Innovative Technology and Sustainable Development of Organic - 1.

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Frank W. Oudshoorn, 2009 Innovative Technology and Sustainable Development of Organic Dairy Farming The case of automatic milking systems in Denmark Thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands With references, with summaries in Dutch, English and Danish ISBN: 978-90-8585-440-1
Abstract Development of organic dairy farming in Denmark is characterized by up-scaling, increasing productivity and automation. Increasing discussion on compliance with organic principles and sustainability has been forwarded. Automatic milking systems (AMS) are part of this development and have been implemented in organic dairy production in Denmark the last 10 years. The systems’ consequences on economic, ecological and societal issues were unknown. The general objective of the PhD assignment was to assess the contribution of new technologies to the sustainable development of organic dairy farming (i.e., determine economic, ecological and societal consequences), using AMS as a case for the present technological situation. To evaluate sustainability, a framework was used which adhered to the following consecutive steps: ‘identification of sustainability issues by involving identified stakeholders’, ‘quantification of indicators defined for these issues and investigating them’ and ‘evaluation of obtained results by using them in goal-vision based scenarios, again involving relevant stakeholders’. Focus group interviews and questionnaires revealed general concerns among farmers and consultants on the grazing possibilities when using AMS, as well as milk quality aspects and economy. Quantification of indicators on sustainability, where farms using AMS were compared with non-users, showed higher milk yield, lower labour use, and differences in some management aspects like higher culling rate and also a shorter grazing time when using AMS. The shorter grazing time especially could compromise the sustainability of the system, as grazing is essential for the customers buying organic dairy products. A focussed experiment showed how cows perform and react following a reduction in grazing time, while stimulated to eat fresh grass by limiting supplementary feed in the barn. High compensation ability of the cows was seen, with increased grass uptake and limited negative consequences on milk yield. However, cows were provoked to be more active when outside and the relatively high and large amount of grass eaten in short time span could be registered in the milk quality. Finally, goals and visions of future sustainable organic dairy farming were deduced from participative sessions with stakeholders and used for scenario definition. Subsequently, three goal-vision based scenarios were parameterized by quantification of identified production parameters for a model farm of 200 ha. Economic and ecological evaluation of these scenarios revealed that investing in animal welfare comprised trade-offs regarding farm profitability and especially global environmental issues such as climate change and fossil energy use. Minimizing environmental impact by introducing self sufficiency reduced local environmental impact without an economic trade-off. Prolonging the current main stream strategy resulted in a high local environmental impact, a moderate global environmental impact and a high economic risk to changes in milk price. The scenario analysis as the final step in the sustainability assessment offers possibilities to interact and counteract in the development of future organic dairy farming using new technologies. AMS use in sustainable organic dairy farming is possible, if the grazing can be practiced satisfactorily. Key words: Organic dairy farming, AMS, sustainability assessment, grazing, Denmark.
Page 1 and 2: Innovative Technology and Sustainab
Page 3: Innovative Technology and Sustainab
Page 7: Contents 1 General introduction 9 2
Page 10 and 11: 1.1 Organic dairy farming in Denmar
Page 12 and 13: 1.2 Organic agriculture, technology
Page 14 and 15: a. What are the economic, ecologica
Page 16 and 17: References Anonymous, 1977. Eindrap
Page 18 and 19: 18 Sustainable Technology in Organi
Page 20 and 21: Abstract The aim of this study was
Page 22 and 23: Table 2. Structural development of
Page 24 and 25: negative influences on milk quality
Page 26 and 27: consumption, therefore, were not br
Page 28 and 29: According to the advisors, reasons
Page 30 and 31: Table 5. Dutch (NL) and Danish (DK)
Page 32 and 33: 2.5 Discussion 2.5.1 Perceptions: D
Page 34 and 35: ecause of a recently published arti
Page 36 and 37: References Alrøe, Hugo and Erik St
Page 38 and 39: [Dairy Production Economy]. Ed. M.
Page 40 and 41: Abstract The objective of this rese
Page 42 and 43: data set. As the size of the herd w
Page 44 and 45: The N output was computed as the N
Page 46 and 47: of necessary supplementary silage (
Page 48 and 49: was compensated by the above-mentio
Page 50 and 51: level. The most important reason fo
Page 52 and 53: Animal Health Culling rate was foun
Page 54 and 55:
An inquiry made on motivations to i
Page 56 and 57:
References Anderson, T. W., and D.
Page 58 and 59:
Strudsholm, F., and K. Sejersen. 20
Page 60 and 61:
Abstract The objective of this pape
Page 62 and 63:
4.2.2 Sward and herd management Thr
Page 64 and 65:
Kristensen et al. (2007). Indoor ex
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Treatment P4, 4 hours of grazing, f
Page 68 and 69:
Table 3. Total number of defecation
Page 70 and 71:
Table 5. Time budget for dairy cows
Page 72 and 73:
No significant correlation was foun
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4.4.3 Walking pattern and velocity
Page 76 and 77:
When using either total time or act
Page 78 and 79:
Poulsen, H.D., Kristensen, V.F., 19
Page 80 and 81:
Abstract The objective of this stud
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practices in Denmark. Objections br
Page 84 and 85:
evaluated based on a costs-benefit
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is found to be associated with redu
Page 88 and 89:
However, we assumed a minor increas
Page 90 and 91:
lactation months when the minimum i
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Economic evaluation For each scenar
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310 for N2O). GHG emissions are com
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Table 6. Production parameters esti
Page 98 and 99:
include the purchase of heifers as
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social dimension in the analysis. I
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Often “kg milk” (fat corrected
Page 104 and 105:
References Alrøe, H.F. Noe, E. 200
Page 106 and 107:
IFOAM, 2008. Principles of organic
Page 108 and 109:
Swedish Dairy Farming. Report FOOD2
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6.1 Introduction In this chapter th
Page 112 and 113:
quantity, besides from being an imp
Page 114 and 115:
additional money, and research shou
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area, weather, control of grass gro
Page 118 and 119:
dairy industry, retail and consumer
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6.3.5 Mobile automatic milking Scen
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6.4 General Conclusions The conclus
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Hovi, M., A., Sundrum, A., Thamsbor
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Summary Organic agriculture provide
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Cows allowed grazing at pasture for
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Samenvatting De biologische landbou
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Dit is onderzocht in een beweidingp
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Resumé Økologisk landbrug leverer
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afgræsning med mælk fra ni timers
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Future Perspectives Based on the re
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Oudshoorn, F. W. , Nadimi, E. S. 20
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