Danish Organic On-farm Living Lab

Animal welfare in the context of organic farming goes beyond preventing diseases and suffering in farm ani-mals. It means giving livestock the freedom to unfold as much as possible their natural behavior and designing the environment where they grow to provide positive experiences for the animals. All these is conceived in the appropriate framework for the benefit of the farmers as well. 
 
One of the flagships of DKOOF has been the development of the cow-calf contact systems in Danish organic farms. Dairy farmers, advisors, scientist dairy cooperatives have been working closely for developing strate-gies to prolong the time cow and calf spend together. This is especially relevant for improving health and wel-fare of cows and calves. You can see the relevant information on the development of the topic here:  Ko med kalv (icoel.dk) 

Also, these are relevant projects in relation to the topic of cow-calf contact systems and to other initiatives in relation to animal welfare:
GrazyDaiSy (au.dk)

GroBeat: Development of a sustainable strategy for organic beef production for the future consumer, where quality replaces quantity. GrOBeat (icrofs.dk)

ENTRANCE: Development of a resource-efficient feeding strategies for organic slaughter pigs based on 100% locally produced feed. ENTRANCE (icrofs.dk) 

PATHWAYS living lab “Green protein for pig farming” Practice Hubs - PATHWAYS (pathways-project.com)

Several activities are set up around the need to expand the organic area by raising economic and environmen-tal benefits, yields and robustness of organic crop production. Building soil fertility is the basis for the organic farmer´s production and economy and for a secure and climate-friendly food supply for current and future gen-erations. The purpose of DKOOF in this area is to co-develop measures, optimize and document methods for building robust soils through diversification of plant growth and the addition of organic matter, to supply crops with sufficient nutrients and act as a buffer in both dry and wet weather conditions. The efforts are focused on reduced tillage, composting, use of effective cover crops and regenerative agriculture

In this area, one of the flagships are in relation to carbon farming where the purpose is to develop agronomic, economic, environmental (e.g., biodiversity and climate) attributes, and to document the effects of implement-ing sustainable and resilient cropping systems.

The project CarbonFarm is a good example of the process:

• PowerPoint-præsentation (icoel.dk)
• Watch a video from a Carbonfarm site (YouTube) 

Improving organic yields is a key challenge of the organic sector and DKOOF focuses on sustainable and low emission farming practices to adapt to organic principles and climate change, which means identifying, using and breeding resilient crops in systems with a conservation agriculture focus.

We collaborate towards:

1. Testing, adapting and scaling organic agricultural practices to increase productivity and quality
2. Developing cropping systems that are resilient to climate change, pests and diseases.

One of the biggest initiatives in this context is the Danish national organic field trial scheme which is a unique collaboration between national experts, local advisors and farmers on field trials and demonstrations. These trials cover a vast scheme within crops, varieties, fertilizers use, nutrient management, crop rotation, weed control, among other aspects. They are carried out at farm sites under normal field conditions and in close collaboration with the farmers. The results and conclusions from the trials are published every year and widely distributed, used, cited and recognized among organic farmers, advisors and researchers alike. You can find more information about this initiative here: Økologiske Landsforsøg (icoel.dk)

Another topic that is relevant to DKOOF is the focus on promoting functional biodiversity in and around the fields, which is the part of nature and biodiversity that influences and creates value in production. We work at all levels from field to landscape with the aim of developing robust farming systems in balance with the envi-ronment. This is based on the ecological cycle principle of growing food in systems that protect and benefit the shared environment, landscapes, climate, habitats, biodiversity, air and water. Under this topic there is a focus on Mixed crops and integrated systems, agroforestry as a climate and biodiversity tool, the value of functional biodiversity for agricultural production. 

In relation to the topic of functional biodiversity, the project Organic+ aims to improve and demonstrate the positive effect of organic farming on the natural context of the farmland and thereby ensure the credibility of the organic production throughout the value chain. Communities of practice involving from farmers to retailers, will contribute to the development of biodiversity actions locally, set common goals and disseminate effective solu-tions regionally. 

Other topics relevant for resilient and effective cropping systems are: Recycling of food waste (Cirkulær økologi: Gør madaffald til gødning, icoel.dk) and use of compost to improve soil nutrients (Kompost er god kilde til P og K, icoel.dk)