Typology of on-farm produced feed resources as a pre-requisite for feed autonomy in organic cattle farming
摘要
Producing its own feed resources is essential in organic cattle farms. In this context, this study provides a fine characterisation of on-farm produced feed resources with the aim of improving feed autonomy in organic cattle farming. Data were collected in 2014 and 2015 on eleven organic dairy or suckler cattle farms located in Wallonia (Belgium). Feed crops were classified into four types: permanent grasslands (PG), temporary grasslands (TG), immature crops (IC), and grain crops (GC). PG and TG accounted for 82.0 ± 15.1% of the farms’ agricultural area. Mixtures of grass and legume species were prevalent in all crop types. The nutritional value of grazed grass was lower in suckler than in dairy farms in 2015, characterised by a warmer and drier summer than 2014. The nutritional value of conserved fodders and grains was close to or slightly lower than that observed in conventional farming. Annual yields ranged between 3636 and 7984 kg DM ha−1 for grazed pastures, between 3963 and 12239 kg DM ha−1 for TG, and between 3108 and 6948 kg ha−1 for GC at 15% grain moisture. The average milk production estimated from on-farm produced fodders and grains was 6138 litres.cow−1.year−1, i.e., 15% higher than the effective average annual milk production, with a large variation among farms. The originality of this study lies in the origin of the data, i.e., commercial organic farms. Results may be of valuable interest to both researchers and farmers in supporting the conversion of cattle production systems to organic farming.