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SOLID - Sustainable Organic and Low-input Dairying
Collaborative Project
Project code:
266367
Contract period:
01.04.2011
- 31.03.2016
Budget:
5955858 Euro
Coordinating institution:
Aberystwyth University
Organic and low-input dairy farming systems are increasingly noted as delivering multifunctional benefits to the agricultural industry and society but technical and economic constraints prevent widespread adoption. SOLID will deliver an innovative toolbox of novel methodologies that will contribute to the competitiveness of the dairy industry and increase the effectiveness with which these benefits are delivered. SOLID facilitates the use of breeds and feeding strategies to maintain productivity, improve animal health and welfare while meeting the market requirement for high quality milk. A multidisciplinary team comprising academic and stakeholder (SME) partners from across Europe, encompassing dairy cows and goats, will identify and apply novel strategies at the farm level and throughout the supply chain. Innovative science and models, combined with a participatory approach, will tackle practical issues, and assess competitive sustainability and integration across a range of scales and geographical contexts. Proteomics combined with genotyping and calorimetry will be used to characterise and quantify dairy cow and goat breed adaptation to organic and low-input systems. Given the reliance of such systems on forage, SOLID will develop novel and sustainable feed resources and design a decision-support model to optimise the management of on-farm forage supply. Life cycle assessment tools will assess environmental sustainability of grassland-based multifunctional dairy systems. Analysis of the supply chain from fork to farm will quantify the acceptability of new strategies and enhance collaboration. An integrated assessment tool and socio-economic modelling will assess innovations on farms and along supply chains, and will predict the impact of more widespread adoption of low-input practises. Effective knowledge dissemination and exchange activities will target key stakeholder groups ensuring exploitation of outputs at animal, farm, region, sector and European levels.
Collaborative Projects
WP 1: Innovation through stakeholder engagement and participatory research
Leading institution:
The Organic Research Centre
WP 2: Adapted breeds for productivity, quality, health and welfare in organic and low input dairy systems
Leading institution:
Division of Livestock Sciences
WP 3: Forages for productivity, quality, animal health and welfare in organic and low input dairy systems
Leading institution:
Natural Resources Institute Finland
Research projects
WP 4: Environmental assessment: For improvements and communication in organic and low input dairy systems
Leading institution:
Aarhus University
WP 5: Competitiveness of organic and low input dairy sector: Supply chain and consumer analyse
Leading institution:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences
WP 6: Socio-economic evaluation of novel strategies in organic and low-input dairy farming
Leading institution:
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research
WP 7: Knowledge exchange, training and dissemination
Leading institution:
Aarhus University
WP 8: Project coordination and overall management
Leading institution:
Aberystwyth University
