Integrated farming - putting together systems for farm use.

Abstract

Farming systems in continental Europe which integrate cropping sequences, husbandry techniques, and disease resistant cultivars with more managed and efficient agrochemical use, and which encourage natural biological control, have been shown to be commercially viable and environmentally more acceptable than conventional systems. The LINK Integrated Farming Systems project is a development of the approach initiated in Europe. It aims to develop practical integrated arable systems for the UK. Initial results from the first treatment year suggest that inputs can be reduced and profitability maintained in an integrated system of production, although, husbandry practices used to replace agrochemical inputs and to minimise leaching of nutrients may result in higher operating costs. However, it will require three to five years of the study to be completed before it will be possible to make a reliable comparison of the profitability of the two systems.