**Do Organic Livestock Farms Differ from Low-Input Conventional Ones? Insights Based on Beef Cattle in Southern Europe Do Organic Livestock Farms Differ from Low-Input Conventional Ones? Insights Based on Beef Cattle in Southern Europe**

Alfredo J. Escribano, Paula Gaspar, Alfredo J. Escribano, Paula Gaspar, Francisco J. Mesías and Miguel Escribano

Francisco J. Mesías and Miguel Escribano

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/65094

#### **Abstract**

The objective of this study is to determine whether there are clear differences between conventional (but low-input) and organic beef cattle farms located in the Southwest of Spain. Thirty-three conventional and 30 organic farms were compared in terms of structure, technical management, and performance. The results showed that organic farms ('All Organic') mainly focus on the production of calves at weaning age, which are fattened in conventional holdings ('Organic 1'; *n* = 22). The remaining organic farms ('Organic 2'; *n* = 11) showed to participate in almost all stages of the agri-value chain. 'Conventional' farms were mainly dedicated to producing calves at weaning age (similarly to Organic 1). Organic 1 had the smallest herd size (80.18 livestock units (LU), *p* < 0.05). Organic 2 showed greater presence of indigenous breeds (62.08%, *p* < 0.05). Conventional farms proved to bear higher feed and veterinary costs per area (161.59 and 17.87 €/ha; *p* < 0.01 and *p* < 0.05, respectively), but Organic 2 had higher feed costs per LU. Therefore, Conventional and All Organic were quite similar, and differences depended mainly on farm structure. Hence, being either conventional or organic does not seem to be a valid criterion for drawing conclusions regarding the benefits or characteristics of each system.

**Keywords:** semiarid, production systems, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, mediterranean, drylands

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
