Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T05:58:24.534Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modelling as a tool to redesign livestock farming systems: a literature review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2011

L. Gouttenoire ,
S. Cournut  and
S. Ingrand
L. Gouttenoire*
Affiliation:
INRA, UMR Métafort, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France Clermont Université, VetAgro Sup, UMR 1273, BP 10448, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France AgroParisTech, UMR 1273, BP 90054, 63172 Aubière, France Cemagref, UMR 1273, BP 50085, 63172 Aubière, France
S. Cournut
Affiliation:
INRA, UMR Métafort, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France Clermont Université, VetAgro Sup, UMR 1273, BP 10448, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France AgroParisTech, UMR 1273, BP 90054, 63172 Aubière, France Cemagref, UMR 1273, BP 50085, 63172 Aubière, France
S. Ingrand
Affiliation:
INRA, UMR Métafort, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France Clermont Université, VetAgro Sup, UMR 1273, BP 10448, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France AgroParisTech, UMR 1273, BP 90054, 63172 Aubière, France Cemagref, UMR 1273, BP 50085, 63172 Aubière, France
*
†E-mail: lgouttenoire@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Livestock farming has recently come under close scrutiny, in response especially to environmental issues. Farmers are encouraged to redesign their livestock farming systems in depth to improve their sustainability. Assuming that modelling can be a relevant tool to address such systemic changes, we sought to answer the following question: ‘How can livestock farming systems be modelled to help farmers redesign their whole farming systems?’ To this end, we made a literature review of the models of livestock farming systems published from 2000 to mid-2009 (n = 79). We used an analysis grid based on three considerations: (i) system definition, (ii) the intended use of the model and (iii) the way in which farmers’ decision-making processes were represented and how agricultural experts and farmers were involved in the modelling processes. Consistent rationales in approaches to supporting changes in livestock farming were identified in three different groups of models, covering 83% of the whole set. These could be defined according to (i) the way in which farmers’ decisions were represented and (ii) the model's type of contribution to supporting changes. The first type gathered models that dynamically simulated the system according to different management options; the farmers’ decision-making processes are assumed to consist in choosing certain values for management factors. Such models allow long-term simulations and endorse different disciplinary viewpoints, but the farmers are weakly involved in their design. Models of the second type can indicate the best combination of farm activities under given constraints, provided the farmers’ objectives are profit maximisation. However, when used to support redesigning processes, they address neither how to implement the optimal solution nor its long-term consequences. Models of the third type enable users to dynamically simulate different options for the farming system, the management of which is assumed to be planned according to the farmers’ general objectives. Although more comprehensive, these models do not easily integrate different disciplinary viewpoints and different subsystems, which limits their usefulness as support tools for redesigning processes. Finally, we concluded about what specific requirements should be for modelling approaches if farmers were to be supported in redesigning their whole livestock farming systems using models.

Keywords

livestock farming systemsmodellingsupport toolsinnovative processredesign
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 5 , Issue 12 , 10 November 2011 , pp. 1957 - 1971
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alrøe, HF, Kristensen, ES 2002. Towards a systemic research methodology in agriculture: rethinking the role of values in science. Agriculture and Human Values 19, 3–23.Google Scholar
