Abstract

In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality drafted a vision on how to ensure that agriculture becomes more sustainable in future. The goal is to create a ‘closed food cycle’ so that livestock farming has less of an impact on the environment. For example by using different feeds and also by using one’s own agricultural manure as an ingredient for cattle feed.

However, a transition to more sustainable forms of agriculture may also lead to undesirable effects, for example on public health. RIVM therefore asked experts with differing backgrounds which effects they would expect on the environment as well as public health. This study provides an initial idea of the expected effects and dilemmas involved in a transition to more sustainable livestock farming. As such, it can serve to spark a broad social dialogue on potential solutions.

The experts compared four examples of livestock farms that strive for circular agricultural practices with more conventional farms. These former farms, for example, worked with different breeds of cattle or broilers, used different feed, or had different housing systems. The number of animals was comparable in both types of farms. According to experts, the things that these farms do differently had a limited positive effect on the environment and public health. As a result, the changes studied would appear to not help enough to achieve various goals, for example in relation to climate, nitrogen or particulates. In addition, the changes sometimes have drawbacks. For example, when manure is recycled, substances from manure as well as infectious agents can accumulate in the environment, in animals, and in animal food.