The Concept of Naturality & Farming Systems

A little while ago we had a rather informative lecture on the social perspectives of farming found in different countries. Specifically, we learned about the perception of farm naturality in the Netherlands and Norway.

Naturality is a concept that relates animal farming practices with the ‘natural’ environment the animal would live in. It is generally thought that for improved animal welfare, animals should be cared for in a natural way. The degree of naturalness, however, is the point of contention. Even more specifically, the definition of what is a natural agricultural production system differs. Why?

Dutch society generally want their dairy cows to be outside, grazing fresh grass, etc. On the other hand, the general Norwegian perspective on dairy naturality is that the cow may be housed indoors (but preferably allowed to graze too), calves housed in calf hutches and fed milk replacement powder, etc. In summary, the Dutch want dairy farms to resemble nature, while the Norwegians see natural dairy production in terms of farmer-animal contact. Why these different perspectives on how dairy farms ought to be?

Perhaps the answer lies in the different societal domains in Norway and the Netherlands.

A societal domain can be thought of as a cluster of individuals, organisms and landscapes interacting together in a uniquely distinct manner. For example, an academic domain could be a university campus with undergraduate and graduate students interacting with each other and with professors. Such a domain is obviously much different than a nuclear family domain. The values and objectives of each domain may also be quite different too. Back to agriculture though and why society may have different perspectives on the naturality of animal husbandry.

In Norway, there may be three general land use domains: Urban, Rural and Nature domains with the following characteristics:

As you can see, farming in Norway operates as an interface between the urban and nature domains. Now, consider the Dutch land-use domains. In the Netherlands there are typically two types: the urban and the Green domain as shown in the powerpoint slide below:

Within the Netherlands, 63% of the population believes that there is no “real” nature, and most natural environments are either built or managed by people (e.g. parks, green space etc). One exception to this may be the Biesbos which is still a wild nature reserve in Holland. However, clearly these different domain perspectives result in different views of farms. In Holland, farms are part of the green domain and are part of nature, while in Norway, farms are not part of nature but between the nature and urban domain. In Norway, cows are part of the rural domain but not part of the natural domain, hence they can be managed in a more intense manner, while in the Netherlands, 90% of society considers cows part of the landscape! Furthermore, in Norway many farms play an important role in segregating the urban domain from the more dangerous natural domain, while in Holland the green domain prevents the sprawl of the urban domain.

So, what was the take home message of this lecture?

These differing social perspectives play an important role in ascertaining how farms should function. It guides rural policy development. It highlights the need to reconnect people with where food comes from. It explains why dairy farming in the Netherlands may be increasingly regulated (e.g. imposing restrictions on large-scale commercial farms) while in other countries farms are actively supported. Last year we learned about Agriculture Policy in Guelph. In the UK farms are increasingly becoming stewards of the land rather than producers of food and the government is promoting such activities. This lecture may have shed light on why!

Ha det!

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