Pasture-based veal production offers potential benefits in terms of animal welfare and resource efficiency compared to conventional indoor systems. This study evaluated the performance of 72 male veal calves from three breeds: Brown Swiss, Brown …
Against a backdrop of climate change, one of the major challenges facing ruminant breeders is to ensure the forage autonomy of their farms. Increasingly severe summer droughts are forcing farmers to draw on their forage stocks. This has led to a …
Dairy farming faces challenges of summer fodder scarcity and methane emissions. To address these issues, one may incorporate plants rich in condensed tannins (CT) into temporary grassland mixtures. However, knowledge regarding the link between CT, …
To face current challenges, ruminant feeding systems have to adapt the use of common resources or develop the use of alternative ones. This study explored the potential of alternative plant resources that could be used on farms to provide nutrients …
Temporary grasslands are crucial for addressing dairy cow sector challenges, including milk production, methane emissions mitigation, and biodiversity enhancement. In this study conducted in Frick, Switzerland, we investigated four distinct temporary …
Les arbres champêtres fournissent de nombreux services écosystémiques aux agrosystèmes : séquestration de carbone, conservation de la biodiversité, épuration de l’eau, etc. En élevage, les arbres peuvent être un levier face au changement climatique : …
Farmers’ endorsement is crucial to conserve biodiversity in permanent grasslands, but the lack of visibility on their economic value is a major obstacle. We studied the production costs (i.e., the cost to produce one Mg of dry matter) and the …
Planting fodder trees in grasslands increases vegetation diversity, reduces grassland vulnerability to climate change and provides additional fodder resource during periods of drought. However, the palatability of temperate fodder trees remains …
European permanent grasslands are the main source of livestock fodder and the main hotspot of botanical diversity, but the trade-offs between fodder production and botanical diversity conservation remain debated. This study aims to identify what …
Grasslands are at the heart of multiple expectations on the part of farmers and society. The objective of this study was to assess the services provided by semi-natural grasslands, and the trade-offs between these services. Starting from a survey of …