A large portion of the world's available fresh water is used in agriculture. In water-rich Sweden, some farmers are employing sustainable practices with their livestock in order to conserve their resources.
Elisabeth Gauffin, wearing heavy-duty rubber boots and a quickly thrown-on work jacket, tends to 180 dairy cows. Since 1986, she has run the Stabby Gard farm near the city of Uppsala, which lies just north of the Sweden's capital, Stockholm.
Gauffin discusses her philosophy as she pets one her cows while it feeds at its trough. The Swedish farmer says that the sustainable use of resources is tremendously important on her farm.
"For example, we use less energy when the cows stand outside," says Gauffin, adding that the cows take shelter under the heated roof only for a short period during the winter.
"The animals are currently resting," she continues. "Two months out the year they can't give milk. Then they start producing again, and we milk them for eight to 10 months out of the year."
Sustainable farming
Stabby Gard uses all sources of energy available at the farm, from the body heat of the cows to the use of their manure for field fertilizer. Gauffin also cultivates grain in a sustainable fashion. She avoids monoculture farming, which means cultivating just one crop. Instead, she rotates the use of peas and rapeseed.
Water resources are also becoming a growing issue, according to the farmer.
"Sweden is a water-rich country," Gauffin says. "We're doing well here in that regard, because we're surrounded by water. But when there are heat waves during the summer, we also notice that water becomes scarcer."
Up until now, she has not had to think about how much water she uses to produce a single liter of milk.
"But if climate change continues, that will become an issue in all of Sweden," Gauffin says.
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