creators_name: de Wit, Jan
creators_name: Wagenaar, Jan Paul
creators_name: de Vries, Anneke
creators_name: Baars, Ton
type: conference_item
datestamp: 2006-05-10
lastmod: 2009-09-09 13:39:37
metadata_visibility: show
title: Milk fatty acids in relation to feeding practices on Dutch organic farms 
ispublished: pub
subjects: 2security
subjects: 1dairy
full_text_status: public
abstract: Various recent studies have indicated positive interactions between organic animal production and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, particularly CLA and omega-3. In this paper, we present the monitoring results of 15 organic farms concerning the rela-tionship between feeding practices and fatty acid pattern. The results indicate a strong negative effect of maize and grass silage and concentrate feeding on CLA levels in milk fat. On the other hand, feeding fresh grass has a positive effect. Omega-3 levels in milk fat seem less related to feed characteristics: similar relations to those with CLA seem to exist, but feed composition explains the variation in omega-3 levels only to a limited extent, while there is a large farm influence. This might be related to the energy balance of the cows. A comparison of measured CLA and omega-3 levels in organic milk with common levels in conventional milk shows a small difference during the stable period. Effects of adding oil - as a possibility to improve the level of CLA and omega-3 in a way that is organically acceptable - are explored, but effects remain small.
date: 2006
date_type: published
refereed: never
citation: de Wit, Jan; Wagenaar, Jan Paul; de Vries, Anneke and Baars, Ton (2006) Milk fatty acids in relation to feeding practices on Dutch organic farms. Joint Organic Congress, Odense, Denmark, May 30-31, 2006.
document_url: http://orgprints.org/7320/1/jan_de_witodense_papermilkdef.pdf
document_url: http://orgprints.org/7320/2/7320_Wit.pdf