Country
France
Agricultural Area
90 ha
About ERS
- Lead: INRAE, Forage, Ruminants, Environment experimental Unit
- Contact: Sandra Novak and Julie Auberger
- Production System: Mixed crop-dairy cattle system
Thematic Areas Covered
Agroforestry and Relation to Landscape
Crops Management
Forage Production
Grassland Management
Herd Management
Manure Storage and Spreading
Description
OasYs is an experimental dairy cattle farm which aims at adapt to and mitigate climate change with an agroecological approach. It is implemented since 2013 on an INRAE facility located in Lusignan (France).
The forage system (90 ha) was entirely redesigned to produce the fodder necessary to feed a dairy cattle herd (72 milking cows) without irrigation and with limited use of mineral nitrogen fertiliser.
The forage resources are diversified and priority is given to their grazing. The livestock breeding strategy has been aligned with the forage system, with two calving periods centered on spring and autumn, lactation lengths extended to 16 months and a three-way crossing of dairy breeds.
Characteristics
Our speciality lies in taking a holistic approach at farm level by implementing a series of cutting-edge innovations in a coherent way to foster synergies between adaptation, mitigation and production.
We hypothesise that greater diversity in the components and functions of the dairy system will improve its resilience against climatic hazards while permitting high production and environmental performance levels.
Our experimental farm is also a space for interaction with stakeholders, and a living lab is currently being designed in collaboration with stakeholders in the dairy supply chain as part of the Climate Farm Demo project.
