Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe

The multiple land use of agricultural areas is a building block for increased land use efficiency. Unlike monoculture, integrated crop–livestock systems optimally improve ecosystem services, making it an important field of research and application for adapting land use and food systems that have sus...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Nicolas Schoof, Anita Kirmer, Jakob Hörl, Rainer Luick, Sabine Tischew, Michael Breuer, Frank Fischer, Sandra Müller, Vivien von Königslöw
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	multiple land use sheep vineyards agroecology sustainable intensification expert survey Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7faba8ab02514357af65cc7ded76ad29
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:7faba8ab02514357af65cc7ded76ad29
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7faba8ab02514357af65cc7ded76ad292021-11-25T19:00:17ZSheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe10.3390/su1322123402071-1050https://doaj.org/article/7faba8ab02514357af65cc7ded76ad292021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12340https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050The multiple land use of agricultural areas is a building block for increased land use efficiency. Unlike monoculture, integrated crop–livestock systems optimally improve ecosystem services, making it an important field of research and application for adapting land use and food systems that have sustainability deficits. The integration of sheep in viticulture production is described as a promising example of an integrated crop–livestock system. While some studies of the integration of sheep into vineyards are already available for other parts of the world, there is still no research on its implementation in Central European viticulture systems. In order to fill this gap of knowledge, we conducted standardized interviews with 34 winegrowers who already graze sheep in their vineyards. The method allowed a wider overview of the implementation of the integrated crop-livestock system than would have been possible with other approaches. Furthermore, the authors kept sheep in their own vineyard for three years to evaluate the statements of the survey participants. The period during which sheep graze in vineyards is quite heterogeneous in Central Europe. Some farms use sheep only during vine dormancy; others also let sheep graze during a certain period in summer. There are also viticulture training systems where grazing is almost continuously possible. In Central Europe, summer grazing normally requires operational adjustments such as lifting the wires of the training system and branches of the vine; otherwise, the vines could be damaged. This option seems to be tailored to the training system in use. Some interviewees mentioned that sheep not only use the accompanying vegetation as fodder and therefore control the undervine growth, but in some cases, they were also able to replace other work processes, such as defoliating the grape zone or cleaning undesired vine shoots near the ground. However, a high additional workload due to livestock keeping was also mentioned by some survey participants. Some of the interviewees cooperate with shepherds, which could help to solve this challenge. Finally, we summarize possible opportunities and risks of this integrated crop–livestock system. Integrating sheep in vineyards seems to be quite feasible in the period of vine dormancy, whereas more information and considerably more effort is needed to integrate sheep during the vegetation period. Further research is needed to answer open questions especially for the necessary adaptions of the common vine training system or the implementation of alternative systems more suitable to combine with livestock keeping. Some practitioners found opportunities to merchandize the use of sheep in wine sales. This potentially unique selling point could be a solution for a broader consideration of sheep in vineyards.Nicolas SchoofAnita KirmerJakob HörlRainer LuickSabine TischewMichael BreuerFrank FischerSandra MüllerVivien von KönigslöwMDPI AGarticlemultiple land usesheepvineyardsagroecologysustainable intensificationexpert surveyEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12340, p 12340 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	multiple land use sheep vineyards agroecology sustainable intensification expert survey Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	multiple land use sheep vineyards agroecology sustainable intensification expert survey Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Nicolas Schoof Anita Kirmer Jakob Hörl Rainer Luick Sabine Tischew Michael Breuer Frank Fischer Sandra Müller Vivien von Königslöw Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
description	The multiple land use of agricultural areas is a building block for increased land use efficiency. Unlike monoculture, integrated crop–livestock systems optimally improve ecosystem services, making it an important field of research and application for adapting land use and food systems that have sustainability deficits. The integration of sheep in viticulture production is described as a promising example of an integrated crop–livestock system. While some studies of the integration of sheep into vineyards are already available for other parts of the world, there is still no research on its implementation in Central European viticulture systems. In order to fill this gap of knowledge, we conducted standardized interviews with 34 winegrowers who already graze sheep in their vineyards. The method allowed a wider overview of the implementation of the integrated crop-livestock system than would have been possible with other approaches. Furthermore, the authors kept sheep in their own vineyard for three years to evaluate the statements of the survey participants. The period during which sheep graze in vineyards is quite heterogeneous in Central Europe. Some farms use sheep only during vine dormancy; others also let sheep graze during a certain period in summer. There are also viticulture training systems where grazing is almost continuously possible. In Central Europe, summer grazing normally requires operational adjustments such as lifting the wires of the training system and branches of the vine; otherwise, the vines could be damaged. This option seems to be tailored to the training system in use. Some interviewees mentioned that sheep not only use the accompanying vegetation as fodder and therefore control the undervine growth, but in some cases, they were also able to replace other work processes, such as defoliating the grape zone or cleaning undesired vine shoots near the ground. However, a high additional workload due to livestock keeping was also mentioned by some survey participants. Some of the interviewees cooperate with shepherds, which could help to solve this challenge. Finally, we summarize possible opportunities and risks of this integrated crop–livestock system. Integrating sheep in vineyards seems to be quite feasible in the period of vine dormancy, whereas more information and considerably more effort is needed to integrate sheep during the vegetation period. Further research is needed to answer open questions especially for the necessary adaptions of the common vine training system or the implementation of alternative systems more suitable to combine with livestock keeping. Some practitioners found opportunities to merchandize the use of sheep in wine sales. This potentially unique selling point could be a solution for a broader consideration of sheep in vineyards.
format	article
author	Nicolas Schoof Anita Kirmer Jakob Hörl Rainer Luick Sabine Tischew Michael Breuer Frank Fischer Sandra Müller Vivien von Königslöw
author_facet	Nicolas Schoof Anita Kirmer Jakob Hörl Rainer Luick Sabine Tischew Michael Breuer Frank Fischer Sandra Müller Vivien von Königslöw
author_sort	Nicolas Schoof
title	Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
title_short	Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
title_full	Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
title_fullStr	Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
title_full_unstemmed	Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe
title_sort	sheep in the vineyard: first insights into a new integrated crop–livestock system in central europe
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7faba8ab02514357af65cc7ded76ad29
work_keys_str_mv	AT nicolasschoof sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT anitakirmer sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT jakobhorl sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT rainerluick sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT sabinetischew sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT michaelbreuer sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT frankfischer sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT sandramuller sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope AT vivienvonkonigslow sheepinthevineyardfirstinsightsintoanewintegratedcroplivestocksystemincentraleurope
_version_	1718410413103644672

Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe

Ejemplares similares