Less gas from cows, but still extra milk

A major future threat to dairy farming is methane emissions. Although the discussion about the damage caused by the gas is still in full swing, dairy farmers are already confronted with targets. In Belgium they discovered that controlling for methane is also good for the dairy farmer. 

Of a grass type aimed at counteracting the production of methane into tradable emission allowances that are targeted on methane† The sector is struggling with methane production and the requirements set for it in the context of the Climate Agreement. Belgian research now shows that production in Flanders can be reduced by 33%, without any damage to dairy farmers. 

Economic benefits?
With the help of European money, the Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research (ILVO) investigated how methane emissions can be reduced. "Because, it quickly has a positive effect on the climate." That is something that also yields important economic benefits.

The first gain is achieved by having the cows calve as young as possible, because emissions increase as the heifer gets older. If the age goes back from 26 to 24 months, this represents a gain of 13%. With an advance from 28 to 22 months, there is even a decrease of 33%. If this happens in the entire Flemish livestock, it will soon be a gain of 3,1%. This means a saving of €124 per heifer.

Step number 2 is to increase milk production per cow. This means that the methane emissions increases. However, when this is divided over the extra liters of milk, it does yield a saving below the line. For example, an increase from 27 kilos to 30 kilos results in a minus of 8,4%.

Awake dairy farmer
Another point of attention is reducing the average replacement percentage, so that less young stock needs to be kept. In short: more milk per cow, less replacement and a younger calving age account for 11,7% less methane per kilo of milk. "For an alert dairy farmer, working on environmentally friendly production also yields quite a bit of money," according to the researchers.

If the composition of the ration is included (less soy and more brewer's grain or rapeseed meal, in combination with an agent that inhibits the formation of methane), the gain on paper can rise to 34,5%. The additive to which ILVO refers is that of DSM. However, that is not yet on the market.

The question is: what can the ration and methane inhibitor do for non-lactating cows? The Belgian researchers also want to look further into the functioning of bacteria in the rumen.

Being too efficient is a disadvantage
The ways of thinking are also interesting for Dutch dairy farmers; especially when dairy farmers want to maintain production without ignoring the climate targets. In the meantime, it appears that the task for the sector in the Netherlands, which scores high in terms of efficiency in the European Union, is much more difficult than for a country where improvements can still be made.

Herman van den Pol

Herma van den Pol has been with us since 2011 Boerenbusiness and has developed over the years into a market expert Milk & Feed. In addition, she can be seen weekly in the market flash about the dairy market.

h.vandenpol@boerenbusiness. Nl

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