7500: Feed production on farms without animals is not environmentally sustainable
(2006) Feed production on farms without animals is not environmentally sustainable. Paper presented at Joint Organic Congress, Odense, Denmark, May 30-31, 2006..
Full text available as: |
Summary
Use of high energy feed supplementation can improve the protein retention by the cattle, and it has been suggested as a way to increase the nitrogen (N) effi-ciency of dairy production. However, in praxis feed supplementation is also used to increase the intensity of animal production above the level that can be supported by the farm's local plant production. A collection of published surveys showed that dairy farms that buy feed are considerably lees N efficient than farms that supply the entire animal ration from their own plant production. The total N emission to the environment per litre milk doubled when 30% of the total feed ration was produced outside the dairy farm. This was so for organic as well as conventional farms. Similar results can be expected for phosphorous and other nutrients. In order to ensure a sustainable and environmentally friendly organic production, imports of feed produced far away from the dairy farm should be strictly limited. We suggest a ceiling of 5 - 10% of total feed ration.
| Document Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Subject Areas: | Farming Systems Animal husbandry > Production systems > Dairy cattle Farming Systems > Farm nutrient management Animal husbandry > Production systems |
| Research affiliation: | International Conferences > Joint Organic Congress 2006 > Theme 1: Research in sustainable systems |
| Total budget (Euro): | 0 |
| Orgprints ID Number: | 7500 |
| Contact: | Steinshamn, Dr Håvard |
| Deposited On: | 09 May 2006 |
| EPrint Type: | Submit a paper or a poster to a conference |
| Published?: | Published |
| Type of presentation: | Paper |
| Peer Review Status: | Not peer-reviewed |
Archive Staff Only: edit this record
