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Pasture grazing suffers from pressure to make it more sustainable
For the first time in almost ten years, the percentage of grazing has clearly decreased slightly in dairy farming this year. This is the result of several factors, but an important one seems to be the sustainability pressure that the sector is under.
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This is stated by the ZuivelNL trade association in a brief explanation of the figures. The decrease was 1,1 percentage points, from 83,9% to 82,8%.
The percentage of partial grazing remained stable at 5,8%, the share of full grazing fell to 77%. With full grazing, the cows are outside 120 hours a day for at least 6 days. With partial grazing, at least a quarter of the livestock comes outside.
Allowing cows to roam outside is encouraged by the Grazing Covenant, in which more than eighty parties around the farmer are represented. Dairy companies also support grazing with an extra premium per kilo of milk supplied.