Forage legume silage and cold-pressed rapeseed cake for dairy bull calves

Rearing of organic dairy bull calves can be contradictory, using calves with a high need for quality protein at the same time as a high intake of forage (>60% up to 6 months of age) is required. Forage legumes contain more crude protein than grass, but with high rumen degradability of the protein. When legume forage is fed together with energy-rich cold-pressed rapeseed cake (CRC) the protein in the feeds can be utilized to a higher extent and a satisfactory calf weight gain can be achieved as shown. Using locally produced protein feeds instead of the often used soya bean meal (SBM) is of great interest not only in organic but also in conventional feeding because of environmentally advantages

Forest cows secrets: Cracking the code with movement sensors

Have you ever wondered how we can watch animals in the wild without actually being near them? In Norway, cows roam freely in the deep forest during summer. While the cows enjoy the freedom, it can be tricky to keep them safe from carnivores like wolves and bears, as no shepherds or dogs protect the herds. Keeping an eye on the cows is important! Farmers and researchers use GPS to track animals, just as we do for phones or cars. However, GPS does not tell us much about what the animals are doing. That is where movement sensors come in. These sensors store information about the tiniest body movements and reveal what the animal is doing at any time. Is the cow’s head up or down? Is it walking or running? Based on the data, we could distinguish 20 different behaviors! Now we can spy on cows, see what they are up to in the forest, and help farmers better care for them

Carcass characteristics of Nordic native cattle breeds

Native livestock breeds are part of the history of the Nordic people and comprise a resource for future foodproduction. In this study, net gain and carcass characteristics of two Danish, three Finnish, one Icelandic, six Norwegian andfive Swedish native cattle breeds were retrieved and compared to commercial breeds: two beef breeds and two dairy breeds.Breed data were collected from national databases and sorted into six animal categories: young bull, bull, steer, heifer, youngcow and cow, for which means and standard deviations were calculated within each country. The native breeds ranged fromsmall-sized milking type breeds with low net gain, carcass weights and EUROP classification to larger multipurpose breedswith high net gains, carcass weights and EUROP classification.All Finnish and most of the Norwegian and Swedish native breeds had lower net gain and carcass weight than the dairy breedsin the same category and country, but with similar carcass conformation and fatness scores. The two Danish native breedshad higher net gain, carcass weight and conformation class than the reference dairy breed, but lower than the reference beefbreeds. The net gain and carcass traits of the Icelandic native breed were similar to the smallest-sized native breeds fromthe other countries. The carcass traits of the native breeds indicate that they have comparative advantages in an extensiveproduction system based on forage and marginal grasslands. They may also succeed better in the value-added markets thanin mainstream beef production

The Decline and Possible Return of Silvipastoral Agroforestry in Sweden

Silvipastoral agroforestry in the form of forest grazing and wooded semi-natural pastures has historically been very important for the Swedish supply of food and wood products for local use. Since the end of the 1800s, this form of combined production system has greatly decreased and now covers only 1% of Sweden's land area. However, in recent decades it has gained increased relevance for reasons of landscape, biodiversity and climate. Agroforestry's decline and possible future increase are described through reviews of statistics and the literature read by farmers and politicians whose decisions are behind the development. Especially when it comes to biodiversity and climate, this review also includes the scientific literature. Surveys on Swedish citizens' valuation of silvipastoral agroforestry landscapes compared to treeless pasture and closed forest are also reviewed. It is possible that efforts to increase Sweden's low self-sufficiency in beef and lamb meat, the coming requirements according to the EU's nature restoration law and the need to limit climate change through carbon sequestration in trees may again increase the area of silvipastoral agroforestry. For this to be economically feasible, large grazing areas can be created out of remaining small scattered wooded semi-natural pastures and intervening forestland, which historically may have been grazed forests

Economic Comparison between Pasture-Based Beef Production and Afforestation of Abandoned Land in Swedish Forest Districts

Large areas of agricultural land have been abandoned or are at risk of being abandoned such as small scattered fields and pastures in forest-dominated landscapes are unsuitable for modern mechanized agriculture and cost-efficient grazing. These areas have therefore become unprofitable to cultivate and graze. Spruce planting has been seen as the obvious alternative on these lands but is today questioned from landscape points of view. Now most abandoned land is left for natural afforestation. This study aims to compare the profitability in use of abandoned or marginal agricultural land in Swedish forest districts for spruce planting, natural birch afforestation, or organic beef cattle grazing large pasture-forest mosaics. The pastures consist of remaining semi-natural pastures, abandoned and marginal agricultural land, and adjacent forest land. Calculations of contribution to land, management, and risk suggest that, given present supports and environmental payments, organic beef production with herds of more than 20 suckler cows in large pasture-forest mosaics could be more profitable than forestry, except for in the most fertile areas of southern Sweden, where spruce planting has the highest contribution. Future tree breeding progress and possible decrease of livestock-related support and environmental payments would however increase the competitiveness of resumed afforestation relative to beef production