Andrieu, N, Poix, C, Josien, E, Duru, M 2007. Simulation of forage management strategies considering farm-level diversity: example of dairy farms in the Auvergne. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 55, 36–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubry, C, Paillat, JM, Guerrin, F 2006. A conceptual representation of animal waste management at the farm scale: the case of the Reunion Island. Agricultural Systems 88, 294–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Badini, O, Stockle, CO, Jones, JW, Nelson, R, Kodio, A, Keita, M 2007. A simulation-based analysis of productivity and soil carbon in response to time-controlled rotational grazing in the West African Sahel region. Agricultural Systems 94, 87–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernet, T, Ortiz, O, Estrada, RD, Quiroz, R, Swinton, SM 2001. Tailoring agricultural extension to different production contexts: a user-friendly farm-household model to improve decision-making for participatory research. Agricultural Systems 69, 183–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berthiaume, P, Bigras-Poulin, M, Rousseau, AN 2005. Dynamic simulation model of nitrogen fluxes in pig housing and outdoor storage facilities. Biosystems Engineering 92, 453–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertin, J 1977. La graphique et le traitement graphique de l'information. Flammarion, Paris.Google Scholar
Beukes, P, Cowling, RM, Higgins, SI 2002. An ecological economic simulation model of a non-selective grazing system in the Nama Karoo. Ecological Economics 42, 221–242.Google Scholar
Beukes, PC, Palliser, CC, Macdonald, KA, Lancaster, JAS, Levy, G, Thorrold, BS, Wastney, ME 2008. Evaluation of a whole-farm model for pasture-based dairy systems. Journal of Dairy Science 91, 2353–2360.Google Scholar
Bonnemaire, J, Osty, P-L 2004. Approche systémique des systèmes d’élevage: quelques avancées et enjeux de recherche. Cahiers de Recherches de l'Académie d'Agriculture de France 90, 1–29.Google Scholar
Bontkes, TS, Van Keulen, H 2003. Modelling the dynamics of agricultural development at farm and regional level. Agricultural Systems 76, 379–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosma, RH, Phong, LT, Kaymak, U, Van den Berg, J, Udo, HMJ, Van Mensvoort, MEF, Tri, LQ 2006. Assessing and modelling farmers’ decision-making on integrating aquaculture into agriculture in the Mekong Delta. Njas-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 53, 281–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, RD, Windsor, PA, Toribio, JA, Webster, SR 2008. Financial modelling of the potential cost of ovine Johne's disease and the benefit of vaccinating sheep flocks in southern New South Wales. Australian Veterinary Journal 86, 398–403.Google Scholar
Buysse, J, Van Huylenbroeck, G, Vanslembrouck, I, Vanrolleghem, P 2005. Simulating the influence of management decisions on the nutrient balance of dairy farms. Agricultural Systems 86, 333–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrera, VE, Hildebrand, PE, Jones, JW 2005a. Modelling the effect of household composition on the welfare of limited-resource farmers in Coastal Canete, Peru. Agricultural Systems 86, 207–222.Google Scholar
Cabrera, VE, Breuer, NE, Hildebrand, PE, Letson, D 2005b. The dynamic North Florida dairy farm model: a user-friendly computerized tool for increasing profits while minimizing N leaching under varying climatic conditions. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 49, 286–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cambell, J, Salagrama, V 2001. New approaches to participation in fisheries research. Report of the ad hoc Working Party on Participatory Research Methods. Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR), Second Session. FAO, Rome.Google Scholar
Castelan-Ortega, OA, Fawcett, RH, Arriaga-Jordan, C, Herrero, M 2003. A decision support system for smallholder campesino maize-cattle production systems of the Toluca Valley in Central Mexico. Part I – Integrating biological and socio-economic models into a holistic system. Agricultural Systems 75, 1–21.Google Scholar
Cerf, M, Mathieu, A, Béguin, P, Thiery, O 2008. A collective analysis of co-design projects. In Empowerment of the rural actors: a renewal of farming systems perspectives, 8th European IFSA Symposium, pp. 1–6. Clermont-Ferrand, France.Google Scholar
Chardon, X, Raison, C, Le Gall, A, Morvan, T, Faverdin, P 2008. Fumigene: a model to study the impact of management rules and constraints on agricultural waste allocation at the farm level. Journal of Agricultural Science 146, 521–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coléno, F 2002. Une représentation des systèmes de production agricoles par ateliers. Cahiers de l'Agriculture 11, 221–225.Google Scholar
