The article builds upon the White Paper on Nordic Sustainable Food Systems: Pathways and Intervention Areas, which was written between October 2023 and May 2024 by eight Nordic researchers belonging to different academic organisations in the framework of an NKJ (Nordic Joint Committee for Food and Agricultural Research) sponsored project. The article aims to address two research questions: (1) What are the most feasible strategies to implement a food system approach in the Nordic countries? and (2) What is the role that academic and research institutions can play in promoting Nordic sustainable food systems? The article further articulates the 12 intervention areas presented in the white paper, which have been organized in 5 macro areas, namely food governance, primary production and fisheries, nutrition and education, local food, and food self-sufficiency and food waste. It combines different research and analytical methodologies with the development of an original theoretical framework and proposes actionable suggestions for researchers and policymakers interested in strengthening sustainability in food systems and food practices.
Chocolate spot (CS) disease, caused by Botrytis species, severely damages faba beans. This study analyzed interactions between three faba bean genotypes with varying levels of resistance and 21 Botrytis isolates from six species that were genotyped using 10 NEP markers. The isolates were cultured, sporulated under near-UV light, and inoculated onto 6–8-week-old, fully expanded, detached leaflets. All isolates induced CS symptoms, revealing significant interactions among lines and isolates. Botrytis fabae 19B053-4 was the most virulent, followed by B. fabiopsis 19B175 and B. fabae 17B4. Conversely, B. cinerea 17B10-1 caused the slowest lesion development. Notably, more resistant hosts consistently remained less susceptible across all isolates, indicating no crossover interaction. AUDPC values confirmed B. fabae as the primary, highly aggressive specialized pathogen, whereas related species pose opportunistic threats. Tracking cumulative disease progress identified quantitative host resistance through slowed infection rates, offering a framework for crop protection.
Soil hydraulic properties are essential information for sustainable agriculture and environmental management, yet their measurement is time-consuming and costly. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are widely used to estimate these properties from basic soil data, but few have been developed or validated for boreal conditions. This study evaluated two sets of European PTFs for boreal arable soils using a Finnish dataset of 800 water retention curves (5530 measurements) and 293 saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) measurements. To assess PTF performance in modelling context, a functional evaluation with HYDRUS-1D was conducted for clayey fields, comparing simulations using measured and PTF-predicted water retention data. Performance of PTFs was reasonable in terms of water retention (RMSE 0.07–0.09 cm³ cm⁻³ and R2 0.63–0.79) and functional evaluation (R2 0.56–0.97). These results were comparable to previous studies, indicating suitability for boreal arable soils. A hierarchy of PTF performance is provided to guide their selection, while highlighting the importance of considering soil texture in their application. Ksat PTFs performed poorly and systematically underestimated measured values (R2 -2.17 – -0.86), which highlights the demand for further development before reliable application to boreal soils.
Year-to-year variation in animal performance under stable organic forage conditions remains insufficiently understood. To address this, growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and economic indicators were compared in Hereford bulls from two birth years (2022 and 2023) finished under an organic, forage-only system on coastal grasslands in Saaremaa, Estonia. Two birth-year groups were compared to assess the impact of forage variability. Bulls born in 2023 achieved higher average daily gain (1176.40 ± 138.80 vs. 1086.19 ± 113.38 g day-1) and superior carcass conformation scores (3.00 ± 0.00 vs. 2.45 ± 0.51) without compromising tenderness (WBSF 22.02–24.94 N) or water-holding capacity. Meat composition differences were minor but included higher protein (21.57 ± 0.31 vs 21.27 ± 0.43 g 100 g-1) and intramuscular fat (IMF) (1.57 ± 0.54 vs. 0.85 ± 0.73 g 100 g-1) in 2023 bulls. Economic analysis revealed a 36% increase in feeding costs (155 to 211 € per animal) and a decline in marginal yield (1.94 to 1.53 kg €⁻¹), partially offset by higher carcass value (+123 € per bull). These findings highlight the importance of securing a stable forage supply and managing biological variability to maintain stability in organic beef systems.