USING CLOVER/GRASS SILAGE AS A PROTEIN FEED FOR DAIRY BULL CALVES

Calves need high concentrations of protein with high protein quality in their feed ration for proper growth. Soya bean meal is widely used in the world as a protein feed of good nutritional quality but the ethics around the cultivation of the beans are often questioned. Home grown or locally produced feeds, such as nitrogen fixating forage and grain legumes as well as rapeseed products, are shown to give less contribution to environmental problems than imported feeds. The objective of the study was to compare dry matter intake, live weight gain, feed efficiency and profitability in calves fed two levels of forages with high inclusion of red clover together with two different amounts of rapeseed cake vs. soya bean meal. Soya bean meal gave the highest live weight gain and the best profitability. However, a greater amount of rapeseed together with clover/grass silage also gave a good live weight gain and profitability, close to the results for soya bean meal

Automatiska vägningar och selektiv avmaskning av nötkreatur på bete

Vi vill utveckla en automatisk metod för djurhälsoövervakning på bete, där larm erhålls för avvikande djur. Metoden leder till ökad djurhälsa och produktivitet vid betesdrift. Visionärt sett skulle en sådan metod kunna komplettera manuell tillsyn av djur och på så vis underlätta för fortsatt eller eventuellt utökad betesdrift på små och avlägset belägna betesmarker

Automatiska vägningar på bete

Projektet fokuserar primärt på detektion av parasitangrepp hos kalvar, men metoden kan även vidareutvecklas för andra sjukdomar som nedsätter djurens tillväxt. Metoden leder till ökad djurhälsa och produktivitet vid betesdrift på mångfaldsrika naturbetesmarker i ekologisk produktion där det ofta saknas alternativ till avmaskning

The effect of weaning age on animal performance in lambs exposed to naturally acquired nematode infections

The effects of mixed gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections on animal growth and post-weaning activity patterns were investigated in grazing intact ram lambs when naturally exposed to two different infection levels and weaned at different ages. Ewes and their twin-born lambs were turned-out to graze in two permanent pasture enclosures naturally contaminated with GIN the previous year. Ewes and lambs in the low parasite exposure group (LP) were drenched before turn-out and at weaning, respectively, with 0.2 mg ivermectin per kg body weight, whereas those in the high parasite exposure group (HP) were left untreated. Two weaning ages were applied, early weaning (EW) (10 weeks) and late weaning (LW) (14 weeks), respectively. The lambs were then allocated to one out of four groups based on parasite exposure level and weaning age (EW-HP, n = 12; LW-HP, n = 11; EW-LP, n = 13; LW-LP, n = 13). Body weight gain (BWG) and faecal egg counts (FEC) were monitored, in all groups, from the day of early weaning and every four weeks, for 10 weeks. In addition, nematode composition was determined using droplet digital PCR. Activity patterns measured as Motion Index (MI; the absolute value of the 3D acceleration) and lying time were monitored continuously from the day of weaning until four weeks postweaning using IceQube (R) sensors. Statistical analyses were performed in RStudio, using mixed models with repeated measures. BWG was 11% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0079) and 12% lower compared with LW-HP (P = 0.018), respectively. In contrast, no difference in BWG was observed between LW-HP and LW-LP (P = 0.97). The average EPG was higher in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P < 0.001), as well as in EW-HP compared with LW-HP (P = 0.021), and LW-HP compared with LW-LP (P = 0.0022). The molecular investigation showed that animals in LW-HP had a higher proportion of Haemonchus contortus compared with EW-HP. MI was 19% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0004). Daily lying time was 15% shorter in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0070). In contrast, no difference in MI (P = 0.13) and lying time (P = 0.99) between LW-HP and LW-LP was observed. The results suggest that a delayed weaning age may reduce the adverse effects of GIN infection on BWG. Contrarily, an earlier weaning age may reduce the risk of H. contortus infection in lambs. Moreover, the results demonstrates a potential use of automated behaviour recordings as a diagnostic tool for the detection of nematode infections in sheep