Two-thirds of Austria's agricultural land is grassland. This forms the basis of feed for ruminants, of which cattle are of the greatest economic importance.

This project aims to investigate the relationship between grassland management intensity and milk production. Fertilization and use are the key factors influencing grassland yield and feed value. Increased usage frequency improves digestibility and feed intake, but simultaneously reduces milk yield. The level of fertilization also plays a significant role in yield development.

The number of animals per hectare is directly dependent on yield and feed intake. It follows that land productivity depends not only on the performance of the individual animal but also on the number of animals per hectare. With increasing grazing frequency, the performance of the individual animal increases due to the high quality of the feed. At the same time, however, the number of animals per hectare decreases due to the lower yield and higher feed intake.

The present project aims to determine the optimum intensity of grassland management from an economic and ecological perspective. To this end, experimental results from the LFZ Raumberg-Gumpenstein and extensive literature data will be used.

Further information on project implementation can be found in the database for research and sustainable development (Dafne) -> Link