Silvopastoral systems: sustainable intensification with animal welfare

Cattle in silvopastoral system

Combination of grasses, legume shrubs and trees

A silvopastoral system (SVPS) is an agroforestry arrangement where pasture is combined with legume shrubs and in some cases trees for timber production.

For livestock production, it seems to have the potential to produce a triple-win situation with regard to economics, the environment and animal welfare. The adoption of this system could provide important ecosystem services while e.g. reducing the pressure to clear more forests in Latin America, where conventional livestock production often results in land degradation.

SVPS mainly refer to the natural resource use efficiency. They can be applied to protect specific areas where biodiversity conservation is the main priority and/or to increase animal production on intensively used land. The shade of the trees reduces the heat stress for the cattle so they graze more and produce more meat. The broad applicability range is mainly defined by topography of the terrain, soil types and the availability of some key natural resources, mainly water.

There are several types of SVPS in different parts of the world depending on the land use and the production system linked to it. Intensive SVPS (e.g., live fences, wind barriers, protein / energy banks) are able to provide important feeding resources using high cropping densities. They combine the production of pastures and shrubs, which can be used as forages, and trees for timber production as well as for forage production in the same area.

It has been proven that SVPS increase soil fertility by better recycling of nutrients such as nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus and by increasing organic matter. Nitrogen fixation by the legumes, trees or shrubs supports these processes. agri benchmark Beef and Sheep is currently involved in a multi-stakeholder project for providing a comprehensive approach and a methodological analysis of this multiple-win situation.