Coléno, FC, Duru, M, Soler, LG 2002. A simulation model of a dairy forage system to evaluate feeding management strategies with spring rotational grazing. Grass and Forage Science 57, 312–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, FP, Rehman, T 2005. Unravelling the rationale of ‘overgrazing’ and stocking rates in the beef production systems of central Brazil using a bi-criteria compromise programming model. Agricultural Systems 83, 277–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cournut, S, Dedieu, B 2004. A discrete events simulation of flock dynamics: a management application to three lambings in two years. Animal Research 53, 383–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cros, MJ, Duru, M, Garcia, F, Martin-Clouaire, R 2001. Simulating rotational grazing management. Environment International 27, 139–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crosson, P, O'Kiely, P, O'Mara, FP, Wallace, M 2006. The development of a mathematical model to investigate Irish beef production systems. Agricultural Systems 89, 349–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dedieu, B, Faverdin, P, Dourmad, J-Y, Gibon, A 2008. Système d’élevage, un concept pour raisonner les transformations de l’élevage. INRA Productions Animales 21, 15–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Del Prado, A, Scholefield, D 2008. Use of SIMSDAIRY modelling framework system to compare the scope on the sustainability of a dairy farm of animal and plant genetic-based improvements with management-based changes. Journal of Agricultural Science 146, 195–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz-Solis, H, Kothmann, MM, Hamilton, WT, Grant, WE 2003. A simple ecological sustainability simulator (SESS) for stocking rate management on semi-arid grazinglands. Agricultural Systems 76, 655–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz-Solis, H, Kothmann, MM, Grant, WE, De Luna-Villarreal, R 2006. Use of irrigated pastures in semi-arid grazinglands: a dynamic model for stocking rate decisions. Agricultural Systems 88, 316–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donkor, NT, Hudson, RJ, Bork, EW 2007. Simulation and quantification of pasture condition and animal performance on boreal grasslands in Alberta. Agricultural Systems 93, 229–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, JR, Sperow, M, D'Souza, GE, Rayburn, EB 2007. Stochastic simulation of pasture-raised beef production systems and implications for the Appalachian cow–calf sector. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 30, 27–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezanno, P 2005. Dynamics of a tropical cattle herd in a variable environment: a modelling approach in order to identify the target period and animals on which concentrating management efforts to improve productivity. Ecological Modelling 188, 470–482.Google Scholar
Fiorelli, C, Dedieu, B, Pailleux, JY 2007. Explaining diversity of livestock-farming management strategies of multiple-job holders: importance of level of production objectives and role of farming in the household. Animal 1, 1209–1218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzgerald, JB, Brereton, AJ, Holden, NM 2005. Assessment of regional variation in climate on the management of dairy cow systems in Ireland using a simulation model. Grass and Forage Science 60, 283–296.Google Scholar
Giasson, E, Bryant, RB, Bills, NL 2003. Optimization of phosphorus index and costs of manure management on a New York dairy farm. Agronomy Journal 95, 987–993.Google Scholar
Gibon, A, Sibbald, AR, Flamant, JC, Lhoste, P, Revilla, R, Rubino, R, Sørensen, JT 1999. Livestock farming systems research in Europe and its potential contribution for managing towards sustainability in livestock farming. Livestock Production Science 61, 121–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Girard, N, Hubert, B 1999. Modelling expert knowledge with knowledge-based systems to design decision aids: the example of a knowledge-based model on grazing management. Agricultural Systems 59, 123–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gradiz, L, Sugimoto, A, Ujihara, K, Fukuhara, S, Kahi, AK, Hirooka, H 2007. Beef cow–calf production system integrated with sugarcane production: simulation model development and application in Japan. Agricultural Systems 94, 750–762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groenendaal, H, Nielen, M, Jalvingh, AW, Horst, SH, Galligan, DT, Hesselink, JW 2002. A simulation of Johne's disease control. