Farming systems in Europe and the UK have become highly specialised with farmers being dependent on purchased feed and fertilisers. This has impacted on the delivery of many ecosystem services and has resulted in the loss of organic matter in predominantly arable areas, reducing soil fertility, and the ability of farming systems to adapt to climate change. MiFAS systems typically provided an increased level of diversity in the landscape and have the potential to reduce the impact of climate change on the farming systems. We ran a workshop with the network leads, and we used an expert elicitation approach to characterise the ecosystem services delivered by the networks through the eyes of those involved. The aim was to compare the delivery of these services with local non-MiFAS systems.

Positive effects of MiFAS

The results of the workshop and the expert elicitation highlighted that the introduction of MiFAS systems was largely positive for ecosystem services. With the exception of the Danish manure/grass protein exchange network, MiFAS was perceived to be beneficial for cultural services. The introduction of MiFAS also led to the enhancement of social interactions for the farmer, either because they were collaborating with other farmers, or they were interacting with other businesses or consumers. These social and cultural aspects are important to the farming community. Regardless of the type of MiFAS, the network leaders believed that the provisioning, regulating and supporting services tended to be enhanced by the (re)introduction of MiFAS systems. The results suggest that mixed systems have the potential to buffer against the social challenges and environmental impacts associated with climate change. 
It is important to recognise that the supporting and regulating ecosystem service benefits arising from MiFAS systems may not be apparent in the short-term. The particular MiFAS adopted in any region must be appropriate to the environment and take into consideration the economic and cultural heritage of the region. 

Read the full report here (TBA soon)