Which cows need low-input and organic farms?

Breeding cows for organic dairy systems - Which cows are needed for low-input and organic farms?

Breeding cows for organic dairy systems - Which cows are needed for low-input and organic farms?

Organic and low-input dairy farms rely on forage-based dairy cattle feeding with minimal supplemental feeding. However, in many industrialized countries – and also in Europe – breeding practices in recent decades have focused heavily on increasing milk yield and thus also on higher concentrate feed usage.

This raises questions for organic and low-input farms regarding breeding:

- Which cow is best suited to which system?
- What do low-input and organic farms need to consider in their breeding practices?

The European research project SOLID, with Austrian participation (BOKU Vienna and the Organic Institute of the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein), scientifically investigated these questions.
The following English-language document summarizes selected results from the studies conducted in Austria, Northern Ireland, and Finland.

Authors: Werner Zollitsch (BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria), Conrad Ferris (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute AFBI, Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, UK); Auvo Sairanen (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Maaninka, Finland); Andreas Steinwidder (Austrian Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria)

Similar projects

2387: Genotype comparison

Studies on the suitability of cows of different genetic origins for low-input milk production - part of the EU project SOLID
2011-2014, Steinwidder Andreas