The STARQ team's research objectives are:
- To assess and predict the effects of livestock production practices on the overall quality of products, which encompasses both intrinsic qualities (nutritional, sensory, technological, and health-related) and “extrinsic” qualities (animal welfare, environmental quality, etc.);
- To design, test, and evaluate resilient, robust, and sustainable herbivore farming systems capable of both thriving and withstanding climate and socioeconomic challenges (global changes);
- To identify and promote livestock management practices within the context of agroecology to optimize the provision of ecosystem services and the efficiency of herbivore farms.
To this end, the STARQ team designs experiments, develops simulation models, proposes new indicators and field tools, analyzes observational data from commercial farms, and employs participatory methods.
The STARQ team currently consists of 39 people, including 6 technicians and engineering assistants, 6 teacher-researchers, 14 researchers, and 12 temporary staff members.
Scientists from the STARQ team are involved in several projects focusing on:
The overall quality of livestock products and related production practices:
- Intaqt: This European project, managed by our team, aims to assess the relationship between animal production systems and the overall quality of products.
- Adaopt & Climonut: These projects aim to assess the impacts of climate change and feed adaptation strategies on the nutritional and technological quality of dairy sheep products.
- Ebaad: This project aims to promote agroecological cattle farming to achieve sustainable food production.
- Nutco-dairy: This project analyzes the impact of incorporating hazelnut byproducts into the ration of dairy cows on the quality of their milk production.
- Ecoextract: This project, initiated by our team, analyzes the impact of oil extraction methods on the oilseed meal fed to cows and on milk quality. In particular, it examines the presence of hexane residues in milk.
The adaptation of herds and livestock systems to global changes:
- Vaacherin: The VAACHERIN project, co-managed by the team, aims to assess the vulnerability of livestock production to climate and socioeconomic changes, and to co-design and evaluate future scenarios with a view to adaptation.
- Medgoat: This project aims to characterize goat farming systems in the Mediterranean region and to develop new farming strategies for sustainable production in the face of climate change.
- Safram: This project aims to understand how, and under what conditions, local breeds can serve as an asset in the face of climate change affecting PDO dairy farms in the Massif Central.
- Div-rest: The Div-rest project aims to study how intra-herd diversity affects the resilience of dairy herds.
- Predation: The thesis at the heart of this project analyzes the risks faced by livestock farmers in the French and Italian Alps, particularly those related to wolf predation.
- Solve: This project aims to develop climate change adaptation strategies in collaboration with local stakeholders using participatory models.
- Red bovin: The goal of this team-led project is to identify factors that may be contributing to the ongoing decline of the cattle population in two regions where cattle farming is a key industry: the boreal region of Quebec and the Massif Central in France.
- Ireact: This project compares different strategies for supplementing cattle feed when pasture grass is scarce, examining physiological responses, carbon footprint, and economic outcomes.
The agroecological transition of livestock systems and the provision of ecosystem services:
- Agroecology Transect: This project aims to quantify the potential of agroecology for climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation in agroecosystems, and the socioeconomic resilience of farms.
- Coccinelle: The Coccinelle research project aims to collaboratively develop and test innovative solutions for the future of dairy farming in the Massif Central.
- GrassConnect: This European project, led by the team, aims to better highlight the multifunctionality of grassland-livestock systems, particularly the ecosystem services they provide.
- SIQODIV: This project analyzes the links between quality standards (PDO, SIQO) and the ecosystem services provided by livestock systems.
- Agriaura2050: This project supports regional agriculture in its agroecological transition by anticipating the effects of climate change and societal expectations at the local level.
- Sustainable livestock farming: Work Package 2 focuses on the co-design of diversified livestock farming systems integrated into their local areas to promote environmentally friendly farming, while Work Package 6 highlights the socioeconomic and policy levers needed to facilitate the agroecological transition.
- GoatOut: This project explores the effects of outdoor access on the well-being, health, and techno-economic performance of dairy goats traditionally raised indoors.
- Apache: This project examines the mechanisms of action of forage chicory and the host’s response, establishing original benchmarks regarding its nutritional value for young horses.
- Pâturond: The Pâturond project measures the environmental impacts of different grazing practices.
- Terolea: The Terolea project explores the role of oilseeds—such as flax and sunflowers—in the environmental transition of livestock farms in the Massif Central.
- Unmeasured: This project will focus specifically on indicators that are currently not measured or are poorly measured in the evaluation of agricultural systems.
Team Leader: Claire Mosnier
Deputy Leaders: Luciano Barreto-Mendes, Bruno Martin
List of STARQ team scientists
