Amazing Grazing: A Public and Private Partnership to Stimulate Grazing Practices in Intensive Dairy Systems

Partnership 4.0: smallholder farmer partnership solutions

The current pseudo-partnership pattern causes the farmers' income to be low from the results of their farming activities, so a partnership pattern is needed that is able to create a mutual partnership. The research which was conducted in Cikarawang Village, Bogor Regency, West Java Province - Indonesia aims; (1) recognize the existing condition of farmers and the use of agricultural land; (2) knowing the distribution of agricultural commodities; (3) identify existing partnership patterns; and (4) provide solutions for partnership patterns that benefit farmers. By using mixed-methods combined with the Drone Participatory Mapping (DPM) approach to produce Data Desa Presisi (DDP), this study succeeded in identifying three statuses of farmers, namely: cultivators, owners and cultivators of their own land, and owners who work on their own land at the same time working on other people's land, with an average access to land management of 3,437.32 m². The small access of each farmer in land management is further exacerbated by the variety of agricultural commodities that are cultivated by farmers. There are at least 19 types of agricultural commodities that are cultivated, but do not meet the economic scale that is able to improve the welfare of farmers. This condition opens up opportunities for the partnership pattern between farmers and middlemen to continue to survive which is actually detrimental to farmers. Partnership 4.0 innovation is present to replace the old partnership pattern by focusing on the basis of technology and information that is fully accessible to farmers to jointly control agricultural activities (upstream-downstream). Partnership 4.0 places farmers and offtakers on an equal footing, so that smallholders can benefit and help achieve the welfare of smallholders.

Evaluation of a Binary Classification Approach to Detect Herbage Scarcity Based on Behavioral Responses of Grazing Dairy Cows

In precision grazing, pasture allocation decisions are made continuously to ensure demand-based feed allowance and efficient grassland utilization. The aim of this study was to evaluate existing prediction models that determine feed scarcity based on changes in dairy cow behavior. During a practice-oriented experiment, two groups of 10 cows each grazed separate paddocks in half-days in six six-day grazing cycles. The allocated grazing areas provided 20% less feed than the total dry matter requirement of the animals for each entire grazing cycle. All cows were equipped with noseband sensors and pedometers to record their head, jaw, and leg activity. Eight behavioral variables were used to classify herbage sufficiency or scarcity using a generalized linear model and a random forest model. Both predictions were compared to two individual-animal and day-specific reference indicators for feed scarcity: reduced milk yields and rumen fill scores that undercut normal variation. The predictive performance of the models was low. The two behavioral variables “daily rumination chews” and “bite frequency” were confirmed as suitable predictors, the latter being particularly sensitive when new feed allocation is present in the grazing set-up within 24 h. Important aspects were identified to be considered if the modeling approach is to be followed up.

Review: New feeds and new feeding systems in intensive and semi-intensive forage-fed ruminant livestock systems

The contributions that ruminant livestock make to greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions are well documented and of considerable policy and public concern. At the same time, livestock production continues to play an important role in providing nutrient-rich foodstuffs for many people, particularly in less developed countries. They also offer a means by which plants that cannot be digested by humans, e.g. grass, can be converted into human-edible protein. In this review, we consider opportunities to improve nutrient capture by ruminant livestock through new feeds and feeding systems concentrating on intensive and semi-intensive systems, which we define as those in which animals are given diets that are designed and managed to be used as efficiently as possible. We consider alternative metrics for quantifying efficiency, taking into account resource use at a range of scales. Mechanisms for improving the performance and efficiencies of both individual animals and production systems are highlighted. We then go on to map these to potential changes in feeds and feeding systems. Particular attention is given to improving nitrogen use efficiency and reducing enteric methane production. There is significant potential for the use of home-grown crops or novel feedstuffs such as insects and macroalgae to act as alternative sources of key amino acids and reduce reliance on unsustainably grown soybeans. We conclude by highlighting the extent to which climate change could impact forage-based livestock production and the need to begin work on developing appropriate adaptation strategies.

Toward Specialized or Integrated Systems in Northwest Europe: On-Farm Eco-Efficiency of Dairy Farming in Germany

Intensive confinement (IC) systems for dairying have become widespread during the last decades. However, potential advantages of alternative systems such as full-grazing (FG) or integrated dairy/cash-crop (IFG) systems with regards to better provision of ecosystem services are widely discussed. To investigate performance and environmental impacts, we compared four prevailing dairy systems using an on-farm research study. The farm types differed in their share of pasture access and quantity of resource inputs: (i) an IC with a high import of supplements and mineral fertilizers; (ii) a semi-confinement (SC) with daytime pasture access during summer and moderate import of supplementary feeds representing the base-line scenario; (iii) a FG based on grazed seeded grass-clover swards with no purchased N-fertilizers and low quantities of supplementary feeds; and (iv) an IFG comparable to FG but based on grass-clover leys integrated in a cash-crop rotation. Results revealed highest milk productivity (16 t energy-corrected-milk (ECM) ha−1) and farm-N-balance (230 kg N ha−1) in IC; however, the highest product carbon footprint (PCF; 1.2 CO2eq kg ECM−1) and highest N-footprint (13 g N kg ECM−1) were found in the baseline system SC. The FG and IFG revealed on average similar forage dry matter yields (10 – 11 t DM ha−1) at similar crude protein and net-energy-lactation ratios per kg DM-intake compared to the IC and SC. The PCF in FG were comparable to IC (0.9 vs. 1.1 kg CO2eq kg ECM−1) but at a lower N-footprint (9 vs. 12 g N kg ECM−1). However, despite low measured N-losses in the FG system, the farm-N-surplus was exceeded by 90 kg N ha−1. A further reduction was only possible in the IFG (50 kg N ha−1) by accounting for a potential N-carry-over from N-rich plant residues to the cash-crop unit, leading to the lowest PCF (0.6 kg CO2eq kg ECM−1) for the IFG, with still moderate milk yield levels (~10,500 kg ECM ha−1). According to this bottom-up approach based on field data, improved integrated grazing systems could provide an important opportunity to increase the ecosystem services from dairy farming, operating with land use efficiencies similar to IC.