Organic farming relies on ecological processes to replace chemical inputs, and organic farmers have developed various strategies, including several forms of diversification, to remain viable. Herein, we hypothesized that diversified organic farming systems can enhance their performance by increasing the level of interactions between system components. We therefore performed an ecological network analysis to characterize both within-farm and farm-environment interactions. Flows were expressed on an annual basis according to the quantity of biomass exchanges multiplied by nitrogen content. Seventeen organic farms were surveyed in French grassland areas, each associating beef cattle with either sheep, pigs, or poultry. The ecological network analysis was then coupled with the assessment of farm economic, environmental, and social performances. A hierarchical clustering on principal components distinguished five groups of farms based on farm and herd size, presence of monogastrics, percentage of crops in the farm area, and system activity indicators. A large farm size, in terms of area or number of workers, can limit the implementation of a homogeneous flow network within the system. A higher level of within-system interactions did not lead to better farm economic, environmental, and social performances. Systems with large monogastric production enterprises were highly dependent on inputs, which led to less homogeneous flow networks and a poor farm nitrogen balance without gaining economic efficiency. Managing a complex system with a dense and complex flow network did not appear to increase farmers’ mental workload. To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify farm-scale interactions using ecological network indicators in temperate livestock farms and to analyze the links between farm performance and operating processes. The ecological network analysis thus potentially provides a common framework for comparing a wide range of livestock farms. Given the variability of multispecies livestock farms, a larger database will be used to extend our conclusions.

有机农业依靠生态过程来代替化学投入，有机农民制定了各种策略，包括多种形式的多样化，以保持活力。在此，我们假设多样化的有机农业系统可以通过增加系统组件之间的交互水平来提高其性能。因此，我们进行了生态网络分析，以表征农场内和农场-环境的相互作用。根据生物量交换量乘以氮含量，以年为基础表示流量。在法国草原地区对 17 个有机农场进行了调查，每个农场都将肉牛与绵羊、猪或家禽联系在一起。然后将生态网络分析与农场经济、环境和社会绩效的评估相结合。根据农场和畜群规模、单胃动物的存在、农场面积中作物的百分比和系统活动指标，对主要成分的分层聚类区分了五组农场。就面积或工人数量而言，大型农场规模可能会限制系统内同质流动网络的实施。更高水平的系统内交互并没有导致更好的农场经济、环境和社会绩效。拥有大型单胃生产企业的系统高度依赖投入，导致流动网络不均匀，农场氮平衡不佳，而没有获得经济效益。管理具有密集而复杂的流动网络的复杂系统似乎并没有增加农民的脑力劳动量。据我们所知，这项研究是第一个使用温带牧场的生态网络指标量化农场规模相互作用的方法，并分析了农场绩效与运营过程之间的联系。因此，生态网络分析有可能为比较各种畜牧场提供一个通用框架。鉴于多物种养殖场的可变性，将使用更大的数据库来扩展我们的结论。