Task 2.3 - Inno4Grass

Task 2.3 Creation and monitoring of case studies  (M6 - M22)
Task-lead: AIA in collaboration with GLZ, Teagasc, RHEA, IDELE, APCA, LWK, TRAME, AWE, AERES, SLU, LTO, CNR, PULS, WIR, SV, LRC, CRAN, CRAPDL, CRACVL & CA Vosges

The objective of Task 2.3 is to describe the practices and systems of a selected number of the most innovative farms (the case studies), their main innovations (e.g. machines, forage mixtures, forage conservation techniques, product processing, marketing, grazing management systems, legume management, animal type), their implementation, results, constraints and achievements. Case study farmers will mainly be selected among innovative farmers interviewed in Task 2.2. They will be chosen because they have developed innovative practices and grassland systems. Numbers of case study farms per country are presented in the Table of Task 2.1. An agreement will be concluded with these innovative farmers in order to benefit from their contribution as case studies. They will be visited in order to describe adequately innovations. The amount and frequency of these visits depends on individual farmers and their availability in time. It is planned to conduct between 1- and 4 visits per farm and per year. During these visits, data will be collected on:

• Structure parameters: e.g. farm size, animal number, stocking rate, grass production per ha, milk production (per cow and ha), cattle sold, carcass output.
• Production costs: e.g. Revenue, Gross margin and net margin, level of purchased concentrates and fertilisers.
• Grassland management systems: e.g. turnout date, full time grazing days, number of defoliations per paddock (farm), stocking rate, proportion of grazing/silage ground, farm fragmentations, zero grazing practised or not. Grassland systems, combining various practices, will be described through cognitive mapping approaches in WP4.

Download:
Case studies selected farms participating in the Inno4Grass project.