Agroecological practices at farming system level – case of beef and dairy farming in Flanders

Agroecology has the potential for moving animal production systems towards more sustainability while meeting the forecasted demand for livestock products (Dumont et al., 2014). However, the application of agroecology in the livestock sector, especially in Flanders, remains very low. This abstract is part of a PhD research that studies the evolution to more agroecological practices through a systemic approach for the case of the beef and dairy sector in Flanders. This is done by analyzing practices at farm level, strategy choices within the broader food system and factors influencing these choices. This abstract proposes a three step methodology to select our case study and to analyze (agroecological) practices at farm level.