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Integrating crop and livestock production in Inland Northwest farming systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Linda H. Hardesty  and
James A. Tiedeman
Linda H. Hardesty
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Forest, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6410
James A. Tiedeman
Affiliation:
Associate Scientist, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6410
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Abstract

The demand for more ecologically and economically sustainable agriculture arises because we currently integrate products economically in a fashion that distorts ecologica I relationships. Earfy farms were ecologically integrated through feeding of forage crops and crop residues to livestock, with livestock contributing draft power and manure for crops. Today we have almost entirely uncoupled plant and animal production, eliminating the contribution that each can make to the productivity of the other. Barriers to integrating farming systems include the large volume of information needed for sophisticated production systems and the lack of infrastructure. Also, many chemicals used on crops have not been evaluated for their safety in food animals. Winter feeding and calving may conflict with crop production cycles; balancing year-round forage supplies is another obstacle. Opportunities include using the Conservation Reserve Program to shift land to livestock production. Domestic demand for meat is changing, and range livestock production is seen by some people as more humane than confinement. Animals fed less grain may be more acceptable in some markets. As agriculture responds to changes in society, ecologica I integration may become more compatible with economic integration.

Keywords

rangedrylandecological integrationeconomic integration
Type
Selected Papers from the U.S.-Middle East Conference on Sustainable Dryland Agriculture
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 11 , Issue 2-3 , September 1996 , pp. 121 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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