Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Cattle (original) (raw)
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Dairy cow nutrition in organic farming systems. Comparison with the conventional system
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The energy supplied by the high-forage diets used in organic farming may be insufficient to meet the requirements of dairy cattle. However, few studies have considered this problem. The present study aimed to analyze the composition of the diets and the nutritional status (focusing on the energy–protein balance of the diets) of dairy cattle reared on organic farms in northern Spain, which are similar to other organic farming systems in temperate regions. Exhaustive information about diets was obtained from organic (ORG) and representative conventional grazing (GRZ) and conventional no-grazing (CNG) farms. Samples of feed from the respective farms were analyzed to determine the composition. Overall, the diets used on the ORG farms were very different from those used on the CNG farms, although the difference was not as evident for GRZ. The CNG farms were characterized by a higher total dry matter intake with a high proportion of concentrate feed, maize silage and forage silage. By con...
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The current study describes productive, reproductive and metabolic performances reached by beef cattle under organic and conventional management. The experiment was carried out in two farms in La Araucania Region, Chile. Both farms provided six cows and one bull for copulation. The feeding offered to conventional animals was based on a grassland of Lolium perenne with Avena sativa supplemented with hay and oat silage; feed produced with synthetic fertilizers. In addition, the animals are handled in a conventional way, that is, with the periosic application of antiparasitic agents, vaccines, vitamins and traditional veterinary drugs. The organic animals were offered natural organic grasslands with Lolium perenne, Trifolium repens, Holcus lanatus, Paspalum dilatatum, Lotus pedunculatus, Dactylis glomerata and were supplemented with hay of the same composition; feed produced without addition of any agrochemicals and fertilized only with manure. In addition, the animals were handled wit...
Organic farming – a challenge to nutritionists
Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences
This paper is a position paper summarising the state of research within organic animal production in Denmark with emphasis on cattle, pigs and poultry. The goal of 100% organic feed in 2005 within EU for organic farmstock requires a high level of self-supply. Cereals and straw are limited. Forage and roughage must be part of the daily feed. The ban on GMOs, synthetic amino acids and vitamins, organic solvents, medicinal substances and early weaning reduces the number of alternatives. Research is highly needed: 1. To establish the requirements and supply of energy, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals under organic farming conditions with slow-growing breeds, 2. To develop feeding concepts in order to improve the resistance to infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, 3. To improve product quality and production economy. The challenge to nutritionists is to solve these problems in a way compatible with the holistic idea of organic farming and farm life.
Sustainability, 2018
There is a current need to increase global livestock production in line with consumers’ preferences for more sustainable and ‘natural’ products. Organic farming is considered among the potential production systems and market strategies that could be employed to cope with this change. Animal nutrition is key, as it greatly influences feed efficiency, animal health, and sustainability. Under situations where animal health care is technically more challenging, due to limitations in the use of veterinary drugs (such as in organic farming), the importance of feed is even higher. However, the there is a lack of commercially available permitted feed ingredients and the range of feed additives on the market is limited. This is partially due to the fact that organic regulations are mainly followed to ensure that pure organic methods are used, instead of trying attain the core goal of complying with organic principles and contributing to the sustainability of the sector. For example, improved animal health and animal welfare through the use of non-organically certified feed additives is needed. This lack of availability, along with difficulties for the feed industry to become organic, affects the development of sustainability in the livestock sector (which should be the final objective of organic farming) in both already organic livestock/feed companies and those still producing under the conventional system. In this context, the presented work may be interesting to producers and policymakers, as it is aimed at providing a critical view of the relationship between the market and the needs of the livestock sector, the sustainability challenge, and organic farming regulations as applied to animal nutrition.
Effect of organic production system on productive and reproductive performance of cattle
Indian Journal of Animal Research
The present investigation was carried out with the objective to study the productive and reproductive performances of dairy cattle under organic farming systems. Total 24 medium to high yielding cattle has been selected for the study, out of which 12 were reared under organic management system and 12 under conventional management system. For cows maintained under organic management system, the animals were fed ad lib quality green fodder grown organically and limited quantity (1.5 to 2.0 kg/cows/day) of concentrate mixture. Production and reproduction performance of animals of both the groups were compared. The results revealed that the reproductive performance was better in cows maintained under organic production management system than their conventional counterparts. The study on milk quality in terms of composition revealed significantly (P less than 0.05) higher fat % of milk, while lower (P less than 0.05) protein % of milk for the cows maintained under organic system as compa...
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Brazil is one of the largest beef cattle producers in the world. Beef cattle are produced in extensive systems in which the use of technology and human interference are minimal, resulting in very low productivity indexes (Lobato et al., 2014). However, the adoption of feedlot technology by beef cattle farmers has led to improvements in the beef quality and increases in the productivity of the system. In Brazil, beef cattle production is divided clearly into two separate phases (Souza, Pereira, Ribeiro, Santos, & Valadares Filho, 2014). The first occurs from birth until weaning, while the second occurs from weaning until slaughter. However, the transition between the first phase (in pastures) and the second phase (normally developed in feedlots, where diets contain considerable amounts of energy) can result in metabolic disturbances that reduce the animals' performance and, consequently, economic outcomes. This transition, termed the adaptation phase in feedlots, can affect production and, consequently, the productive results. The use of feed additives would help directly in controlling the metabolic parameters to ensure optimal animal conditions during this
Nutritive value of feeds for beef cattle
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Self-Fed Supplements for Beef Cattle on Grasslands
Supplementation programs rely on the assumption that animals consume a targeted amount of supplement. If animals consume less than the target amount, then the formulated nutrient intake is not received. If animals consume more than the target amount, supplementation costs are increased, and there can be potential negative impacts on forage intake and digestibility. Deviation from the targeted supplement intake can negatively impact animal production (Bowman and Sowell, 1997). Intake of supplement is usually measured by dividing the supplement disappearance by the number of animals. This method does not consider variation in intake by individual animals. To demonstrate the importance of variation in individual animal supplement consumption, consider the following example of the calculation of consumption as a percent of target intake. If 20 lb of supplement with a target intake of 2 lb per cow per day is fed to a group of 10 cows, average supplement consumption is 2 lb, and it is ass...