Collaborative Working Group on Sustainable Animal Production Survey and Analysis 24.08.2015 Survey & Analysis Editorial Animal production is one of humanity's oldest cultural achievements. Farm animals are kept to provide food such as meat, milk, eggs, honey and other products of animal origin such as wool, hides, skins, etc. The opening of the European internal market in 1992 facilitated the trade in live animals and products of animal origin in the European Union. Since then, the global trade has increased, however, so has the risk of spreading infectious animal diseases. Consumer demands of different consumer sections are changing and become more and more specific which results in different requirements for animal production and products of animal origin. Above all, consumers want high-quality but reasonably priced food. Thus process quality is affected, too. At the same time consumers in developed countries are increasingly questioning the ethical acceptability of some animal production systems and now include animal welfare as a benchmark for assessing standards and livestock farmers must increasingly take animal protection and animal welfare aspects into account Animal production is not only impacted by changing environmental conditions but also has an impact on the environment in turn, notably through emissions, including odors, greenhouse gases, bioaerosols and particulate matter. International negotiations have resulted in the introduction of limitations for different areas with a view to curbing or reducing the rise in temperatures through climate change and the production of greenhouse gases. This also concerns the agricultural sector, and animal production in particular. These global challenges must be faced and for this reason, we must also reduce emissions from animal production such as nitrogen oxides or methane from cattle farming. The European animal production sector is very diverse, especially for ruminants, e.g. milk and beef cattle production. On one end of the rang are very intensive systems with confined animals where the mainstream commodity system favour work productivity as an essential criteria of competitiveness. On the other end of the range are extensive grassland based systems which are of particular importance for less-favoured areas which are not able to compete with more favourable regions/systems. In these regions approaches are founded on marketing high quality or the origin of the product supported by a list of specifications or simply on the benefits of inhabiting such less favoured areas that depend on livestock farm activities. There is a necessity to tackle this diversity of systems because the response to global challenges might differ but also to explore positive externalities of the more extensive and natural resources based systems. Livestock farmers must take these challenges into account but also ensure the general well-being of their animals in terms of e.g. health, welfare, protection and nutrition and it can thus be concluded that animal husbandry is directly linked with a wide range of different areas and constantly changing conditions. With a view to secure the future of animal production in the European Union, the appropriate conditions for all these aspects must be brought into line. Against this backdrop, the European Commission saw a significant need for research and took this into account in its “Horizon 2020” research and innovation programme. In consultation with the Member States, the Commission has taken a comprehensive approach and launched a call for a European Research Area Network (ERA- NET) on sustainable animal production. The targeted network building of research funders in Europe will improve the effectiveness of research funding by bringing European research project partners together and foster multidisciplinary research approaches which are needed to tackle the sustainability challenges in transnational projects. The Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) therefore set up a Collaborative Working Group on Sustainable Animal Production (CWG-SAP) which was to lay the foundations for this ERA- NET. page 2 Survey & Analysis A total of 18 countries are currently represented in the CWG-SAP. Though Member State driven, CWG-SAP invited observers from relevant private initiatives such as the Animal Task Force (ATF) which represents key stakeholders from industry, farmers and research from across Europe and already took up the issue of further developing a sustainable and competitive livestock sector in Europe in its White Paper. Representatives from other public partnerships such as the SCAR CWG on Animal Health and Welfare, ERA-NETs on animal health and welfare, but also from the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change to foster exchange on environmental or, specifically, on emissions issues are included in CWG-SAP as well. Specific aspects with regard to the general definition of the three pillars of sustainability – society, environment, economy – were determined right at the start of the CWG-SAP: » societal aspects, also including consumer expectations and animal welfare, » environmental aspects – e.g. emission reduction, and » economic aspects. In a first step, all members of the CWG-SAP gave an overview on animal production in their countries in order to provide a basis for outlining its importance and key issues for future development. This was also useful when it came to setting the necessary priorities among upcoming research questions. The reports, which are all included in this document, show that farm animal production remains an important economic factor in Europe which adds value along the whole production chain and last but not least provides employment in rural regions. Sustainability in this context means also to ensure that animal production will be possible in Europe and in the Member States. In a second step, the members of CWG-SAP outlined the relevant national research framework for animal production and identified open national research questions. The following topics and questions were identified: » Research on Animal Production Systems » Improvement of Animal Production Systems » Animal Health » Animal Welfare » Mitigation and adaptation to Climate Change » Feeding / Nutrition » Breeding / Genetics » Reproduction » Biotechnology » Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) / Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) » Economy / Competitiveness / Trade » Social Acceptance (incl. farmers working conditions) » Food Production » Bees » Knowledge exchange: reaching the producers and all other actors in the livestock sector » Other topics. The different research areas were subsequently summarised and evaluated by topic groups. The major challenge was then to find a balance between the sustainability approach, the different research questions and national research priorities. The scope has been developed during several meetings in 2014 and 2015 and is now presented in this CWG-SAP final report “Survey & Analysis”. It lays the foundation for an evaluation of farm animal production in Europe and thus also for the development of proposals for the legislation at EU level (COM Directorate General for Agriculture and Directorate General for Health). page 3 Survey & Analysis As previously mentioned, it also provided the basis for developing the scientific scope and research framework for a comprehensive multidimensional approach of the ERA-NET on sustainable animal production. The aspect of sustainability is a great challenge but will also distinguish the ERA-NET on sustainable animal production from other ERA-NETs. Due to the tight timeframe of the "Horizon 2020" framework programme for research, relevant proposals had to be prepared by June 2015. The necessary work therefore had to be organised in a very efficient and structured manner. The proposal for an ERA-NET on “European Research Area on Sustainable Animal Production Systems – SusAn” was submitted on 11th June 2015. At this point, I would like to thank Susana Astiz, former Co-Chair from the National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology, Spain, and Babette Breuer, representing the Head Office for CWG-SAP at the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, most cordially for their great commitment. They have supported the CWG-SAP and the preparation of the ERA-NET proposal in a very dedicated and competent way. My thanks also go to all members of the CWG-SAP who have contributed through their reports on animal production and research in their countries with great energy. And I would also like to thank Jean-Louis Peyraud from the National Institute for Agricultural Research, France and everybody else most cordially for all the expert input, and last but not least Pinder Gill from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs UK for adding expertise along with highly valued linguistic text revisions. Bernhard Polten Chair page 4 Survey & Analysis Content Editorial .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Rationale for the Collaborative Working Group on Sustainable Animal Production ........... 8 1.2 Scope and overall objective .................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Structure