Dairyman: Het laatste nieuws

Videos feeding and slurry processing at KTC De Marke

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:22:00 +0100

Within the DAIRYMAN framework KTC De Marke produced two illustrative videos on the feeding of dairy cows and on the handling and processing of the produced slurry. Both videos last about three minutes and are English sub-titled. Step by step they show how good feed and good slurry management lead to a good and efficient milk production with minimal emissions. You can see the video's at YouTube:

Feeding dairy cows
Manure, a valuable energy source

Contact: Zwier van der Vegte

How to combine efficiency and pleasure in your work on a dairy farm

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:33:00 +0100

In December 2011 the Flemish pilot farmers discussed the aspect of labour on the dairy farm. The size of the farms, the number of cows and the resulting workload keeps increasing, while labour in Flanders is still very much family oriented. Our pilot farmers are, like many others, interested in sustainable growth, and are looking to increase production to ensure a good livelihood, but without increasing labour demand, as this is often already quite high. Jelle Zijlstra (Wageningen UR Livestock Research) was invited as an expert to assist the Flemish dairy farmers on their way to a more efficient labour organisation.
Read more…

Walloon farmers learn advantages grass-legumes associations

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:21:00 +0100

In November a number of Walloon DAIRYMAN pilot famers learned about the advantages of grass-legumes associations. UCL university (Université Catholique de Louvain) staff demonstrated that more legumes in the sward improve the quality and the quantity of the forage produced, especially in years with a longer period of drought. They saw how successful different mixtures of species were. This was underpinned with figures of yield, cost, and nitrate fixation. UCL university is doing research on these kind associations for 15 years. During the field trip the farmers also observed some experiments with catch crops.

Students learn importance of young stock management

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0100

To make agricultural students aware of the importance of young stock management, the teachers of the Lycée Technique Agricole visited the Dairyman pilot farm Leider for a practice lesson. The students measured the heart girth perimeters of all young stock and established growth curves of the herd by converting perimeter (cm) into body weight (kg). After analyzing the results they discovered a problem of daily body weight gain during early calf age probably due to diarrhea. Scheduling a next assessment for this age group will clarify whether this sanitary problem is hiding other calf rearing problems. Read more ...

Walloon pilot farm scenery for presentation CAP reform

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:47:00 +0100

On 12 October 2011 the European Commission presented a set of legal proposals designed to make the CAP a more effective policy for a more competitive and sustainable agriculture and vibrant rural areas. For the presentation Commissioner Ciolos used the farm scenery of a DAIRYMAN pilot farm in Wallonia.
The Commission's proposals for a reform of the CAP after 2013 aim to strengthen the competitiveness and the sustainability of agriculture and maintain its presence in all regions, in order to guarantee European citizens healthy and quality food production, to preserve the environment and to help develop rural areas.
Click here to watch the presentation.

Dutch show rigorous mastitis control

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:19:00 +0100

Animal management highlights caught the attention of nine DAIRYMAN pilot farmers from Northern Ireland while visiting six pilot farms in the Netherlands. In particular the rigorous mastitis control, whereby animals are culled if they require more than a single treatment for mastitis was surprizing. Such strong measures, however, have proved their worth by keeping somatic cell counts low on almost all farms. Together with two dairying advisers the Northern Irish farmers visited six Dutch pilot farms in a whistle stop trip covering 400 miles over 3 days.
Read more…
Contact John Bailey

KTC De Marke pre-chews grass silage

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:57:00 +0200

To improve the digestibility of grass silage KTC De Marke has experimented with mechanically pre-chewing of grass silage. The researchers used a kind of rollers that in the lightest adjustment produced a slightly fibrous mat. The intake trial showed that the cows ate this product well. Although the results of feeding value analysis are yet unknown the De Marke team expects the cows to perform better with this product than with untreated grass silage. Over the last few years the digestibility of especially the silage cuts later in season has become an increasing concern to the De Marke team. Based on the calculated feeding value the dairy cows perform below expectation. Researchers of Wageningen UR Livestock Research are under the impression this is due to an insufficient degradation of the crude fibre. It looks as if either the cows don’t ruminate long enough or the feed passes the rumen too quickly for the cell walls to crack open and release their digestible content. Beside this mechanical pre-processing, also enzymatical or chemical pre-processing may be possible solutions.

