project - Research and innovation
Influence of concentrate feeding on health, fertility and performance of Swiss organic dairy cows
Influence of concentrate feeding on health, fertility and performance of Swiss organic dairy cows
Objectives
Concentrate feeding (crops, soybeans etc.) is an integral part of the current dairy cow feeding system and the demand for concentrate feedstuff is increasing every year. In Switzerland the self-sufficiency of feed crop production is continuously decreasing, and more than 50% of concentrated feed is imported. The objective of the "Feed no Food" project was to evaluate the effect of reduced shares of concentrate in feeding rations on health, fertility and performance of Swiss organic dairy cows. In total, 69 farms were involved in this study.
Objectives
NA
Additional information
The results show that a significant average reduction of concentrate by 24% or 88 kg dry matter (DM) per cow and year is possible. This reduction has no negative influence on animal health and fertility. Milk contents (protein, fat, urea) has remained unchanged, and milk yield decreased slightly by an average of 0.5% or 0.1 kg per cow and day.
Project details
- Main funding source
- Other public (national, regional) research funds
- Project acronym
- Feed no food