This study evaluated whether wood-derived pyrolysis liquids can act as biostimulants for boreal crops. In a laboratory pre-experiment, low concentrations of willow-derived pyrolysis liquid promoted root growth of strawberry runners, whereas higher concentrations caused leaf lesions and inhibited rooting, indicating a hormetic response. In field trials in south-west Finland, birch-derived pyrolysis liquid was applied to spring wheat, field pea and spring oat at three dose levels and compared with an untreated control and two commercial biostimulants. Under the tested conditions, pyrolysis liquid did not significantly affect crop ground cover, plant height, grain yield or grain quality, and the commercial products did not outperform the untreated control. Because the tested liquids were not characterised in full batch-specific compositional detail, the observed responses could not be linked to individual compounds. The agronomic benefits of pyrolysis liquids under northern field conditions therefore remain unproven.
Animal-sourced foods (ASF) such as milk and meat include traditionally in the Nordic diet. Nowadays, the share of ASF in the diet often exceeds nutritional recommendations and is challenged by environmental and ethical issues. The quest for a food system that respects planetary boundaries has produced dietary recommendations limiting the share of ASF in the diet. In this review, perspectives on the production and role of ASF in food systems with emphasis on Nordic countries are raised and discussed. ASF rich in bioavailable nutrients make important contributions to food and nutrition security. The review explores the most effective strategies to mitigate ASF’s environmental footprint. It also examines animal production as an integral part of agriculture providing ecosystem services such as fertilizers, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Once European food systems were modeled for sustainability the circular economy-based scenarios including milk production were identified effective in reducing emissions and improving self-sufficiency. Overall, the review emphasizes the significance of dairy production in the northern regions with limited possibilities for food crop production.
Latvian seed savers are at the forefront of a long-term, grassroots movement that fosters food sovereignty. They do this by prioritising heirloom crops and actively resisting the homogeneity of stadard agricultural crops. This approach strengthens food resilience by utilising a decentralised network of seed production and unique varieties that have been adapted to local conditions. Seed saving is a profound learning process. Philosopher Giambattista Vico noted, true knowledge comes from personal creation, which statement is central to seed savers’ efforts. Participants gain a holistic understanding of their environment, including soil, microclimate, and the histories of each plant. These living stories are often named after the families or places that nurtured them. Activist of this movement dedicate themselves to preserving the knowledge and stories of elders, ensuring that this valuable local knowledge is passed on. This collective action transforms food citizenship into a community-led practice, nurturing a more sustainable and equitable relationship with food systems, presenting a strong Nordic-Baltic model for a resilient food futures.
Food supply systems operate in increasingly uncertain and dynamic environments, where disturbances can affect performance and long-term viability. Strengthening resilience is therefore a strategic priority for food security, yet practical system-level assessment tools remain limited. This paper presents a framework that operationalizes resilience as three interrelated capacities: robustness, recovery, and reorientation. It offers a stepwise process integrating quantitative and qualitative indicators, including stakeholder-based assessments. By combining evidence on system structures and dependencies with actor-related knowledge on preparedness, coordination, learning, and adaptation, the framework enables transparent interpretation of strengths, vulnerabilities, and trade-offs. An application to the dairy sector illustrates its use in characterizing structure, interpreting capacities, and identifying development needs. The framework is adaptable across sectors and regions, depending on data and stakeholder engagement. It contributes research by linking resilience theory with practical assessment logic and advancing mixed-method approaches for system-level analysis, providing a basis for scientific and policy reflection under uncertainty. The approach also supports comparison across cases and informs decision-making on risk management, investment, and governance priorities.
Biochar used as a soil amendment has been reported to influence crop productivity and the environmental impacts of agriculture. The impacts are challenging to generalize, as they depend on regional farming and climatic conditions. We collected and synthesized the scattered research findings from Fennoscandian countries to increase understanding of biochar impacts (crop yield, soil hydraulic properties, soil structural stability, and carbon storage) in high-latitude agricultural soils. The influence of biochar was generally minor, with only a few sporadic clearly positive indications. While the number of study cases was too small to draw indisputable conclusions, low-fertility soils could be potential targets for biochar in boreal conditions. Also, global meta-analyses show the greatest yield increases in coarse-textured, nutrient-poor, and acidic soils. Such agricultural soils are, however, a minority in the Fennoscandian conditions, which calls for further systematic investigations on biochar application on non-arable soils. The synthesized experimental results indicate that biochar has the potential to increase the long-term soil carbon storage. Our review highlights the scarcity of long-term investigations into the effects of biochar ageing and, consequently, soil properties. Several field experiments set up over a decade ago could provide a sound basis for research focusing on biochar ageing.