More information with Léon Šebek.

Grass based milk production attracts 30,000 visitors

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:52:00 +0200

With over 30,000 visitors the fifth edition of the International Grassland Days in Ettelbruck (Luxembourg) was a great success. The main topic was: Milk production out of grass. The visitors (farmers and consumers) got informed about the multiple aspects of grassland and milk production. Especially for this event a cowshed was constructed and equipped. The 15 milking cows grazed and got milked by a (mobile) milking robot. Consumers showed real interest in modern dairy production. DAIRYMAN exposed a small scale model of a dairy farm to explain all the activities around dairy production. Also the DAIRYMAN pilot farms of Luxembourg and Wallonia were presented. More than 60 advisors and scientists presented 90 posters about grassland and informed farmers about grassland management, forage crops, feed utilisation from extensive grassland, different dairy systems with grass feeding, milking systems for outdoor grazing and grass valorisation by the cow. A booklet with all the posters can be ordered at the Lycée Technique Agricole (jeff.boonen@lta.lu). The fifth International Grassland Days took place in Ettelbruck (Luxembourg) from July 1-3, 2011. This event was organised by agricultural partners of Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany. Organisations from France, Switzerland and the Netherlands also participated in this event.
The official opening of the Grassland Days took place in presence of the Ministers of Agriculture of Luxembourg, the Walloon Region and the Region of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Luxembourgish Minister of Sustainability and Environment. More information on www.iglt.eu.
Contact: Jeff Boonen

Students learn impact drought on milk production

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:10:00 +0200

On May 23 about 35 students of ULg-Gembloux Agro-bio-tech visited the Walloon pilot farm of Mr Plennevaux in Ochamps, near Libramont (Belgian Ardennes). During the visit they discussed about the farm work and the feeding of dairy cows. Mr Plennevaux especially explained how he organized the feeding of the cows with the grazing system. The major concern of the moment, the dry weather, was also part of the discussion. For the students it was a good opportunity to understand the impact of weather on grassland yield and, consequently, on milk production.

ILVO installs six airtight chambers to measure methane emissions from cows

Thu, 19 May 2011 09:20:00 +0200

To study the effect of mitigation strategies like methane reducing diets and additives, the Animal Sciences Unit of ILVO in collaboration with LANUPRO of Ghent University and DAIRYMAN has constructed six open-circuit chambers for monitoring gas emissions from large ruminants. It is the first time a central flow ventilation system common to pig and poultry stables is introduced in a chamber system for individual measurement. The airtight chambers have an outside dimension of 400x155x280 cm (LxWxH). Each of the six chambers can house one large ruminant (dairy or beef cattle), but can also be adapted to house smaller ruminants and monogastric animals. Each chamber has three doors: an entrance door in the back, a lateral door that serves as exit door and for milking the cows, and a front door for feed supply. Natural lighting in the chambers is maximized with large windows in each door and in the side panels, this reduces the feeling of captivity and allows visual contact between cows. In the chamber the floor is raised by 350 mm, which makes it possible to install a manure shelf in the rear part of the chamber. Above the shelf a metal slatted grid is installed. In the front on that floor a feed bin is placed. A drinking bowl, with non-spill edge and water meter is attached to the side wall. A thick cow matrass is present for optimizing comfort. The gas concentrations of CH4, CO2, N2O and NH3 can be measured every 8 min. with an infrared laser spectrometer in the exhaust channels of each chamber. This gas analysis system is used for the first time in an agricultural environment. Advantages of this system include low response time, high selectivity, simultaneous measurement of several gases using the same laser spectrometer and measurements of variations during the day. Nowadays, global warming is one of the most important political, sociological and scientific topics. Since industrialization, global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased enormously. Methane emissions from farming comprise an estimated 78% of the Flemish CH4 emissions and just over 42% of the combined greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, with ruminants being the main CH4 producers. Due to its short life time in the atmosphere, methane mitigation has a great potential to reduce greenhouse gas effects on short term.