Grazing : present importance and new concerns ; Pâturage : importance actuelle et nouveaux enjeux

Abstract

National audience ; The interest of grazing grows usually on a par with the constraints dictated by the environment, as is illustrated by a simplified presentation of the main livestock farming systems in the European Union : the cattle and sheep suckling systems which predominate largely in the so-called underendowed regions, where their economic role is often determinant. ln the most intensive dairying systems, there is often a growing interest for grazing, in most European countries and even in North America. Present-day expectations of society (health security, nutritive value, quality and genuineness of the nutriments, conditions of production such as animal welfare, regard for the environment and specifically for water, etc.) reinforce this trend. To these factors should be added the beneficial impact on the maintenance of landscapes and of bio-diversity, so that the arguments in favour of maintaining or even extending grazing are becoming ever more numerous. The mastering of the grazing practice however will always require the learning of rules difficult to write down, the more so as the new expectations of society may involve quite different management techniques. The creation of tools that will be an aid to decision-making at various stages, from setting up a forage production plan to the change of paddocks, still opens large possibilities of research. ; Le pâturage est le mode d'alimentation naturel des herbivores, il se pratique dans des milieux physiques et des systèmes agraires forts différents dans les diverses régions européennes. Dans le contexte actuel d'une pression sociétale forte, la place du pâturage évolue et de nouveaux enjeux se dessinent. L'intérêt du pâturage croît souvent avec l'augmentation des contraintes du milieu comme l'illustre une présentation simplifiée des principaux systèmes d'élevage de l'Union Européenne. Cependant, même chez les systèmes laitiers intensifs, on constate un regain d'intérêt pour le pâturage. Les nouvelles attentes de la société (sécurité sanitaire, qualité ...