Conclusion: what effects of the cooperation among farms at the district scale can be shown?
Benefits of integration were restricted by farmers choosing to use cooperation as a means to intensify their operations as opposed to diversifying them.
Even when district scale cooperation resulted in intensification, it still provided some benefits in terms of sustainable natural resource management (e.g. lower N surplus, higher nitrogen use efficiency).
However, it didn't provide any benefits in terms of ecosystem services (biodiversity, carbon sequestration)