The ability to measure individual feed intake has been a desire from the dairy industry for long, in order to breed for feed efficiency, but also to support farm management decisions. In addition, changes in feed intake and feeding behaviour are indicators of disease (e.g. ketosis, lameness) in dairy cows. Roughage intake control bins are [ … ]
Dairy
First meeting AGROS – Exchange between the three sectors
On May 31, 2022 representatives of the 3 sectors were invited to share experiences within AGROS. Some 20 participants listened to the visions that are the basis for the activities per sector. Renske Landeweert (IMEC-One Planet) kicked off with their vision on the developments in data use. IMEC-One Planet works at the forefront of chip [ … ]
Sensor and livestock experts join forces to improve diagnostics in dairy cattle
Wageningen University and Research (WUR) and Radboud University (RU) are collaborating strongly to further advance the sensing potential for diseases and resource use efficiency of dairy cows. On 3rd May the Life Science Trace Detection Laboratory of RU hosted researchers and PhD students from WUR, to share their experience with state-of-the-art laboratory technologies that can [ … ]
(Genetic) differences between dairy cows in feed digestibility
An important challenge for the 21st century is to create a sustainable food system. Dairy farmers face challenges such as limiting greenhouse gas emissions and preventing nutrient losses to the environment. At the same time, profitability remains important, and feed represents one of the major production costs on dairy farms. Therefore, to improve the resource [ … ]
Breath provides insight into the health of individual cows
Traditionally, milk, blood and urine samples have been used to monitor dairy cows under field conditions. Exhaled air from the dairy cow is mainly used for monitoring methane emissions, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the long term. Breath, which consists of a complex mixture of molecules, can also provide valuable insights [ … ]
Kick-off AGROS project
In may 2020, the AGROS programme was launched with a digital kick-off during which the plans for the coming four years were explained. The programme is developing agrotechnologies to support ecological and biological processes in the greenhouse horticulture, arable farming and dairy industries. The AGROS programme is a collaboration between Wageningen University & Research (WUR) [ … ]