Hay production in North Europa

Hay feeding might have some advantaged in relation to herd health and reduces the risk for contamination of the milk with spores. Hay production compared to silage is more resource intensive – like use of energy for drying. Hay from two types of herb enriched grass swards and the traditional grassland showed no difference in intake or milk production when compared at three organic farms. Feed efficiency tended to be lower than standards based on silage feeding

Self-sufficiency with vitamins and minerals on organic dairy farms

Self-sufficiency of nutrients is a central element in the organic farming principles. In a project involving five private organic dairy farms, we aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in vitamins and minerals at farm level. All the herds are fed 100% organically grown feed, but so far supplements of minerals and vitamins based on inorganic and synthetic products are imported to all farms. The same level and type of supplement was used for the cows all year round, even though all cows were on grass for at least 150 days during the summer period. The average daily intake from the supplement for a lactating cow was 751 mg E vitamin, 111 mg Cu, and 558 mg Zn. The content of vitamin and minerals in the home-grown feeds was modelled taking into account the effect of choice of crops; conservation method; season, plant development and climate conditions at harvest; quality of the silage production, and duration of storage. The modelled contents of vitamins in the main ingredients in the feed ration were verified by measuring the actual vitamin content in the silage at harvest as well as losses during storage. As an example, at one of the farms, where the feed intake was based on 85% grass clover crops during the summer but only 68% during the winter, the home-grown feed could supply the cows with enough vitamin E according to the requirement (800 mg/day) during the summer feeding but not during the winter period. The Cu requirement (10 mg/kg DM) could not be met from home-grown feed during any season. However, supplements of vitamins and minerals secure that requirement was met. The final outcome of the project will result in strategies for achieving self-sufficiency in vitamins and minerals at individual farms through optimization of the choice of forage crops and management of feed production

Høproduktion og fodring

Hø til malkekøer er kommet tilbage efter en del år udelukkende med ensilage. Kløvergræs til hø blev tidligere høstet ved et sent udviklingstrin, men i dag ønskes en bedre kvalitet, og slætantallet er derfor som ved ensilage. Under danske forhold kræver fodring med hø til malkekøer etablering af indendørs tørringsanlæg for at sikre kvaliteten og forsyningen med hø til besætningen. Den længere periode på marken for at få en forvejring til omkring 60 pct. tørstof og energiforbruget til tørring er absolut akilleshælen i høproduktionen

Græsmarksurter og deres indholdsstoffer

Landbruget er i høj grad karakteriseret ved dyrkning af afgrøder i monokulturer. Dette afspejles i et vist omfang i afgræsningssystemer til husdyr, der er baseret på græs, dog ofte blandet med kløver. Efterhånden er der dog udviklet diverse frøblandinger med at miks af de mere gængse plantearter som f.eks. rajgræs og hvidkløver med mere eller mindre utraditionelle urter. Dette i erkendelse af at dyrene fra naturens side ville have adgang til et væld af forskellige urter til dækning af deres næringsbehov og til opretholdelse af dyrets modstandskraft mod sygdomme og parasitter. Således adskiller de forskellige urter sig i forhold til deres kemiske sammensætning af proteiner, mineraler og et utal af andre indholdsstoffer. Derudover er det også oppe i tiden med mere fokus på kvaliteten af det animalske produkt, og det er velkendt at produktkvalitetsegenskaber såsom smag, udseende, holdbarhed og indhold af næringsstoffer kan påvirkes af det foder dyret har adgang til. Herunder også de græsmarksplanter der tilbydes til det græssende dyr. Urternes betydning for en lang række egenskaber er dog kun delvist undersøgt, og mens nogle urter er undersøgt i rimeligt omfang er kendskabet til de fleste urter som foder til husdyr relativt begrænset og i flere tilfælde anvendes disse primært på baggrund af overleveringer indenfor landbruget. Nærværende litteraturstudie har til formål at indsamle noget af den viden der findes i litteraturen omkring urter, der er dyrkbare under danske forhold og deres indholdsstoffer samt indvirkningen på dyrenes produktivitet, sundhed og på det animalske produkt. Rapporten vil ikke være udtømmende i gennemgangen af de forskellige indholdsstoffer samt de urter der er valgt at fokusere på, ligesom der kan findes en lang række urter der ikke er medtaget, men som kan være relevante. Dermed vil der være en del anden litteratur, der ikke er udnyttet i denne rapport, men rapporten skal primært ses som et grundlag for det videre arbejde og studier indenfor området

Dyrkning af lucerne

Lucerne giver både i renbestand og blandet med græs høje udbytter ved slæt. Ved afgræsning er lucerne også god, men der mangler egnede sorter

Sensory quality of organic milk based on grazing and high ratio of legumes in the feeding ration

