Development of strategies to improve quality and safety and reduce cost of production in organic and low-input livestock production systems. QLIF subproject 4: Livestock production methods

Summary

Results obtained in the QLIF subproject 4 have provided recommendations to farmers and stakeholders on how to improve organic livestock farming. Progress was made in areas of housing, feeding and management. Often the recommendations are straightforward, and ready for implementation. In other areas challenges remain. In some cases, progress with respect to one objective has created new challenges. In these cases it is difficult to decide whether a change is an overall improvement or not. This leaflet includes a focus on means to prevent and control parasitic infections in pigs and poultry, e.g., by inclusion of dried chicory roots in the diet of sows and boars to reduce the level of roundworm infections. Further, it is stressed that control of Ascaris suum and Ascaridia galli, the main helminth parasite species in pigs and poultry, needs to be achieved through a package of measures rather than single measures, such as protocols for cleaning of the dunging area. Udder health, milk quality and animal welfare in organic dairy farms are other subjects where progress is described.