From Uniformity to Diversity
The general trend in agriculture is moving towards increasingly specialized production systems at field, farm, and regional levels. Large parts of Norway are dominated by grasslands and livestock farming for meat and dairy production. However, with an unstable climate and escalating global conflicts, local production of food crops—such as vegetables, potatoes, and grains for human consumption—is becoming increasingly important for food security and resilience, in addition to meat and dairy production. New dietary guidelines also emphasize the need for increased consumption of vegetables, potatoes, and grains in the Norwegian diet.

Benefits of crop rotatoin
Monoculture-based forage production has its drawbacks, particularly for organic farmers, where perennial weeds can be difficult to manage without crop rotation. At the same time, grasslands play a crucial role in maintaining soil quality and health. A crop rotation that includes grasslands can contribute to high-yielding food crops with reduced input needs. Farms with grasslands and access to manure hold an untapped resource for increasing organic food crop production. A balanced integration of food and forage crops can enhance food crop production in organic farming while creating resilient farming systems that provide farmers with multiple income streams.

From Intentions to Action
However, increasing diversification on grassland-livestock farms can be challenging in practice, requiring additional knowledge, labor, and financial investments. In Central Norway, farmers report difficulties in securing delivery agreements, making alternative market channels, such as REKO-rings, essential.

Objective
We want to explore opportunities and challenges linked to cultivating and selling food crops for organic grassland-livestock farms in Trøndelag. We will work in a participatory process with farmers, NLR advisors, and the County Governor to identify measures on selected farms that have already integrated food crops into their production or wish to do so. Through farm studies and networking with these stakeholders, we will use an agroecological approach to examine agronomic, economic, social, and environmental factors holistically.

Collaboration partners
In collaboration with farmers and NLR advisors, we will develop strategies for successfully integrating food crops into farm operations. Throughout the project, we will cooperate with the County Governor of Trøndelag. Towards the end of the project, we will develop recommendations for policy development and further initiatives to promote increased diversity in grassland- and livestock-based farming systems in Norway.