In recent years, my research has focused mainly on how to make beef and lamb production economically and climatically sustainable. Some conclusions is that larger herds, cheap buildings for wintering the livestock and nature conservation grazing on semi-natural pastures that provides environmental payment are important for the profitability and making it possible even for newcomers without much own funds to earn a living on beef and lamb production. Those who do not have enough own such pastures can perhaps become "Conservation entrepreneurs" by grazing semi-natural pastures qualified for environmental payments on other farms where there are no longer any own animals.
The next few years I will mainly be working within the project "Organic beef and other ecosystem services produced at semi-natural pastures and forest mosaics". There we shall, for example, explore possibilities for establishing large connected grazing pens of existing small scattered semi-natural pastures and adjoining forest in order to facilitate animal handling, fencing and water supply. Measures to maintain and preferably increase tree growth in the pens are important for both profitability and our climate. We shall therefore examine the possibilities of establishing trees in the present pastures and, after final felling, establish high producing broad-leaved forest in the present generally conifer-dominated forest. I birch stands the grass production can be substantial after early clearing / thinning. Beef produced in such high-producing pasture-forest mosaics can be better from a climate perspective than other beef production due to carbon sequestration in trees and a bright landscape that reflects back a large portion of the incoming solar energy.