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 54, 225–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Groot, JCJ, Rossing, WAH, Lantinga, EA, Keulen, HV 2003. Exploring the potential for improved internal nutrient cycling in dairy farming systems, using an eco-mathematical model. NJAS – Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 51, 165–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerrin, F 2001. MAGMA: a simulation model to help manage animal wastes at the farm level. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 33, 35–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerrin, F 2007. Représentation des connaissances pour la décision et l'action. Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, Université de la Réunion,La Réunion, France.Google Scholar
Guevara, JC, Silva Colomer, JH, Estevez, OR, Paez, JA 2003. Simulation of the economic feasibility of fodder shrub plantations as a supplement for goat production in the north-eastern plain of Mendoza, Argentina. Journal of Arid Environments 53, 85–98.Google Scholar
Gunn, GJ, Stott, AW, Humphry, RW 2004. Modelling and costing BVD outbreaks in beef herds. Veterinary Journal 167, 143–149.Google Scholar
Hary, I 2004. Derivation of steady state herd productivity using stage-structured population models and mathematical programming. Agricultural Systems 81, 133–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hélias, A, Guerrin, F, Steyer, JP 2008. Using timed automata and model-checking to simulate material flow in agricultural production systems – application to animal waste management. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 63, 183–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hervé, D, Genin, D, Migueis, J 2002. A modelling approach for analysis of agro pastoral activity at the one-farm level. Agricultural Systems 71, 187–206.Google Scholar
Hill, SB, McRae, RJ 1995. Conceptual frameworks for the transition from conventional to sustainable agriculture. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 7, 81–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopp, P, Webb, CR, Jarp, J 2003. Monte Carlo simulation of surveillance strategies for scrapie in Norwegian sheep. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 61, 103–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IAASTD 2008. Executive Summary of the Synthesis Report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Developement (IAASTD). Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.agassessment.orgCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingrand, S, Cournut, S, Dedieu, B, Antheaume, F 2003. Modelling beef herd management decisions. INRA Productions Animales 16, 263–270.Google Scholar
Janssen, MA, Walker, BH, Langridge, J, Abel, N 2000. An adaptative agent model for analysing co-evolution of management and policies in a complex rangeland system. Ecological Modelling 131, 249–268.Google Scholar
Jeuffroy, MH, Bergez, JE, David, C, Flénet, F, Gate, P, Loyce, C, Maupas, F, Meynard, JM, Reau, R, Surleau, C 2008. Utilisation des modèles pour l'aide à la conception et à l’évaluation d'innovations techniques en production végétales: bilan et perspectives. In Systèmes de culture innovants et durables: quelles méthodes pour les mettre au point et les évaluer? (ed. R Reau and T Doré), pp. 109–128. Educagri Editions, Dijon, France.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, IR, Chapman, DF, Snow, VO, Eckard, RJ, Parsons, AJ, Lambert, MG, Cullen, BR 2008. DairyMod and EcoMod: biophysical pasture-simulation models for Australia and New Zealand. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 621–631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouven, M, Baumont, R 2008. Simulating grassland utilization in beef suckler systems to investigate the trade-offs between production and floristic diversity. Agricultural Systems 96, 260–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaine, GW, Tozer, PR 2005. Stability, resilience and sustainability in pasture-based grazing systems. Agricultural Systems 83, 27–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keating, BA, McCown, RL 2001. Advances in farming systems analysis and intervention. Agricultural Systems 70, 555–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keating, BA, Carberry, PS, Hammer, GL, Probert, ME, Robertson, MJ, Holzworth, D, Huth, NI, Hargreaves, JNG, Meinke, H, Hochman, Z, McLean, G, Verburg, K, Snow, V, Dimes, JP, Silburn, M, Wang, E, Brown, S, Bristow, KL, Asseng, S, Chapman, S, McCown, RL, Freebairn, DM, Smith, CJ 2003. An overview of APSIM, a model designed for farming systems simulation. European Journal of Agronomy 18, 267–288.Google Scholar
