Performances of conventional and organic livestock development scenarios in France through nitrogen flow analysis

Summary

Organic agriculture (OA) is promoted in the European Union (EU) as a sustainable form of agriculture. However, its expansion may be limited by its dependence on external nitrogen (N) resources, such as conventional manure and imported feed, as it prohibits the use of industrial fertilisers. There is currently no consensus on the role of livestock in scenarios of OA expansion, despite their critical contribution to increasing soil fertility through grazing and nutrient cycling via manure and urine. Here, we explored the expansion of OA with a view to having 25 % of total agricultural land under OA by 2030, as defined by the EU Green Deal policy, using two development pathways for organic and conventional livestock: business as usual (BAU) and halving the number of livestock (HL). We modelle