Nutrient recycling in organic farming is related to diversity in farm types at the local level

Feeding the Corn Belt: Opportunities for phosphorus recycling in U.S. agriculture

“…through co-locating livestock/ human waste production and crop P demand. Such livestock and crop co-location can help to improve local P recycling and P autonomy (Nowak et al, 2015). The co-location of agriculture and cities could also help in more sustainable resource use by more closely linking people to the production systems on which they depend (Cumming et al, 2014).…”

Functional traits in agriculture: agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services

“…Similarly, allowing part of a farmscape to regenerate wild vegetation can represent economic losses to a farmer. Regional-scale exchanges in nutrient flows between farms depend on the diversity of farm types locally [79]. Can farm-type diversity across a landscape substitute for local-scale diversity in terms of its effects on ecosystem services?…”

C–N–P Decoupling Processes Linked to Arable Cropping Management Systems in Relation With Intensification of Production

“…For example, in Europe, most feed comes from oilcake -rich in N -imported from Argentina or Brazil (soybeans) and more recently from rapeseed (byproduct of oil used for biofuel) and produced in arable farming systems. With organic farming, Nowak et al (2015) showed that (i) the local supply (defined as the ratio of the amount of nutrients from exchanges among farms plus the amount of N from atmospheric sources, to the sum of inputs to organic farms); and (ii) the cycling index (defined as the fraction of nutrients flowing at least twice through the same farms), were greater in the mixed districts (association of crops and livestock) than in specialized districts. As concluded by Le Noë et al (2017), the opening of the N or P cycle associated with agricultural activity is not only a matter of agricultural practices, it is also the consequence of a highly specialized agri-food system very focused on long-distance trade, without seeking functional complementarities between close regions.…”