The contribution of wool production to the sustainability of crop/pasture production systems in the Southern Cape
Date
2022-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Population growth, urbanisation, and economic development worldwide continues to place significant pressure on producers to expand and intensify production systems to meet growing demand, while arable land and natural resources become strained. This necessitates a move from conventional agriculture towards more sustainable methods of food, feed, fibre, and fuel production. Conservation agriculture (CA) offers a holistic, sustainable approach to agricultural production. The concept of CA is based on three interlinked principles namely minimum soil disturbance, the maintenance of permanent soil cover, and improved crop diversity through crop rotation systems. Since the late 1990s, CA has been widely adopted throughout the Southern Cape region, mainly implemented on large commercial winter cereal farms with crop rotations forming the basis of these systems.
The introduction of annual legume pastures in rotation with cash crops has enabled producers to diversify farming enterprises to include a livestock component. Sheep grazed on legume pastures and cash crop residues aim to improve soil health through nutrient recycling while supplementary income from meat and wool helps to mitigate crop production risks, thereby improving income stability and resilience of the whole farm. Soil compaction due to livestock trampling and overgrazing are; however, direct threats to the successful implementation of CA. In order to mitigate this risk, mixed crop-livestock systems require proper herd and pasture management with emphasis on suitable stocking rates and rest periods for pastures. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the potential role of sheep enterprises on the sustainability of selected cash crop/pasture systems in the Southern Cape.
The complexity of modern agricultural systems elicits a systems thinking approach which enabled this study to help identify relationships and better understand the interaction and interrelatedness of all on-farm factors. A whole-farm, multi-period budget model was used to quantify the financial contribution of sheep enterprises to farm-level performance. A whole-farm budget model works to effectively integrate the physical and biological farm-level parameters and according to standard accounting principles, translate this into a financial output. The typical farm approach served as the reference point from which the budget model was built. Model inputs and assumptions were obtained through previous trial data combined with and validated by various industry experts and local producers in the Southern Cape region.
The financial performance for each of the livestock management approaches was expressed and compared using the internal rate of return (IRR). All approaches were predicted to be profitable over a 20 year period. Scenario 1, as represented by the typical livestock approach for the Southern Cape, proved to be the most profitable. Furthermore, of the two sheep breeds, the Dohne Merino was proven to be the more favourable breed. Whole-farm profitability remained resilient against changes in both meat and wool product prices, thus further highlighting the importance that mixed crop-livestock systems may have on farm income, stability, and sustainability.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
Description
Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.
Keywords
Sustainable Agriculture, Sheep farming -- Economic aspects, Sheep -- Feeding and feeds, Wool industry, UCTD