Improved efficiency in temperate grass based dairy systems

Luc Delaby (1) , Brendan Horan (2)

1 PEGASE - Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage [Rennes]
2 Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority

Over the coming decades, population growth, urbanisation and income growth, especially in developing countries, will result in a significant increase in demand for food. Increasing production should be obtain with an increased efficiency and respect for the environment. These formidable challenges and uncertainties point to the need to develop a new model for agriculture and food production. Grasslands cover a significant part of the earth and provide an important source of global food supply particularly for ruminants. In this context, animal production from pasture based systems will be well placed to provide foods for human consumption while also providing a wide variety of ecological services. In that regard, there has been considerable progress in the management of pastures which can deliver both high productivity and quality food production using sustainable practices. The challenge for primary producers is always to make more efficient use of pastures through improved management and decision making. In this regard the development of decision supports for efficient pasture management is a key objective for pasture based research and development agencies worldwide.

Mots clés: grassland; dairy farms; dairy cows; animal feeding

Mots clés: alimentation animale; gestion de pâturage; outil d'aide à la décision; production herbagère; système d'élevage durable; vache laitière; exploitation laitière; prairie; ruminant

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Luc Delaby, Brendan Horan. Improved efficiency in temperate grass based dairy systems. 54. Annual meeting of the brazilian society of animal science, Jul 2017, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. ⟨hal-01595681⟩