Kropff, MJ, Bouma, J, Jones, JW 2001. Systems approaches for the design of sustainable agro-ecosystems. Agricultural Systems 70, 369–393.Google Scholar
Kudahl, AB, Ostergaard, S, Sorensen, JT, Nielsen, SS 2007. A stochastic model simulating paratuberculosis in a dairy herd. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 78, 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kustermann, B, Kainz, M, Hulsbergen, KJ 2008. Modeling carbon cycles and estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from organic and conventional farming systems. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 23, 38–52.Google Scholar
Lamine, C, Bellon, S 2009. Conversion to organic farming: a multidimensional research object at the crossroads of agricultural and social sciences. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 29, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landais, É 1987. Recherches sur les systèmes d’élevage: questions et perspectives, Document de travail de l'URSAD Versailles-Dijon-Mirecourt. INRA, Versailles, France.Google Scholar
Legay, JM 1997. L'expérience et le modèle: Un discours sur la méthode. INRA Editions, Paris.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesnoff, M, Laval, G, Bonnet, P, Workalemahu, A 2004. A mathematical model of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) within-herd outbreaks for economic evaluation of local control strategies: an illustration from a mixed crop–livestock system in Ethiopian highlands. Animal Research 53, 429–438.Google Scholar
Louhichi, K, Alary, V, Grimaud, P 2004. A dynamic model to analyse the bio-technical and socio-economic interactions in dairy farming systems on the Reunion Island. Animal Research 53, 363–382.Google Scholar
Lurette, A, Belloc, C, Touzeau, S, Hoch, T, Ezanno, P, Seegers, H, Fourichon, C 2008. Modelling Salmonella spread within a farrow-to-finish pig herd. Veterinary Research 39, DOI:10.1051/vetres:2008026.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madelrieux, S, Dedieu, B, Dobremez, L 2006. ATELAGE: modelling to qualify work organisation in livestock farming systems. INRA Productions Animales 19, 47–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magne, MA, Ingrand, S 2004. Advising beef-cattle farmers: problem-finding rather than problem-solving. Characterization of advice practices in Creuse. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 10, 181–192.Google Scholar
Malézieux, E, Trébuil, G, Jaeger, M 2001. Modélisation des agroécosystèmes et aide à la décision. Editions Quae, Montpellier, France.Google Scholar
Martel, G, Dedieu, B, Dourmad, JY 2008. Simulation of sow herd dynamics with emphasis on performance and distribution of periodic task events. Journal of Agricultural Science 146, 365–380.Google Scholar
Mateus-Pinilla, NE, Hannon, B, Weigel, RM 2002. A computer simulation of the prevention of the transmission of Toxoplasma gondii on pig farms using a feline T. gondii vaccine. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 55, 17–36.Google Scholar
Mathieu, A 2004. Questions et modèles agronomiques pour l’étude des pratiques: éléments sur l’état des recherches. In Le sens des pratiques: conceptions d'agriculteurs et modèles d'agronomes (ed. JP Darré, A Mathieu and J Lasseur), pp. 39–52. INRA, Paris.Google Scholar
Matthews, KB, Wright, IA, Buchan, K, Davies, DA, Schwarz, G 2006. Assessing the options for upland livestock systems under CAP reform: developing and applying a livestock systems model within whole-farm systems analysis. Agricultural Systems 90, 32–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCown, RL 2002. Changing systems for supporting farmers’ decisions: problems, paradigms, and prospects. Agricultural Systems 74, 179–220.Google Scholar
Meot, A, Hubert, B, Lasseur, J 2003. Organisation of the pastoral territory and grazing management: joint modelling of grazing management practices and plant cover dynamics. Agricultural Systems 76, 115–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meynard, JM, Aggeri, F, Coulon, JB, Habib, R 2006. Recherches sur la conception de systèmes agricoles innovants. Working Group Report, September 2006.Google Scholar
Modin-Edman, AK, Oborn, I, Sverdrup, H 2007. FARMFLOW – a dynamic model for phosphorus mass flow, simulating conventional and organic management of a Swedish dairy farm. Agricultural Systems 94, 431–444.Google Scholar
