18.11.2022 | Supply chain
Case: Realizing the untapped potential in the dairy herd
Indhold fra partner Hvad er dette?
By keeping your dairy herd healthy and preventing disease, it will reduce CO2 emissions and increase revenue.
According to professor Søren Østergaard, research project manager, many farmers underestimate the consequences of disease in their herd, thereby losing the value of preventing ailments such as mastitis and hoof disorders.
The rising world population inevitably leads to an increasing demand for protein in the food system. Milk and milk products play an important part in the diet for people across countries. Therefore, when dairy farmers are not realizing the full potential of their production, we have a problem. On one hand, the associated carbon dioxide emissions per litre of milk produced increases. On the other hand, the farmer could make bigger profits with the same herd.
Mastitis, hoof, and metabolism disorders are the three most significant disease complexes—and they are preventable. But in as much as 50% of the cases, the farmer misjudges the advantages of investing in measures to ensure the health of cows before they get sick. This leads to poorer animal welfare, less feed efficiency and milk yield, and ultimately, shorter lifespans of the animals. All factors that can be directly connected to economic losses and higher climate impact.
Tools that quantify disease prevention
In the KlimaKS project, the aim is to develop a surveillance tool—Surveil—to find causes of and preventive measures to diseases. By using herd data combined with veterinarian’s observations and milk samples, the tool will alert of health problems which then can be confirmed with blood samples.
The farmer can watch the output from Surveil in the KlimaKS Dashboard. The dashboard will make it easy to prioritise and optimise disease prevention. With the dashboard overview of climate impact, economy, and disease occurrence, the days of complex calculations of cost vs. benefit should be over. Farmers can rely on the tools to do the calculating work for them and choose which of the concrete solution plans to implement.
Healthier cows mean less climate impact
An added benefit to the tools is the effect it will have on carbon dioxide emissions from the whole production chain. Healthy animals live longer, absorb more nutrients from their feed, and give higher milk yields. In combination, it will reduce the emissions per litre of milk produced, and make animal welfare higher, too.
Klima, miljø og energi

Denmark invests over EUR 90 million in fund for development of plant-based foods
On February 23rd, 2023, the Danish Parliament unanimously passed a law to create the Fund for Plant-based Foods of DKK 675 million (over EUR 90 million). The aim of the fund is to increase the availability of plant-based options for Danish consumers and to make Denmark a leader in plant-based food production. Plant-based foods are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than animal-based foods, and they are often more nutritious as well.
Indhold fra partner
Klima, miljø og energi

Big data empowers Arla farmers to decarbonise dairy at a faster pace
Arla’s Climate Checks programme, which is one of the world’s largest externally validated set of climate data from seven European countries, confirms that Arla farmers are among the most climate efficient dairy farmers in the world. It also provides Arla farmers a clear blueprint, of what will drive further reductions of greenhouse gas emissions on their farms over the next decade.
Indhold fra partner
Klima, miljø og energi

Danish grass variety wins prestigious award
The international seeds magazine European Seed has chosen and named the 20 most innovative plant varieties from 2020 in the European Seed Industry. Featuring a strong field of finalists, the jury chose to point to the grass variety 4turf FABIAN from DLF, which has set new standards for lawn grass with great stress tolerance and resilience.
Indhold fra partner
Samfund

New project develops innovative ingredients with anti-inflammatory properties
A European collaboration between Danish FermentationExperts, Danish Technological Institute, the Romanian Expergo and ICECHIM will develop a new anti-inflammatory ingredient for foods to aid public health.
Indhold fra partner
Klima, miljø og energi

Northern Europe’s largest production of green proteins has opened
The Danish cooperatives, DLG, DLF, and Danish Agro, have just opened their first grass protein plant with the goal to make climate-friendly feed and food. BioRefine Denmark A/S, which is owned by the cooperatives, seeks to become a pioneer within green protein extracted from grass.
Indhold fra partner
Strategi & ledelse

Denmark to spearhead global battle against food waste
Denmark has just managed to negotiate an agreement for the development of international standards to reduce food waste. Moreover, Danish Standards has secured a seat at the top table, ensuring a high level of ambition and a competitive edge for Danish enterprises in taking part in the setting of the future market requirements.
Indhold fra partner