Erhebliche Effizienzpotenziale in der Färsenaufzucht der ökologischen Milchproduktion

Summary

In many organic farms there is a huge potential to increase efficiency in rearing heifers for replacement. This is the result of a study in 36 organic dairy farms with pasture from South Germany, which were analyzed economically in the years 2009 – 2011. In particular farms with high production efficiency and low production costs per heifer show decreased production times per cow for some months, but this effect is overcompensated by higher milk yields per cow. This is one reason why they perform economically better with regard to the dairy farm. The most important factors influencing the production costs per heifer are the costs for forage and labor. Based on the results of this study, more efficient rearing of heifers with lower production costs seems necessary and worthwhile