Newman, S, Lynch, T, Plummer, AA 2000. Success and failure of decision support systems: learning as we go. Journal of Animal Science 77, 1–12.Google Scholar
Niggli, U 1999. Holistic approaches in organic farming research and development: a general overview. In Research methodologies in organic farming, Proceedings of the 1st SREN Workshop on Research Methodologies in Organic Farming, pp. 33–40. FAO and FiBL, Rome, Italia.Google Scholar
Novak, S 2008. Méthodes de conception de systèmes de production innovants à l’échelle de l'exploitation agricole. In Synthèse bibliographique (sous la direction de PY Le Gal, P Dugué and G Faure), Solphy Expertise, Entremont-Le-Vieux, France, 63 pp.Google Scholar
Ostergaard, S, Sorensen, JT, Kristensen, AR 2000. A stochastic model simulating the feeding-health-production complex in a dairy herd. Journal of Dairy Science 83, 721–733.Google Scholar
Pacini, C, Wossink, A, Giesen, G, Huirne, R 2004. Ecological-economic modelling to support multi-objective policy making: a farming systems approach implemented for Tuscany. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 102, 349–364.Google Scholar
Parsons, DJ, Armstrong, AC, Turnpenny, JR, Matthews, AM, Cooper, K, Clark, JA 2001. Integrated models of livestock systems for climate change studies. 1. Grazing systems. Global Change Biology 7, 93–112.Google Scholar
Pfister, F, Bader, HP, Scheidegger, R, Baccini, P 2005. Dynamic modelling of resource management for farming systems. Agricultural Systems 86, 1–28.Google Scholar
Pla, LM, Pomar, C, Pomar, J 2003. A Markov decision sow model representing the productive lifespan of herd sows. Agricultural Systems 76, 253–272.Google Scholar
Pouillot, R, Dufour, B, Durand, B 2004. A deterministic and stochastic simulation model for intra-herd paratuberculosis transmission. Veterinary Research 35, 53–68.Google Scholar
Prell, C, Hubacek, K, Reed, M, Quinn, C, Jin, N, Holden, J, Burt, T, Kirby, M, Sendzimir, J 2007. If you have a hammer everything looks like a nail: ‘traditional’ versus participatory model building. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 32, 1–20.Google Scholar
Rewe, TO, Indetie, D, Ojango, JMK, Kahi, AK 2006. Breeding objectives for the Boran breed in Kenya: model development and application to pasture-based production systems. Animal Science Journal 77, 163–177.Google Scholar
Romera, AJ, Morris, ST, Hodgson, J, Stirling, WD, Woodward, SJR 2004. A model for simulating rule-based management of cow–calf systems. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 42, 67–86.Google Scholar
Rotz, CA, Buckmaster, DR, Comerford, JW 2005. A beef herd model for simulating feed intake, animal performance, and manure excretion in farm systems. Journal of Animal Science 83, 231–242.Google Scholar
Roughsedge, T, Amer, PR, Simm, G 2003. A bio-economic model for the evaluation of breeds and mating systems in beef production enterprises. Animal Science 77, 403–416.Google Scholar
Russelle, MP, Entz, MH, Franzluebbers, AJ 2007. Reconsidering integrated crop–livestock systems in North America. Agronomy Journal 99, 325–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabatier, P, Durand, B, Dubois, MA, Ducrot, C, Calavas, D, van de Wielle, A 2004. Multiscale modelling of scrapie epidemiology: I. Herd level: a discrete model of disease transmission in a sheep flock. Ecological Modelling 180, 233–252.Google Scholar
van Schaik, G, Nielen, M, Dijkhuizen, AA 2001. An economic model for on-farm decision support of management to prevent infectious disease introduction into dairy farms. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 51, 289–305.Google Scholar
Scott, JM, Cacho, O 2000. Modelling the long-term effects on farm net worth of investments in pasture fertilizer under constraints of family expenditure. Agricultural Systems 63, 195–209.Google Scholar
Sebillotte, M, Soler, LG 1990. Les processus de decision des agriculteurs. In Seminaire du Departement de Recherches sur les Systemes Agraires et le Developpement (ed. J Brossier, B Vissac and JL Le Moigne), pp. 93–117. INRA, Paris.Google Scholar
Shalloo, L, Dillon, P, Rath, M, Wallace, M 2004. Description and validation of the Moorepark dairy system model. Journal of Dairy Science 87, 1945–1959.Google Scholar
Skonhoft, A 2008. Sheep as capital goods and farmers as portfolio managers: a bioeconomic model of Scandinavian sheep farming. Agricultural Economics 38, 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, RL, Sanderson, MW, Renter, DG, Larson, RL, White, BJ 2009. A stochastic model to assess the risk of introduction of bovine viral diarrhea virus to beef cow–calf herds. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 88, 101–108.Google Scholar
