Europe. In the 1990s, regions in the south of Italy recorded the highest rates of growth of farms in conversion to organic farming. In the European Union, the European Organic Ac­tion Plan implementation process is now getting under way (Miele and Pinducciu, 2001).
     In North America almost 1.4 million ha are managed organically, representing approximately a 0.3% share of the total agricultural area. Currently, the number of organic farms is almost 12,000 (Willer and Yussefi, 2007). With the adoption of national standards in 2002 in the United States, the organic sector has been able to provide a guar­antee to consumers that organic products using the labeling followed specific practices. The US market has been growing rapidly, estimated by the Organic Trade Association at 20% or more per year, with a growing number of certification agencies accredited by USDA and talks progressing to ex­pedite international trade of organic products. Since 1999, the Canadian industry has had a voluntary Canada Organic Standard that is not supported by regulation. The organic industry continues to devote its energies toward implemen­tation of a mandatory national organic regulation to help expedite trade relations with such major trading partners as the United States, European Union and Japan.

2.4.6 Key changes in cropping systems and drivers
In summary, production of arable crops has doubled and in some cases tripled over the last 50 years in the NAE. These production increases have been mainly due to increases in output per unit area, as the area of arable land in the NAE has not increased and in many countries has decreased slightly. Production increases have been facilitated by the contribution of AKST, providing farmers with new tools to enhance crop production. These have primarily been more efficient use of fertilizers, mechanization and development of novel more effective agrochemicals and the breeding of new higher yielding cultivars.
     Dissemination of this new knowledge has depended on the development of efficient knowledge transfer systems, both governmental and private sector. Moreover, there has been increased technological sophistication in agricultural mechanization.   The   increased   productivity/efficiency   of cropping systems has left more time for off-farm employ­ment and decreased labor employment in agriculture. De­spite the labor savings brought about by mechanization in many agricultural systems, some production systems remain labor-intensive (e.g., horticultural crops).
     New tools enabled change or extension of farming prac­tice. For example, larger field sizes to accommodate machin­ery, new areas under cultivation because of improved plough/ cultivation capability, increased capability for minimum till­age, increased ability to cope with management and feed­ing of livestock at higher densities, and a shift from silage to hay. However, there are also negative aspects associated with soil compaction and structural damage resulting from frequent passes of large heavy machinery. Still, mechaniza­tion has increased the practicality of the production of some organic crops (e.g., innovations in mechanical weeders).

2.5 Changes in Livestock Systems in NAE
As in cropping systems, the key change in livestock systems in NAE has been significant increase in both productivity

and production of meat and dairy products driven by an increased demand for these products among NAE consum­ers. This has been made possible by improved genetics and widespread access to superior genotypes, changes in live­stock feeding regimes, development of specialized produc­tion units for livestock and improvements in food safety. Consumer demand for humanely treated livestock and in­creased concern about environmental impacts of intensive livestock production have started to change production practices across NAE, especially in Western Europe.
     Because of World War II's disruptions to production, dis­tribution and storage, the postwar livestock industry could not meet European consumer demand until the late 1950s. Meat consumption per capita has generally increased since post-war rationing ended (Aumaitre and Boyazoglu, 2000). During the post-war years most European governments used subsidies to increase livestock production (Hodges, 1999).
     Mixed farms such as those in Europe where livestock was fed mainly by grazing or cereals produced on the same farm predominated after WWII. In this period, the US had a geographically dispersed livestock sector. On the uplands in Europe, pastoralism was a way of life using summer grazing and winter stock movements ("transhumance") developed in mediaeval times.
     In Europe, the mixed farms of the 1940s have today almost completely changed to either specialist arable or milk and livestock production units, using high intensity produc­tion methods promoted by the CAP and state subsidies of capital investment and/or productivity-related payments (de Haan et al., 1997). Half of all EU farms still have livestock, with 90% now specialist livestock producers, buying feed from global commodity markets (European Commission). Europe now has one of the highest livestock densities in the world (FAOSTAT), with a mixture of intensive grazing and fattening/rearing units where livestock are fed on both home-grown and imported feed. The overall result has been increased livestock numbers (although the livestock density (LU/ha) in Europe has fallen some 10% in the past decade (FAOSTAT) and increased productivity of all livestock and dairy products, leading to large-scale over-production in the cattle, pig and poultry sectors over the past twenty years.
     US and Canadian livestock sectors have also undergone extensive restructuring since 1945, but in different ways (Table 2-6). One of the key developments has been the in­tegration of the US, Canadian and Mexican livestock sec­tor, accelerated by the adoption of NAFTA in 1994. This is particularly true in the beef and pork sectors (Young and Marsh, 1998; Farm Foundation, 2004; Haley, 2004). Prices for beef and pork tend to move together in both wholesale and live animal markets, particularly in Canada and the US (Vollrath and Hallahan, 2006) (e.g., 8% of pork slaughtered in the US now originates in Canada, a large increase over the last decade [Hahn et al., 2005]). Poultry is the exception as it is not as well-integrated because it is a managed sector in Canada.
     As in Europe, the number of farms in North America with livestock has decreased (McBride, 1997), while pro­duction of red meat, poultry products and dairy products has continued to increase. In the US, there have been signifi­cant geographic concentrations in beef and broiler produc-