MULCROPA - Multifunctional utilisation of dual-purpose cropping for pasture, forage & grain

To enhance productivity, resilience, and circularity in Sweden’s livestock production, regionally adapted crop management is required to ensure a sustainable supply of feed and forage. The challenges include periods of drought, heavy rainfall, and variable winter survival. One concept of relevance for both climate and environmental adaptation is Dual Purpose Cropping Systems (DCPS). This concept involves new combinations of spring and winter annual crops within sequences of a farm’s crop rotation, aimed at producing pasture, forage, and grains for both livestock and human consumption.

Integrating crop and livestock production can yield both economic and environmental benefits by creating more circular and robust farming systems. The Nordic climate necessitates secure feed production with reduced sensitivity to weather variability. A promising approach is to combine forage and grain production within the same crop, for example, two-year winter rye that can be grazed in the first year and produce grain in the second.

Another approach is Integrated Dual Purpose Cropping (IDPC), in which annual and biennial crops are combined within a sequence to produce both feed and grain, while also providing improved weed suppression, nutrient use efficiency, and crop protection. Maize has also been highlighted as a valuable crop in drier climates, though more knowledge is needed on how it can best be integrated into the crop rotation.

In summary, these combined systems have the potential to increase production security, improve feed availability, and reduce climate and environmental impacts. However, scientific evaluation under Swedish conditions is lacking. The hypothesis is that such crop combinations reduce production risks for dairy and beef producers and contribute to more sustainable production systems.