Stacey, KF, Parsons, DJ, Christiansen, KH, Burton, CH 2007. Assessing the effect of interventions on the risk of cattle and sheep carrying Escherichia coli O157:H7 to the abattoir using a stochastic model. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 79, 32–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinfeld, H, Gerber, P, Wassenaar, T, Castel, V, Rosales, M, De Haan, C 2006. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options. FAO, Rome.Google Scholar
Sterk, B, Van Ittersum, MK, Leeuwis, C, Wijnands, FG 2007. Prototyping and farm system modelling – partners on the road towards more sustainable farm systems? European Journal of Agronomy 26, 401–409.Google Scholar
Stonehouse, DP, Vos, GWD, Weersink, A 2002. Livestock manure systems for swine finishing enterprises. Agricultural Systems 73, 279–296.Google Scholar
Stoorvogel, JJ, Antle, JM, Crissman, CC, Bowen, W 2004. The tradeoff analysis model: integrated bio-physical and economic modeling of agricultural production systems. Agricultural Systems 80, 43–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tess, MW, Kolstad, BW 2000. Simulation of cow–calf production systems in a range environment: I. Model development. Journal of Animal Science 78, 1159–1169.Google Scholar
Thornton, PK, Herrero, M 2001. Integrated crop–livestock simulation models for scenario analysis and impact assessment. Agricultural Systems 70, 581–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, PK, Galvin, KA, Boone, RB 2003. An agro-pastoral household model for the rangelands of East Africa. Agricultural Systems 76, 601–622.Google Scholar
Tittonell, P, van Wijk, MT, Rufino, MC, Vrugt, JA, Giller, KE 2007. Analysing trade-offs in resource and labour allocation by smallholder farmers using inverse modelling techniques: a case-study from Kakamega district, western Kenya. Agricultural Systems 95, 76–95.Google Scholar
Van Calker, KJ, Berentsen, PBM, Giesen, GWJ, Huirne, RBM 2008. Maximising sustainability of Dutch dairy farming systems for different stakeholders: a modelling approach. Ecological Economics 65, 407–419.Google Scholar
Van Calker, KJ, Berentsen, PBM, de Boer, IMJ, Giesen, GWJ, Huirne, RBM 2004. An LP-model to analyse economic and ecological sustainability on Dutch dairy farms: model presentation and application for experimental farm “de Marke”. Agricultural Systems 82, 139–160.Google Scholar
Van Calker, KJ, Berentsen, PBM, de Boer, IJM, Giesen, GWJ, Huirne, RBM 2007. Modelling worker physical health and societal sustainability at farm level: an application to conventional and organic dairy farming. Agricultural Systems 94, 205–219.Google Scholar
Van de Ven, GWJ, de Ridder, N, Van Keulen, H, Van Ittersum, MK 2003. Concepts in production ecology for analysis and design of animal and plant-animal production systems. Agricultural Systems 76, 507–525.Google Scholar
Van Ittersum, MK, Rabbinge, RR 1997. Concepts in production ecology for analysis and quantification of agricultural input–output combinations. Field Crops Research 52, 197–208.Google Scholar
Vanloqueren, G, Baret, PV 2009. How agricultural research systems shape a technological regime that develops genetic engineering but locks out agroecological innovations. Research Policy 38, 971–983.Google Scholar
Vayssières, J, Lecomte, P, Guerrin, F, Nidumolu, UB 2007. Modelling farmers’ action: decision rules capture methodology and formalisation structure: a case of biomass flow operations in dairy farms of a tropical island. Animal 1, 716–733.Google Scholar
Veysset, P, Bebin, D, Lherm, M 2005. Adaptation to Agenda 2000 (CAP reform) and optimisation of the farming system of French suckler cattle farms in the Charolais area: a model-based study. Agricultural Systems 83, 179–202.Google Scholar
Viet, AF, Fourichon, C, Seegers, H, Jacob, C, Guihenneuc-Jouyaux, C 2004. A model of the spread of the bovine viral-diarrhoea virus within a dairy herd. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 63, 211–236.Google Scholar
Villalba, D, Casasus, I, Sanz, A, Bernues, A, Estany, J, Revilla, R 2006. Stochastic simulation of mountain beef cattle systems. Agricultural Systems 89, 414–434.Google Scholar
Woodward, SJR, Romera, AJ, Beskow, WB, Lovatt, SJ 2008. Better simulation modelling to support farming systems innovation: review and synthesis. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 51, 235–252.Google Scholar