Organic milk forms an important segment of the fresh milk production in Denmark. However, studies are needed to substantiate the high quality and future development of new variations of organic milk for different consumers. Differences in the composition of organically and conventionally produced milk (free fatty acids and a higher content of antioxidants in organic milk) are suggested to be a result of differences in feeding regimes (maize components in conventional production vs. grass and legumes in organic production). Also, milk from dairy cows fed grass silage has a different flavour compared to milk from dairy cows fed maize silage. This study evaluated the sensory properties of organic milk from dairy cows from different feeding trials. The effect of four different legumes and herbs, lucerne (Medicargo sativa), red clover (Trifolium pratense), white clover (Trifolium repens) and chicory (Cichorium intybus), was studied following a schedule including 4*12 Holstein Frisian cows. Descriptive sensory analysis was performed on the fresh pasteurized unhomogenized full-fat milk (6 replicates in 2 sessions) with a trained panel of 10 assessors. The preliminary results from the descriptive analysis of summer feeding (grazing) and winter feeding (silage) show that feeding with legumes and grass affects the sensory quality of full-fat unhomogenized organic milk. The most distinct milk was obtained from feeding ration high in chicory. This milk was characterized by a bitter and metallic taste and an astringent aftertaste both from the summer grazing and winter silage feeding trials. Red clover was characterized by a boiled milk flavour (summer), lucerne by a fatty aftertaste (winter) and white clover by a sweet and creamy flavour (winter). The results of the first season, which will also include relations between the sensory quality and the milk composition, serve as important inputs for the extensive studies to be conducted during the next three seasons. These studies include farm studies and consumer studies (product information, preference and purchase motives)

Catch Crops in Organic Farming Systems without Livestock Husbandry - Model Simulations

During the last years, an increasing number of stockless farms in Europe converted to organic farming practice without re-establishing a livestock. Due to the lack of animal manure as a nutrient input, the relocation and the external input of nutrients is limited in those organic cropping systems. The introduction of a one-year green manure fallow in a 4-year crop rotation, including clover-grass mixtures as a green manure crop is the classical strategy to solve at least some of the problems related to the missing livestock. The development of new crop rotations, including an extended use of catch crops and annual green manure (legumes) may be another possibility avoiding the economical loss during the fallow year. Modelling of the C and N turnover in the soil-plant-atmosphere system using the soil-plant-atmosphere model DAISY is one of the tools used for the development of new organic crop rotations. In this paper, we will present simulations based on a field experiment with incorporation of different catch crops. An important factor for the development of new crop rotations for stockless organic farming systems is the expected N mineralisation and immobilisation after incorporation of the plant materials. Therefore, special emphasise will be put on the simulation of N-mineralisation/-immobilisation and of soil microbial biomass N. Furthermore, particulate organic matter C and N as an indicator of remaining plant material under decomposition will be investigated

Control of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa: progress made, new opportunities and remaining challenges

Several other journal supplements have documented progress made in the control of schistosomiasis in Egypt, China and Brazil, however, with more than 97% of the schistosome infections now estimated to occur in Africa, the relevance of this special issue in Parasitology cannot be overemphasized. In total, 18 articles are presented, inclusive of a lead-editorial from the WHO highlighting a seminal resolution at the 54th World Health Assembly in 2001 that advocated de-worming. Facilitated by a US$ 30 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2002, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative subsequently fostered implementation of large-scale schistosomiasis (and soil-transmitted helminthiasis) control programmes in six selected African countries. From 2005, CONTRAST, a European union-funded consortium, was formed to conduct multi-disciplinary research pertaining to optimisation of schistosomiasis control. Progress made in schistosomiasis control across sub-Saharan Africa since the turn of the new millennium is reviewed, shedding light on the latest findings stemming from clinical, epidemiological, molecular and social sciences research, inclusive of public health interventions with monitoring and evaluation activities. New opportunities for integrating the control of schistosomiasis and other so-called neglected tropical diseases are highlighted, but more importantly, several opportune questions that arise from it frame the remaining challenges ahead for an enduring solutio

E-vitamin til økologiske smågrise efter fravænning

Virkningen af ekstra E vitamin på fravænningsdiarré blev undersøgt i tre økologiske svinebesætninger. Ved fravænning blev grisene i disse besætninger delt i to hold hvoraf det ene hold fik ekstra naturligt E vitamin i foderet (100 mg/kg), mens kontrolholdet fik samme foderblanding uden ekstra E vitamin. Foderblandingerne i de tre besætninger havde i forvejen et ret højt E vitamin indhold (55-150 mg alfa-tocoferol pr. kg). Gødningskarakter og vægt blev registeret på fravænningsdagen samt 5 dage og ca. 5 uger efter fravænning. Der var stor forskel i graden af diarré i de tre besætninger, men hverken i to problemfrie besætninger eller i en besætning med udbredt fravænningsdiarré havde den ekstra E vitamin nogen virkning på tilvækst og diarré. Foderblandingerne i de tre besætninger levede op til den nye norm for E vitamin (130 mg/FE, hvis E vitaminet tildeles som syntetisk E vitamin), og det er sandsynligt, at ekstra E vitamin udover denne norm er uden virkning. Fravænningsdiarré er i øvrigt et multifaktorielt problem hvor man udover ernæringsmæssige faktorer som E vitamin også skal være opmærksom på det generelle sygdomspres, hygiejne og stress m.m