The Luz’Co project, launched from 2016 to 2019 and co-financed by CASDAR, aims to promote forage legumes through collective initiatives. Led by FRcuma Ouest and involving 12 national partners, this action-research project explored the benefits of legumes, such as improving protein self-sufficiency and soil structure. Luz'Co seeks to overcome barriers to their adoption by encouraging collective initiatives to develop alfalfa. The project’s website, a resource center, centralizes and disseminates practical content for farmers, facilitators, and those in education and research, thus supporting the emergence of agroecological systems based on alfalfa. A presentation video of the project is also available for more information.
Project Website and Resource Center: Le projet – Le centre de ressources Luz'Co (luzco.fr)
Project Presentation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCCSCHVmno
The AGROSYL project, led by the Operational Group of the European Innovation Partnership (GO EIP), focuses on promoting innovative agricultural practices related to forests and wood. AGROSYL explores four key themes: silvopastoralism, forage white mulberry, fruit experimentation, and the use of wood mulch in cattle housing, thus strengthening the link between agriculture and sustainable forestry.
Summary of Project Results: Agrosyl: After Five Years of the Project, What Are the Results? - Chambre d'agriculture Ariège (chambre-agriculture.fr)
Project Presentation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN31YIpaH7U
Agrosyl Diagnostic Presentation Video: INRAE (UMR Pasto) presents the participatory work conducted with 62 farmers as part of the project. 34 tree-related solutions were identified in response to 10 recurring needs of producers (improving animal welfare, forage autonomy, etc.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhzbLPp8IZE
Project presentation on RMT agroforestery France website : Agrosyl • RMT AgroforesterieS (rmt-agroforesteries.fr)
The Agroforestruie project aims to study and test the implementation of trees and nutritive meadows in small and medium-sized outdoor areas for sows, to meet several objectives, including feed autonomy, animal welfare, adaptation to climate change, reduced environmental impact and the production of high-quality, high value-added meat. To this end, the project sought to better understand the potential of fodder trees (fruit production) and to improve their inclusion in the feed rations. At the same time, an analysis of the nutritional value of the dried fruits of twenty tree species was carried out, with the aim of better integrating these feeds into pigs rations. For these experiments, the project focused on specific French breeds of pigs : the “Cul noir du Limousin”, the “black pig of Bigorre”, the “Baron des Cévennes” and the Kintoa (Basque pig).
https://agroof.net/recherche/fichesRD/agroforestruie.html
The COMPLÉMENTARITÉS CULTURES-ÉLEVAGE project (2014-2020), led by AgroTransfert Ressources et Territoires, aims to anchor livestock farming in the North region by using the complementarities between livestock and crop production.
These complementarities should make it possible to improve farm performances and foster cooperation between farms. The project began by identifying potentially interesting complementarities in the region. Then, it assessed the sustainability of complementary systems. Finally, it produced an approach for supporting groups of farmers in designing and implementing complementary systems.
Videos and deliverables are available at: https://www.agro-transfert-rt.org/projets/complementarites-cultures-elevage/
The aim of this project, that run from 2014 to 2016, was to create the human, organisational and legal tools needed to develop territorial complementarities and local synergies between specialised CEReals/arable crops and livestock farming systems.
The general aim of the project is to produce analyses and leverage tools enabling the development of complementarities between farming systems specialising in crops and farming systems specialising in livestock. To achieve this, three operational objectives were sought:
- To identify, within the organisation of farms and the partners who support them, the levers and obstacles that can be used to create links and encourage complementarity across the divides between systems.
- Create a clear legal framework for managing the cereal grower/farmer relationship on a win/win basis over the medium term (particularly as regards contractual relations and pricing).
- Through eight pilot groups, to test the reality of territorial complementarities and their potential and real impacts, particularly in terms of the sustainability of agriculture, in order to draw general lessons.
Find a deliverable sheet for building a balanced partnership: https://vienne.chambre-agriculture.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Nouvelle-Aquitaine/104_Inst-Vienne/Documents/mes_productions/Agroecologie/Cooperation-Innovation/CONSTRUIRE_PARTENARIAT_EQUILIBRE-FICHE_METHODE_2.pdf and a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_lrlo-ek6I,
The POSCIF project - Sheep grazing in cereal-growing systems in Île-de-France region, was an experimental and participatory research project involving a network of farmers seeking to:
→ Explore the effects of grazing on plots, crops and flocks;
→ Quantify the technical, economic, environmental and social impacts of grazing;
→ Evaluate the feasibility/generalization of adopting sheep grazing in cereal-growing systems on a larger scale.
Deliverables (data sheets, reports, final conference slide, etc...): https://www.agrofile.fr/poscif/
The SOBRIETE (Sheep Systems Low-inputs, RésilIent and Economically susTainablE) project is studying the benefits of introducing a flock of sheeps on cereal farms and the feasibility of reducing inputs on mixed crop-sheep farms.
See delivreables : https://idele.fr/ciirpo/publications/detail-article?tx_atolidelecontenus_publicationdetailaction=showDossier&tx_atolidelecontenus_publicationdetailcontroller=Detail&tx_atolidelecontenus_publicationdetailpublication=1828&cHash=8dcf7cd9456773b97c85c7446de70d4b
The ARPEEGE (Autonomy in Protein and Energy for Livestock farming systems in Grand Est region) Operationnal Group of European Innovation Partnership (EIP) was set up with 24 partners from the upstream and downstream plant and animal sectors. The aim of ARPEEGE is to propose new ways of improving input management, in order to develop and secure a complementarity between crop and livestock production that will guarantee the feed self-sufficiency of livestock farms in the Grand Est region.
Practical information sheets and final conference slides are available : https://www.grandest.chambre-agriculture.fr/productions-agricoles/autonomie-proteines/arpeege-autonomie-proteique-des-elevages/
The Casdar Inter-AGIT+ project (Interactions between Farmers to Manage Intercrops on a Territorial Scale for More Sustainable Activities), scheduled to run from 2022 to 2025, aims to identify and overcome existing obstacles to the development of grazing of intercrops within territories, and thus encourage a new form of sustainable mixed farming systems. It is based on :
- studying and characterising existing practices ;
- acquiring references through trials and plot monitoring ;
- developing tools for supervising and supporting practices at local level.
Deliverables are available at: https://idele.fr/interagit/
This project that run from 2018 to 2021 focuses on the agro-ecological and social values of sheep grazing in additionnal surfaces as orchards, vineyards, winter cover crops, cereals and wooded rangelands. It is based on a study of existing practices, the acquisition of benchmarks and the development of tools to support the development of grazing in the mosaic of crops and landscapes of the South-West of France.
3 AREAS OF WORK:
- Identifying and analysing local practices in the Greater South-West and identifying the factors that encourage grazing, the obstacles and the potential levers;
- Testing these practices in order to encourage their adoption in the project areas. The aim is to set up experimental and demonstration facilities to show farmers how existing obstacles, such as potential damage to crops or labour constraints, can be overcome. The aim is also to produce technical references to help rationalise these practices;
- Promote additional grazing by developing and disseminating technical support tools in all areas where these practices are of interest. This will involve formalising the legal framework and developing a method for bringing together farmers, producers and local authorities.
Find out more about the technical data sheets, support materials and replay of the final webinar: https://dordogne.chambre-agriculture.fr/innovation-expe/innover-en-agronomie/nos-projets-innovants-en-agronomie/le-paturage-ovin-pour-creer-du-lien/