Increased forage quality from more frequent grass silage harvesting is often promoted as a measure to improve farm profitability, raise the domestic feed share, and reduce GHG emissions on dairy farms. However, how these effects depend on forage availability and management responses to avoid possible forage deficiency has received limited attention. Using a whole-farm optimisation model, we analysed the effects of a shift from a two-cut to a three-cut system on Norwegian dairy farms under different forage access and livestock adjustments. Higher forage quality allowed the same milk yield and growth per animal to be maintained with higher forage intake and lower concentrate use. Gross margins increased through lower concentrate costs when forage availability was sufficient, but declined under tight forage constraints unless mitigated by higher fertiliser use and livestock adjustments. The domestic feed shares generally increased as concentrate use declined, but the gain was offset when livestock adjustments increased concentrate reliance. Although higher forage quality has the potential to reduce emissions and emission intensities, the realised outcomes were mixed and depended on fertiliser use, herd size changes, and livestock adjustments.
Objective of this study was to investigate the effects of low ambient temperatures (–14.2 °C) on microclimate, behaviour, and welfare indicators of calves housed in individual hutches located either outdoors under shelters or indoors in a lightweight prefabricated building (indoor vs. outdoor housing). Research was conducted on a dairy farm in Ukraine using Holstein calves. Air temperature in hutches located indoors was 4.8 °C higher (p < 0.001), while wind speed was 4.2 km h⁻¹ lower (p < 0.001) compared with outdoor hutch placement. Calves housed indoors had a significantly higher skin temperature (+2.7 °C; p < 0.001). Also, these calves spent more time standing (+15 min day-1; p < 0.01), moving (+7 min day-1; p < 0.001), and drinking water (+4 min day-1; p < 0.01). However, the duration of concentrate intake and the total time spent inside the individual hutches were longer in calves housed outdoors under shelters (+9 min, p < 0.05; and +17 min, respectively). Better average faecal scores were observed in calves housed outdoors (+0.04; p < 0.05).
This study evaluated the botanical, morphological and chemical composition of pea-wheat (PW) and faba bean-wheat (FBW) whole crop herbages at different harvest times at 2-week intervals in Northern Finland. The herbages were also ensiled in round bales and their in vivo digestibility was measured using the total faecal collection method with sheep. The grain legumes dominated in the stands so that the proportions of pea and faba bean were on average 0.912 and 0.824 (on dry matter (DM) basis). The harvest time affected the organic matter digestibility of the crops differently as it decreased for PW but increased for FBW with progressing growth. The average in vivo D-values of the silages were rather low (581 and 595 g kg-1 DM for PW and FBW, respectively). In vitro pepsin-cellulase digestibility predicted in vivo organic matter digestibility moderately well (R2=0.54), but the data set was small. Ensiled whole-crop cereal silages dominated by grain legumes showed potential as feeds for cattle.
Removal of excess water by soil drainage is a prerequisite of proper yields in boreal agriculture. A functioning drainage system enables farming operations, maintains yields and improves the environmental performance of a field plot. As carbon input to soils in crop residues increases with the yield, increased crop production might benefit the carbon balance of the soil. We document the effects of drainage renovation on the yield and crop residue production of spring cereals at a long-term experimental site on Protovertic luvisol in south-western Finland and discuss their relevance for soil carbon sequestration. The yield and amount of crop residues were monitored continuously before (1985–1990) and after (1992–1997) a drainage renovation. The cereal yields almost doubled, reaching the current average yields, and the amount of crop residue increased by 30% after the improvement of the drainage system. This was, however, not significantly reflected in the soil carbon stock. Drainage renovation can be considered sustainable intensification that provides long-term benefits for crop production, but carbon sequestration likely requires more carbon input than is available in the cereal straw.
