Abstract
Grassland agriculture plays an important role for livestock production and land management throughout the world. It is challenging to estimate the available feed on pasture plots. For this study, a rising plate meter was calibrated in swards of the organic experimental station of Trenthorst in northern Germany to calculate grazing intake of cattle and to determine biomass regrowth. A LCA-model (FARM) that was used to calculate the global warming potential (GWP) of milk of the station showed that substituting grass silage by grazing reduces the GWP per kilogram energy-corrected milk by 1.5 %. High differences of dry matter intake that were found between the plots indicate a potential for improving the grazing management and hence for further reducing the GWP of milk production.
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Ohm, M., Schüler, M., Warnecke, S. et al. Measurement methods on pastures and their use in environmental life-cycle assessment. Org. Agr. 4, 325–329 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-014-0072-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-014-0072-4