grazing

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Kohnen H., Boonen J., Van Vliet G. and Wengler F.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Pilot farm networks are very efficient in developing and implementing innovative measures and strategies to improve farm performances. At farm level, their specificities must be considered. A coordination of all actors, i.e. researchers, advisors, farmers and policy makers is essential. During the EU Dairyman project a strategy has been elaborated to establish coherent development plans. This method is applied on the four Luxemburgish commercial monitor farms, which are a part of the ‘Autograssmilk’ EU project with a farm network. Three steps have to be respected: (1) a detailed farm description; (2) a definition of objectives and their corresponding indicators; and (3) an implementation of a strategy, sub-divided into several actions. Farm data were collected and analysed during 2014, so that at the end of the year a specific development plan was elaborated on each farm. Due to the farm-specific approach, for identical farm objectives, concrete actions to reach the goal can differ significantly. Furthermore, the coordination between involved organizations is enhanced. The results were as positive as in the previous project and its seem therefore that they can be replicated. The method can be considered as an appropriate tool to monitor and improve commercial farms.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Lessire F., Hornick J.L. and Dufrasne I.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Grazing is more and more abandoned because of increasing size of herds and automation of herd management (e.g. automatic milking system – AMS). In this context, this study aims to evaluate milk production and composition of 2 large Belgian dairy herds equipped with AMS during winter and summer. These herds were followed over 2 years. At grazing, 30% of the offered feed was grass. Milk production in both herds was similar in summer and winter (30.2±7.14 vs 29.7±7.8 in Herd 1 and 26.9±0.8 vs 26.4±0.8 in Herd 2) while milk their composition differed. In conclusion, it is possible for grazing to be preserved even in large herds without noticeably impact on the herd performance.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Nagy G., Felföldi J. and Vántus A.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Grazing is not currently a common practice on dairy farms in Hungary. There are several possible reasons for this situation: the necessary conditions are not available for grazing, or technical considerations about grazing are not favourable in practice. These questions were investigated on two dairy farms through farm visits and technical interviews. Farm 1 has grazing, whereas Farm 2, which used to graze its animals, currently does not graze but there are plans to establish pasture for grazing. The main results of the investigations are as follows: neither farm has enough pasture/land area available to meet the requirements of grazing; the period of adequate grass growth/supply is relatively short, it is a maximum of two months in the beginning of spring; the nutritive value of grass decreases sharply in spring, and for this reason only animals requiring less-intensive feeding can be grazed (dry cows, heifers and perhaps low yield cows); grazing can result in remarkable savings in terms of inputs and costs; grazing does not need specific labour, and staff currently on the farms can manage grazing at the necessary technical level; the safety of outdoor animals from theft were not considered to be an obstacle to grazing on the farms.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Oudshoorn F.W., Brocard V. and Van den Pol-van Dasselaar A.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Automatic milking Systems (AMS) have been practised for a number of years in Denmark, France and the Netherlands. During these years, combining automatic milking (AM) and pasture access for feeding has remained problematic. Grazing has, however, many benefits, both for farmers, animals, landscape, biodiversity, and for the overall image of dairy farming. In this study we compared the economic results of dairy farms with AMS (AMS farms) which practice grazing with those of AMS farms without grazing. The economic impact of grazing dairy cows on AMS farms was analysed using accounting data of commercial dairy farms in Denmark, France and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands grazing was economically beneficial but this effect declined with increasing farm size. In France, income tended to be higher on farms that practised grazing, and in Denmark no economic difference of farmer incomes were found. A complicating factor of the analysis was that the actual feed uptake during grazing was not recorded in the database in any of the three countries. A key recommendation from this study is that the level of grazing and intake from grazing as a proportion of the total diet is recorded in the future.