In summary, breed type and production system had no major effect on technological and sensory attributes for forage and pasture-fed steers, but fatty acid composition was improved with more unsaturated lipids in meat from L steers.

This study compared the profitability when feeding silages of different grass species in enterprises with either dairy cows, beef breed bulls, or beef suckler cows. Traditional (TR) grasses timothy and meadow fescue was compared to the alternative wet-and-drought-resistant (WD) grasses tall fescue, festulolium, and reed canary grass in three different weather scenarios with either normal conditions (Ref), delayed late harvest time due to wet weather conditions (Wet), or decreased grass yield due to dry weather conditions (Dry). Contribution margin calculation was conducted for three geographical regions in Sweden. In the Ref and Wet scenarios, TR was more competitive than WD for dairy cows and beef bulls in all regions. Also in the Dry scenario, TR was more competitive than WD for dairy cows, as the lower production cost of the WD was outweighed by a lower milk yield of cows fed WD compared to cows fed TR. Contrary, for beef bulls, WD gave a higher contribution margin than TR did in the Dry scenario, where the break-even for WD being superior over TR occurred when more than every second year was dry. WD reed canary grass was always more competitive than TR and WD festulolium for beef cows.

Beef has a considerably higher climate impact than meat from monogastric animals and plant-based foods, due to methane emissions from enteric fermentation in ruminants. Animal feed production also contributes considerably to the climate impact, through carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and nitrous oxide emissions from soil. Despite this, ruminant animals can still be part of sustainable food systems, as they can produce human-edible food from coarse biomass unsuitable for human consumption (e.g., grass or straw), i.e., acting as ‘upgraders’. Feeding ruminants on coarse biomass also reduces the need for cropland for feed production. Using cereal straw as indoor feed for suckler cows reduces their feed intake in winter, while increasing their intake of biomass on pasture during the grazing season. This study assessed the climate impact of producing 1 kg of beef (carcass weight), and of the farm as a whole, in a Swedish suckler-based system using a mixture of cereal straw and grass-clover silage as winter feed for suckler cows, compared with using only grass-clover silage (reference scenario). The rest of the feed remained unchanged. Replacing part of the grass-clover silage with straw meant that less cropland area was needed to grow feed. Two alternative scenarios for using this spared land were investigated: producing wheat for human consumption (straw-food) and conversion to pasture (straw-pasture). Effects on total food production were also calculated. Using a combination of cereal straw and grass-clover silage as winter feed for suckler cows was found to reduce the climate impact associated with feed production compared with using only grass-clover silage. However, this change in winter feed increased biomass intake on pasture during the grazing season and thus the grazed area, so total climate impact of beef per kg carcass weight, and of the farm as a whole, increased when the demand for more grazing area resulted in deforestation. With no deforestation, the climate impact was comparable to that of beef from suckler cows fed exclusively on grass-clover silage during winter. Therefore, upcycling of straw to meat had no notable effect on the climate impact, indicating that using residues as feed does not always entail a climate benefit. However, increased demand for pasture can have a direct benefit for biodiversity if more biologically rich semi-natural pastures are maintained or restored. Using the land spared through feeding straw instead of grass-clover silage for wheat production increase total food production from the system, with potential indirect climate benefits.

Silvipastoral agroforestry in the form of forest grazing and wooded semi-natural pastures has historically been very important for the Swedish supply of food and wood products for local use. Since the end of the 1800s, this form of combined production system has greatly decreased and now covers only 1% of Sweden’s land area. However, in recent decades it has gained increased relevance for reasons of landscape, biodiversity and climate. Agroforestry’s decline and possible future increase are described through reviews of statistics and the literature read by farmers and politicians whose decisions are behind the development. Especially when it comes to biodiversity and climate, this review also includes the scientific literature. Surveys on Swedish citizens’ valuation of silvipastoral agroforestry landscapes compared to treeless pasture and closed forest are also reviewed. It is possible that efforts to increase Sweden’s low self-sufficiency in beef and lamb meat, the coming requirements according to the EU’s nature restoration law and the need to limit climate change through carbon sequestration in trees may again increase the area of silvipastoral agroforestry. For this to be economically feasible, large grazing areas can be created out of remaining small scattered wooded semi-natural pastures and intervening forestland, which historically may have been grazed forests.

Native livestock breeds are part of the history of the Nordic people and comprise a resource for future food production. In this study, net gain and carcass characteristics of two Danish, three Finnish, one Icelandic, six Norwegian and five Swedish native cattle breeds were retrieved and compared to commercial breeds: two beef breeds and two dairy breeds. Breed data were collected from national databases and sorted into six animal categories: young bull, bull, steer, heifer, young cow and cow, for which means and standard deviations were calculated within each country. The native breeds ranged from small-sized milking type breeds with low net gain, carcass weights and EUROP classification to larger multipurpose breeds with high net gains, carcass weights and EUROP classification. All Finnish and most of the Norwegian and Swedish native breeds had lower net gain and carcass weight than the dairy breeds in the same category and country, but with similar carcass conformation and fatness scores. The two Danish native breeds had higher net gain, carcass weight and conformation class than the reference dairy breed, but lower than the reference beef breeds. The net gain and carcass traits of the Icelandic native breed were similar to the smallest-sized native breeds from the other countries. The carcass traits of the native breeds indicate that they have comparative advantages in an extensive production system based on forage and marginal grasslands. They may also succeed better in the value-added markets than in mainstream beef production.