In the European Union, cattle registration has been harmonised, and every farmer has to report cattle deaths to a national computer database. However, there is no obligation to mention the reason for culling, death or slaughter. In dairy farming, the herd is constantly renewed by letting in some young …

Several studies have suggested that precision livestock farming (PLF) is a useful tool foranimal welfare management and assessment. Location, posture and movement of an individual are key elements in identifying the animal and recording its behaviour. Currently, multiple technologies are available for …

Over the last decades, the increased demand in beef by the growing population led to an industrialization and intensification of the production systems. This resulted in many issues such as environmental impact, animal welfare, consumers acceptability, resource-use efficiency, growing reliance on edible …

Inbreeding rates in the Holstein Friesian dairy cattle breed are rapidly increasing, by which the negative effects of inbreeding depression on performance are becoming increasingly remarkable. To avoid the effects of inbreeding depression, crossbreeding strategies may be applied. Crossbreeding results …

The current situation of the Icelandic dairy production and the desire of the Icelandic farmers are the occasion of this study. The main objective of the study is to identify opportunities in feeding management to improve the production of the Icelandic dairy farms. The four important subjects within …

Energy efficiency, greenhouse gas reduction and cost price of a green gas supply chain were evaluated. This supply chain is based on co-digestion of dairy cattle manure and maize, biogas upgrading and injection into a distribution gas grid. A defined reference scenario reflects the current state of practice, …

Good reproduction is key for successful dairyfarming. Detection of estrus is the first step in getting acow pregnant. Visual detection of estrus is a challengingjob, to aid the farmer, estrus detection tools (EDT), suchas pedometers, neck mounted collars to measure activityand pressure sensing devices …

Conventional dairy husbandry systems acknowledge animal welfare guided by Brambel’s five freedoms. The concept of natural, or normal behaviour would in contrast to Brambel’s convention, be based on stability through chance and offers a less anthropocentric and more naturalistic approach. The present …

'Koe en boer on tour' is een rapportage van het onderzoek dat is gedaan in het kader van het realiseren van een bredere uitrol van het door Wageningen UR Livestock Research ontwikkelde innovatieprogramma Kracht van Koeien.

In this review the knowledge status of and future research options on a green gas supply based on biogas production by co-digestion is explored. Applications and developments of the (bio)gas supply in The Netherlands have been considered, whereafter literature research has been done into the several …