Framework for measuring sustainability in dairy farming

If dairy farming is to become more sustainable, there must be an effective method of monitoring trends in sustainability (Mitchell et al., 1995). Therefore sustainability has to be made operational in each specific context at scales relevant for its achievement and appropriate methods must be designed for its long-term measurement (Heinen, 1994). A strategy for reaching sustainability in dairy farming should be able to consider all possible activities and all their side effects (Bosshard, 2000; De Graaf et al., 1996). Therefore a system approach is most appropriate to measure sustainability (Kristensen and Halberg, 1997). Despite many efforts no appropriate method exists which measures sustainability in dairy farming. The aim of this paper is to design a framework that measures the sustainability in dairy farming. By means of this framework different dairy-farming systems (represented by experimental farms) can be compared on their sustainability.