Lindsay Whistance
Senior Livestock Researcher
I am Senior Livestock Researcher at the Organic Research Centre, and have worked on animal behaviour, health and welfare research since 2003. My interests include human-animal relationships and the role that diverse, species-rich environments play in offering high welfare conditions as well as food and medicine for domestic animals. My current focus includes considering the ecological value of livestock/grazing animals and how these benefits can be acknowledged in our food systems.
Author contributions
Livestock in the Landscape: Optimal Carrying Capacity of Land for Livestock
This ORFC 2024 session reframed the case for livestock in the landscape.
Future Proofing Dairy Farms Through Landscape Design
This Groundswell 2024 session explored the role and challenges of incorporating trees into dairy farming systems.
Optimum shelterbelts: right tree, right place
Lindsay Whistance from the Organic Research Centre blogs about a collaborative project aimed at enhancing our understanding of the effects of shelterbelts.
Feeding pigs and poultry on 100% organic and regional feed – what have we learned in the OK-Net EcoFeed project?
For organic pig and poultry farmers, living up to the ideal of feeding 100% regional and organic feed is difficult and especially for protein that fulfils amino acid requirements (cysteine, lysine and methionine most notably). Balanced diets are important, not just for healthy growth and production, but also for animal welfare where, for example, an imbalance can lead to feather pecking and cannibalism in poultry.
Antibiotics: can we keep farm animals well without them?
In 2010, I took a trip to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New York, USA, to ask some organic dairy farmers about how they managed health and disease in their cows. In contrast to Europe, American organic farmers are not allowed to treat an animal with antibiotics without that animal permanently losing its organic status. That said, US farmers must still use antibiotics where no other treatments exist.
Much of what the farmers said to me was familiar but, as you will see in the comments below, they all emphasised that doing the ‘basics’ well was vital for keeping animals healthy. "Some diseases you have to treat," said one farmer, "but many can be avoided.”