Exploring relationships among different sustainability aspects in innovative livestock systems in Europe
European livestock farming reflects a range of systems characterized by diverse innovations to increase sustainability. This study aimed to highlight the relationships among different aspects of sustainability in various types of systems. Data were retrieved from 106 farms containing different animal species (dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs and poultry), using a modified version of the Excel-based questionnaire public goods tool. Each farm was assigned scores for 12 spurs (indicators) of sustainability. Based on these results, the farms were allocated into five clusters. Correlations among the spurs were evaluated, both across all farms and cluster-wise, with contrasting results. When analysed across all farms, several spurs from the environmental dimension were positively correlated with each other. Further, many of the environmental spurs were negatively correlated with spur profitability, which was positively correlated with spur social wellbeing and farm business resilience. A comparison of cluster-wise correlations showed a positive correlation between environmental spurs and spur profitability for large farms but a negative correlation for small farms. The diverging, yet complementary, correlation results from this study open the field to sustainable pathways that are capable of connecting realities with differing production systems and geographical areas while also incorporating their unique features.
Authors
- Jessica E. Stokes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8933-2981)
- Anna Hessle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5195-1186)
- Claudio Forte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0060-3851)
- Heidi Mai-Lis Andersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7080-7684)
- Jasper Heerkens
- Adrian Gliga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2796-8161)
- Piotr Jurga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9188-1565)
- Mignon Şandor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2007-992X)
- Nina Röhrig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5699-7063)
- Elena Diaz Vicuna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0197-518X)
- A. van den Pol‐van Dasselaar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9070-9704)
- Lukas Baumgart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5858-5123)
- Laurence Graham Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9898-9288)
- M. Durand
- C.P.A. van Wagenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8813-3742)
- Robert Borek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9414-3181)
- Jenny Yngvesson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3123-2229)
- Noa van Leuffen
- Annabel Oosterwijk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5406-4189)
- Sandrine Espagnol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9533-9477)
- Enora Caron
- Soline Schetelat
Institutions
- Linde (United States) (US)
- Taiwan Livestock Research Institute (TW)
- University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (RO)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (GB)
- Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (PL)
- Knowledge Centre for Agriculture (DK)
- Institut Technique de l'Aviculture (FR)
- Department of Medical Sciences (BY)
- Institut du Porc (FR)
- Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau (CH)
- Bitron (Italy) (IT)
- Aeres University of Applied Sciences (NL)
- University of Turin (IT)
- University of Reading (GB)
- Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (BE)
- Royal Agricultural University (GB)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
- Published
- 2025-12-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2025.2601486
- Primary Topic
- Sustainable Agricultural Systems Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme