Feed no Food – Grass and Hay Instead of Concentrate for Cattle

The idea that cows eat nothing but grass is only partly true since the industrialization of agriculture. During the past 40 years the use of concentrated feed such as grain and grain legumes for ruminants has increased dramatically. The breeding of high-yielding dairy cattle and the low international prices for feed grain and protein crops, such as soybeans, has promoted this trend. Today, one third of the global grain harvest is fed to animals.

Ruminants are the only farm animals able to produce valuable food such as milk and meat from substances (grass) that have no nutritional value for humans. However, ruminants are increasingly being fed food, such as grains, that have direct competition to human nutrition. The increased adoption of feeding ruminants concentrated feed together with crop failures caused by droughts or flooding as well as the increased use of agrofuels, has pushed up the prices for grain worldwide. In many countries this has led to food riots because the poor can no longer afford to pay for even their basic food needs.

In Switzerland approximately 1.7 million (2009) tonnes of concentrated feed is fed to farm animals every year. More than half of it is imported to Switzerland from European countries and from overseas. In organic agriculture, self-sufficiency in feeding grain and protein crops is even lower. But the permitted amount of concentrated feed in organic agriculture is at least restricted to a maximum of 10 percent of feed, limiting the problem.

The excessive use of concentrated feed for ruminants leads to illnesses such as hyperacidity, lameness and poor fertility because the animal’s metabolism is not adapted to digest large amounts of high energy and protein-rich food.  In addition, concentrated feed stimulates the excretion of germs (EHEC), which can also impair human health.  Feeding great amounts of concentrated feed is contrary to two fundamental principles of organic agriculture: the principle of animal welfare and the principle that ruminant food should not compete with human nutrition.

Barely investigated

The questions

• How does reducing the amount of concentrated feed affect animal health?
• How does an increase of grass feeding affect the environment and profitability?
• Is it possible to do without the import of concentrated feed?

The Feed no Food project develops solutions for an organic milk and meat production that meet the requirements of ruminants, promote fair conditions for producers in the North and in the South and protect the environment.
Little scientific research has been done on the feeding of dairy cattle thus far. Until now, the effects a reduction of concentrated feed has on animal health have only been superficially investigated.

The project Feed no Food has a duration of three years. During this period, the consumption of concentrated feed is meant to be reduced or eliminated in 47 out of 74 farms; 16 farms will continue feeding concentrated feeding material, and ten farms did not feed concentrates when the project began. On one big dairy farm an experimental study with split herds is is underway. 

Most of the participating farms are part of the pro-Q network of organic dairy farms and were asked to choose one of the following concepts:

• Concept 1
  Complete renunciation of concentrated feed.
• Concept 2
  Reduction of concentrated feed to a maximum of 5% of the feed ration (instead of the ten percent that are allowed according to the guidelines).
• Concept 3
  Feeding up to ten percent concentrated feed, as allowed according to the guidelines.
• Concept 4
  Optimization of feeding management on farms that already operate without concentrated feed, but whose animal welfare still needs to be improved.

Practical analysis

On farms already operating without the use of concentrated feed, the areas being analyzed are feeding habits, animal welfare and efficiency. One experiment on a large dairy farm should show how cows react when the amount of concentrated feed is reduced. In this experiment, half the herd receives a concentrated feed ration that is gradually reduced until no more concentrate is given, while the control group is given up to ten percent concentrated feed with each feed ration, as usual. The data obtained will form a knowledge base with which to implement the project on further farms.

Realization of the concepts on the farms involved

At the beginning of the project, the project team members become familiar with a farm’s structure, its feed acquisition approach and feeding routine, as well as the motivation of the farm’s manager. This lays the groundwork for the project team to work together with the farmers on an individual strategy to reduce concentrated feed use on their farm. The first year serves to introduce the new strategy which should result in full implementation at the beginning of the second year. Throughout the project, animal health is monitored and ensured by using complementary medicine and preventive measures.

Effects on ecology and economy

The team calculates a climate report of milk production based on certain models for every dairy farm. Furthermore, based on model calculations, they generate an estimation of the economic potential the reduction of concentrated feed has on the farm level.

The project team at FiBL consists of:

Christophe Notz, Silvia Ivemeyer, Peter Klocke, Ariane Maeschli, Eric Meili, Daniel Böhler, Pamela Staehli, Christian Schader, Judith Hecht, Matthias Meier, and Michael Walkenhorst.

The project team works in close cooperation with the following partners:

• Swiss College of Agriculture SHL
• Agricultural consulting
• Farm veterinarians