Managing trade-offs between economic, environmental, and animal welfare performance in French suckler cattle farms through feeding practices

Economic, environmental and animal welfare performance objectives are often not achieved simultaneously due to antagonistic relationships related to farming practices. Here, we aim to 1) understand which performance objectives are in conflict on suckler cattle farms and 2) examine how these conflicts can be managed. We first determine the relationships between the different performance indicators via a bioeconomic model focusing on variables impacting feeding and analyse the conflicts between performance indicators. We then explore how the trade-offs can be managed via a compromise programming approach. The obtained compromise solutions show that, compared with feed margin-driven optimisation, environmental and animal welfare performance can be substantially enhanced, with foregone feed margins of approximately 15% of the optimum values. These compromises can be achieved by reducing herd size and animal fattening, increasing the share of grassland in farmland and reducing the purchase of concentrate feed. Combining bioeconomic modelling with compromise programming is a promising first step in providing farmers with guidance on how to ensure good performance in multiple objectives and in providing public policy-makers with the means to develop policies along these lines. • Multiperformance on sucker cattle farms is rarely achieved. • Economic, environmental and animal welfare indicators can be in conflict. • Compromise programming linked to a bioeconomic model was used to handle trade-offs. • A 15% feed margin reduction can improve environmental impact and animal welfare. • Political is needed to incentivise farmers to achieve compromise solutions.