The P status in some soils and sediments and the fate of P in various sorption and desorption tests was studied. The aim was to elucidate some factors possibly controlling the availability of soil P and the eutrophication risk owing to eroded soil material being carried into surface waters. Also the factors affecting the significance of bottom deposits in the P budget of lakes were discussed.The occurrence and reactions of various inorganic P forms were investigated by a modified CHANG and JAcKSON fractionation procedure which proved a suitable method also for sediment studies for limnological and paleolimnological purposes. In the sorption and desorption experiments the activities of the fractions varied. The extent of retention and the distribution of sorbed P in various fractions was closely related to amorphous oxides of Al and Fe in soils and sediments. In nature, the secondary phosphates seem to participate more actively in desorption processes than the acid soluble P, supposed to represent apatite-P. However, the ratio of secondary phosphates to their corresponding sorption components appeared primarily to control the extent of desorption. Further, the net release of P under desorptive conditions was dependent on the effectiveness of the resorption reactions. In addition to soil and sediment properties the environmental factors also affect the sorption and desorption of P. The immediate effect of temperature on sorption by different soils varied, but seemed to be generally quite unessential. A high content of active organic matter or oxygen depleted conditions may lower the sorption or even cause some desorption, while high concentrations of inorganic salts may enhance retention. Thus, the eutrophication risk owing to the eroded soil material is dependent also on conditions in the recipient ‘water.
Spent mushroom substrate (SMS), a byproduct of mushroom cultivation, has gained increasing attention as a sustainable soil amendment in agricultural and horticultural systems. SMS provides a promising alternative to peat-based substrates and synthetic fertilizers, supporting circular bioeconomy principles and sustainable farming practices. This is particularly relevant in boreal regions, where soils are typically acidic, nutrient-poor, and subject to short growing season conditions, presenting both opportunities and challenges for organic inputs. This review synthesizes current research on the agronomic and environmental implications of SMS use in agriculture and horticulture, including its effects on seed germination, plant growth, crop yield, root development, soil structure, and disease suppression. From an environmental perspective, the use of SMS contributes to waste reduction by repurposing organic residues and replacing peat, a non-renewable resource with significant ecological costs. However, several hurdles remain, including high salinity, inconsistent composition, nutrient imbalances, and complex compounds difficult for plants to access, which can impede plant performance. While prior studies have explored SMS in isolated settings, a comprehensive evaluation across systems is lacking. This review addresses that gap by assessing current evidence, identifying limitations, and outlining future research needs to optimize the use of SMS and scale its adoption in sustainable farming.
We conducted three experiments to investigate the effects of partial replacement of grass silage with maize silage (25% or 50% of the dry matter [DM]) on feed intake, milk production, diet digestibility, and methane (CH4) emissions in dairy cows. The starch concentrations of maize silages were high for northern latitudes and ranged from 236 g kg-1 DM at early harvest to 278 and 254 g kg-1 DM at late harvest, respectively. Partial replacement of grass silage with maize silage increased feed intake, whereas diet digestibility decreased. Milk and energy corrected milk (ECM) yields increased in one experiment, whereas no corresponding changes were observed in the other experiments. Replacing grass silage with maize silage improved nitrogen utilization in all the experiments and CH4 intensity (g kg-1 ECM) decreased in one experiment. In northern conditions, the beneficial effects of maize silage on feed intake can be achieved, while effects on milk production and enteric CH4 emissions are less consistent due to annual variation in maturity and starch content of maize.
The objective of the present study was to determine carcass traits of dairy and beef breed cows in the Finnish cattle population. The data collected from a Finnish slaughterhouse included observations of 7 522 Holstein (HO), 6 367 Nordic Red (NR), 422 Limousin (LI), 180 Hereford (HF), 119 Simmental (SI), 117 Angus (AB), and 93 Charolais (CH) cows. The carcasses were graded for conformation and fat score in accordance with the EU beef carcass classification scheme (EUROP) on a continuous 15-point scale. The NR dairy cows had better conformed and fatter carcasses compared to HO cows (p< 0.001) but the yields of tenderloin, inside round and roast beef were higher in HO compared to NR cows (p< 0.01). In beef cows, British breeds (AB, HF) had lower conformed carcasses and higher yield of surface fat compared to Continental breeds (CH, LI, SI) (p< 0.05). Slaughter weight of HO and NR cows was positively correlated to carcass conformation score, carcass fat score and surface fat yield. The yields of tenderloin, inside round and roast beef decreased in both breeds as slaughter weight increased. Slaughter weight had no effect on loin and entrecote yields.
