Farm adaptation to stricter nutrient management legislation and the implications for future livestock production: a review

Abstract

Stricter nutrient surplus and lower emission targets are placing adaptation pressure on livestock farms in European countries, while the public debate on how farms should react upon this pressure is controversial. In this paper, we performed an integrative literature review on different farm adaptation options, including (i) structural adaptation, (ii) technological adaptation, (iii) manure redistribution, and (iv) farm system conversion. Our analysis showed that stricter environmental legislation, together with complementary supply- and demand-related drivers, induced various farm responses. These ranged from easy to implement solutions (e.g. moderate livestock destocking to the legal levels combined with the adoption of emission abatement technologies) to novel niche concepts (e.g. animal husbandry without slaughtering). Possible reactions of farmers differed in their complexity and feasibility across different farm types and involved different trade-offs between environmental and socioeconomic interests. Future livestock production is expected to be diverse with different coexisting models that combine features of different adaptation options. The private and public sustainability of these models depends on their ability to simultaneously address multiple emerging challenges (e.g. emission reduction, animal welfare, biosecurity, and circularity). Current technological solutions often focus on a single objective (e.g. emission reduction). Integrated and multifunctional solutions (e.g. low-emission animal welfare barns compatible with biosecurity measures) are not yet sufficiently adopted, which calls for a rethinking and shifting in priorities in legislation and funding schemes.