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FEFAC: Among the current crises, let’s not forget climate change!

Written by c001os on . Posted in Cattle, Nutrinfo, Pig, Poultry.

Last year has brought more unexpected turmoil in the feed industry. But even with the effects of COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the importance of combating climate change has not diminished. If anything, these crises have only highlighted the need for more sustainable feed production practices, said Asbjørn Børsting, president of the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC).

The events of the past year have highlighted the need for the EU feed industry to continue and expand its environmental efforts, according to a progress report published by FEFAC on its progress this year towards the associations’ 2030 sustainability goals. Shortages and rising prices highlight the need to integrate resilience into sustainability goals. While sustainability goals could potentially fall by the wayside in the face of crisis, it’s important to note that climate change has contributed to some of the difficulties the feed industry faces, said Børsting.

The progress report highlights the publication of a handbook on circular feed in June 2022 as an area where current conditions could accelerate progress towards sustainability. The use of circular feeds not only contributes to sustainability goals by reducing waste and carbon emissions, but also increases the EU’s feed autonomy by creating a more resilient, localized supply chain, Børsting said. Hopefully, he said, legislative measures will improve the industry’s ability to implement circular feed concepts.

Automatic reports on mastitis from a digital development

Written by c001os on . Posted in Cattle, Nutrinfo.

Dairy farmers are now receiving somatic cell count and clinical mastitis results after each milking through the Mastitis Pattern Analysis Tool (MPAT). The MPAT analyses individual herd data to determine whether the predominant infection patterns is environmental or infectious during the lactation or dry period, as well as the seasonality of infection and heifer infection.

This will allow farmers and veterinarians to work together to identify the pattern of mastitis in their herd and to take the most effective targeted control measures. The stakes are high, as mastitis causes greater economic losses than any other disease affecting dairy cattle production. Speaking about the tool, which was developed at the University of Nottingham with the help of a research team from the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) and with significant government funding, Jake Thompson, from LLM Farm Vets, part of the VetPartners group, said:

“The great thing about this tool is that both the farmer and myself are sent a report automatically after each milk recording. It allows us to have a targeted conversation about udder health as soon as we have their latest data available. If the mastitis pattern shows there is more of a problem in early lactation from infections picked up from the environment during the dry period, we will then look more closely at how the dry cows are being managed. On other farms, the main current problem may be completely different.”

Breeding cows with lower methane emissions

Written by c001os on . Posted in Cattle, Nutrinfo.

Genetics company Semex UK believes it can reduce methane emissions by 20-30% by 2050 through breeding cows with lower methane emissions. The company is working with Canadian dairy testing and genetic evaluation company Lactanet and the University of Guelph to find a genetic solution to reduce methane emissions.


Over the past 5 years, Canadian milk-recording organisations have taken mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy records of more than 13 million milk samples, of which 700,000 have been analysed by Lactanet geneticists to predict methane emissions from cows tested across Canada.
The results showed that genetic selection can significantly reduce methane emissions. Scientists found an 85% correlation between actually collected methane and predicted methane emissions based on genetics, concluding that there is a genetic way to reduce methane. This is because the genetics of the cow also affect methane production in the rumen, as well as the microbes.


This genetic trait is 23% heritable, which is comparable to production and immune response with 70-80% reliability with no impact on yields or fat and protein levels. Dr Michael Lohuis, Semex vice president of Research and Innovation, said: “We already knew that genetics has a big role to play in reducing output, as it is the main way dairy farmers can produce more product with less input and less output. But this technology takes the role of genetics to a higher level.” He claimed at Semex’s annual conference in Glasgow that methane production from cows could be reduced by 20-30% by 2050, depending on the intensity of selection.