Réorganisations du travail dans des exploitations laitières en transition vers l’autonomie fourragère

National audienceLa recherche d’autonomie fourragère dans les exploitations laitières est une question très actuelle, même si elle n’est pas récente, pour les éleveurs et les structures qui les accompagnent. L’autonomie permet de réduire les coûts de production dans un contexte où les cours des matières premières sont changeants et où la réorganisation des filières aval nécessite d’être compétitif. Dans les élevages laitiers, les effets d’une recherche de meilleure autonomie fourragère sur le travail restent peu connus. Or, le travail occupe une place grandissante dans les réflexions pour un élevage laitier plus durable. Cette étude exploratoire a été réalisée en zone de moyenne montagne dans le Massif central (Livradois-Forez). Un petit échantillon a été sélectionné afin de permettre une connaissance approfondie des situations. Sept éleveurs laitiers en recherche d’autonomie fourragère ont été enquêtés afin i) de retracer la trajectoire de l’exploitation depuis l’installation de l’éleveur, ii) d’identifier les changements de pratiques et les réorganisations du travail liées à la recherche d’autonomie fourragère. La durée des changements dans les exploitations est longue entre le début des réflexions, les premiers changements de pratiques et leur approfondissement (en moyenne 10 ans). Les réorganisations du travail ne sont pas identiques entre les systèmes évoluant vers plus d’herbe ou plus de maïs ensilage. Les principales différences se font sur la répartition du travail au cours de l’année. Les éleveurs ayant développé un système herbager ont supprimé des pics de travail alors que ceux évoluant vers le maïs ensilage ont créé des pics supplémentaires

Coccinelle : un système d’élevage laitier de montagne éco-citoyen

International audienc

The analysis of a co-design process to develop an eco-citizen dairy cattle farming system experiment

Session 45. Transformation of livestock practices in response to society’s expectations on animal welfare, market demand for animal products and environmental issuesInternational audienc

L’allaitement des veaux laitiers par leur mère : conséquences d’une pratique agroécologique sur la production laitière, la composition du lait et la croissance des veaux

National audienc

CO-Concevoir avec les Citoyens un Nouvel ELevage Laitier Ecologique de montagne (COCCINELLE)

Article de présentation du projet Coccinelle sur le site internet INRAELe projet de recherche Coccinelle a pour ambition de co-construire et de tester des solutions innovantes pour l’élevage laitier de demain dans le Massif central, avec un ensemble de plus de soixante acteurs du massif, dont des éleveurs, des représentants des filières, des chercheurs.... Il est également prévu d’impliquer des citoyens dans cette démarche. En effet, aujourd’hui, les consommateurs sont de plus en plus soucieux des conditions de production de leur alimentation. L’ensemble du dispositif s’inscrit dans une démarche éco-citoyenne, et vise à répondre, notamment, à des enjeux de symbiose environnementale, de santé et de bien-être des animaux et de l’éleveur, et de qualité des produits

Overseeding and rehabilitation of degraded upland grasslands after Arvicola terrestris outbreaks.

Outbreaks of grassland rodent (water vole: Arvicola terrestris) populations can cause dramatic grasslanddamage, impacting grassland structure and function, as well as the provision of ecosystem services. There is a pressing need to identify effective management techniques which promote grassland recovery after rodent disturbance, and clear guidelines on soil preparation and species mixtures are currently lacking. We have set up a field-scale experiment to examine the interactive effects of mechanical soil treatments and seed mixtures on an upland permanent grassland experiencing an A. terrestris outbreak. Theultimate objective is to determine which management practices satisfy two key criteria: (1) sufficient hay production to support a dairy herd during the winter; and (2) limited adverse effects on plant community recovery and longer-term grassland biodiversity. We test two types of soil preparation (with or without use of a disc cultivator) in combination with five overseeding treatments (no seed, annual species in monoculture, mixtures of annual species), and record biomass production, forage quantity and quality and soil properties over a two-year period. Aerial pictures and trapping are used to estimate rodent population density and dynamics. First results are presented and suggest effects of both seed mix and soil preparation treatments on hay quantity and quality

Animal performance and stress at weaning when dairy cows suckle their calves for short versus long daily durations

Calves in most European dairy farms are separated from their dams either immediately or within a few hours after birth, prompting mounting society concern on animal welfare grounds. The aim of this study was to identify ways to maintain cow–calf contacts that balance the benefits for calf growth and health against the negative impacts on saleable milk and stress at weaning. We tested reuniting cows and calves for 20 min before ( Before group) or 2.5 h after ( After group) morning milking (Trial 1) or for a 9 h period between the morning and evening milkings (Dam group, Trial 2). In both trials, each treatment was applied on a group of 14 dam–calf pairs (7 Holstein [ Ho ] and 7 Montbéliarde [ Mo ]). Control -calves were separated from their dam at birth and artificially suckled with tank milk provided daily at 13% (Trial 1) and 14% (Trial 2) of their body weight. All calves were weaned from the age of 12 weeks at a weight of at least 100 kg. In Trial 1, the After group was prematurely stopped when the calves were 8 weeks of age as calf growth became limited (318 g/d) due to low milk intakes (3 kg/d). Milk yield at the parlour was 29% lower in After-cows compared to Controls (first 8 weeks of lactation). During the first 16 weeks of lactation, milk yield at the parlour was 45% lower in Before-cows and 31% lower in Dam-cows compared to Controlcows. Milk protein content was 2.1 g/kg higher in Before-cows and 1.3 g/kg higher in Dam-cows while milk fat content was 3.2 g/kg higher in Before-cows but 5.2 g/kg lower in Dam-cows compared to Control-cows. There were no significant differences in milk SCC and in frequency of cow and calf health events between suckling and control groups. Compared to Control-calves, calf growth until weaning was higher in the suckling calves in Trial 1 (+171 g/d in Before-calves) and similar in Trial 2 (+7 g/d in Dam-calves). At weaning, Before- and Dam-calves started to vocalize earlier and continued to vocalize longer than controls. In conclusion, the best compromise between cow milk yield and calf growth is a long period of cow–calf contact (9 h) between the morning and evening milkings. Still abrupt weaning nevertheless stresses both cows and calves

Overseeding and rehabilitation of degraded upland grasslands after Arvicola terrestris outbreaks.

International audienceOutbreaks of grassland rodent (water vole: Arvicola terrestris) populations can cause dramatic grasslanddamage, impacting grassland structure and function, as well as the provision of ecosystem services. There is a pressing need to identify effective management techniques which promote grassland recovery after rodent disturbance, and clear guidelines on soil preparation and species mixtures are currently lacking. We have set up a field-scale experiment to examine the interactive effects of mechanical soil treatments and seed mixtures on an upland permanent grassland experiencing an A. terrestris outbreak. Theultimate objective is to determine which management practices satisfy two key criteria: (1) sufficient hay production to support a dairy herd during the winter; and (2) limited adverse effects on plant community recovery and longer-term grassland biodiversity. We test two types of soil preparation (with or without use of a disc cultivator) in combination with five overseeding treatments (no seed, annual species in monoculture, mixtures of annual species), and record biomass production, forage quantity and quality and soil properties over a two-year period. Aerial pictures and trapping are used to estimate rodent population density and dynamics. First results are presented and suggest effects of both seed mix and soil preparation treatments on hay quantity and quality