SEMINAR ON PRECISION FEEDING OF COWS
On February 27, the association "Farmers' Council" organized a seminar “"Precision feeding of cows - a challenge for future milk producers, environmental impact", which took place at the Ozolnieki People's House, Rīgas Street 23, Ozolnieki.
GThe feeding of cows is the origin of the amount and content of nutrients in cow manure. The more precisely the feeding of animals is carried out, the more efficiently the nutrients are used in the animal's body, the smaller the residual nutrients in the manure and, most importantly, the risk of N and P emissions of nutrients in the further manure management process - manure storage and spreading - decreases. Accordingly, the content of nutrients in manure determines the further manure storage, processing and spreading technologies. Acidification technology is one of the possible solutions, and in order to politically decide on its further implementation or not in Latvia, as well as to decide on the necessary support measures, a broader perspective and assessment of the situation are necessary.
In the first part of the seminar, the attendees were able to get acquainted with foreign experience in precise feeding of cows. The representative of the Baltic Agro group Vilomix Baltic spoke about the basic principles of precise feeding and the precise implementation of mineral provision in dairy farming. In turn, the representative of the Organe Institute Henning Lynsgo Foged from Denmark informed about the experience of the Baltic Slurry Acidifica project in manure acidification and the environmental situation in relation to the precise feeding of dairy cows. The first part of the day was concluded by the representative of the Agricultural Data Center with a presentation: Transferring information from the herd to the LDC database using electronic ear tags.
In the second part of the seminar, valuable information was provided by Latvian experts. Anita Siliņa, Head of the Livestock Competence Center of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, spoke about the economic impact of precision nutrition, while Silvija Dreijere, Head of the Livestock Department of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, informed about the usability of feed and its impact on the environment. The seminar was concluded by Jānis Brizga, Researcher at the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences of the University of Latvia, informing about the impact of dairy farming on the environment.
UN Climate Change Conference 2015 – protecting food production while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
•The livestock sector accounts for 20% of total GHG emissions worldwide.
• Methane (CH4) accounts for 39% of total livestock emissions.
REGULATION (EU) 2018/842 requires Latvia to reduce its GHG emissions by 5% compared to 2005.
AGENDA_February 27_FEEDING THE COWS
PRESENTATIONS FROM THE SEMINAR ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
- Feed usability and environmental impact.
- Use of electronic ear tags on the farm
- Precision feeding of cows – a challenge for future dairy producers, environmental impact
- Dairy loads in the environment
- Basic principles of precise nutrition. Precise implementation of minerals.
- Precise micronutrient nutrition
- The relationship between precision feeding of dairy cows and dairy economics