A - Papers appearing in refereed journals
Wilkinson, J. M., Chamberlain, A. T. and Rivero, M. J. 2021. The case for grazing dairy cows. Agronomy. 11 (12), p. 2466. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122466
Authors | Wilkinson, J. M., Chamberlain, A. T. and Rivero, M. J. |
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Abstract | The case for grazing dairy cows at pasture is reviewed in six categories: i) Optimal land use for food production; ii) Soil carbon sequestration; iii) Carbon footprint; iv) Animal health and welfare; v) Effects on human health of milk produced from grazed pasture; vi) Consumer demand for milk from grazed cows. Land best-suited to grazing is uncultivatable peaty soil receiving relatively low levels of fertilisation. With soil carbon sequestration, carbon footprint is lower for grazing than for other systems of milk production. Some indices of animal health and welfare (e.g. lameness, status of hock integument) are influenced positively by extent of grazing. Benefits to human health may accrue from higher levels of essential amino acids, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid in milk from cows given pasture compared to diets based on silage and concentrates. Milk producers, processors and supermarkets are responding to consumer demand for milk and milk products from cows given access to pasture during the grazing season. The major constraint to milk production from grazing is energy intake. Research opportunities to address this constraint include application of remote sensing and artificial intelligence to grazing management |
Keywords | Milk production; Soil healt; Carbon sequestration; Animal welfare; Human health |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Journal | Agronomy |
Journal citation | 11 (12), p. 2466 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122466 |
Web address (URL) | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/12/2466 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Funder | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council |
Innovate UK | |
Funder project or code | S2N - Soil to Nutrition - Work package 2 (WP2) - Adaptive management systems for improved efficiency and nutritional quality |
The use of GPS tracking and the LoRaWAN network to improve productivity of grazing dairy cows | |
Publisher's version | |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 03 Dec 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 01 Dec 2021 |
Publisher | MDPI |
ISSN | 2073-4395 |
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