Our research and teaching in ruminant nutrition and management includes nutrient metabolism, feeding, lactation, growth, behavior and housing issues. We focus on animal production and welfare and on quality of the products. The impact ruminant production has on the global environment has become an important part of our research. We have a large international network, within EU as well as worldwide.
The general objective of this project is to enhance food security in Tanzania through improved rangeland and livestock management practices in miombo woodlands.
In this project, the effect of red algae on methane production and on the feed digestibility for Swedish dairy cows is tested.
Added value from biochar
Agricultural systems need to improve in order to meet future challenges of an increasing human population and at the same time ensure good animal welfare and a minimal ecological footprint. This project focuses on how to improve animal welfare and health in dairy cattle production using sensor technology, with the potential to minimize antibiotic use by improving tools for disease control and management.
It is only when the cow has calved and starts producing milk that she gives an income to the milk producer and it is after the second lactation the income covers the cow's rearing costs.
Is it possible to keep dairy cows and their calves together in automatic milking systems? What are the effects on milk yield, calf growth, health and fertility?
The aim of this project is to develop and test decision support tools to identify multiparous cows that benefit from an extended lactation length.
The project investigates the biological conditions for separating a ley crop into two vertical strata fractions with different nutritional quality at mowing.
The aim of the project is to provide solutions for using unprocessed or nutritionally upgraded forest by-products as ruminant feed during forage shortage crises.
The overall objective of this project is to minimize the need for human-edible feed in dairy production and at the same time reduce enteric methane emission, with maintained good animal health and performance.
Is it possible to identify dairy cows with high forage intake capacity?
The aim of the project is to investigate how much extensive mechanical processing of silage can increase the forage intake in dairy cows and hereby reduce the requirement for concentrates.
The aim is to improve milking technology and milking routines to ensure that the udder is emptied as well as possible with good udder health and animal welfare.
The aim of the project is to study effects of LED-light on milk production and activity in dairy cows.
The aim of the project is to develop tools which can be used for individually adapted lactation lengths based on the biological conditions of the cow.
The purpose of the project is to investigate whether cows who have the capacity to consume large amounts of roughage have different microflora in the rumen than low-capacity cows, and if the composition of the microorganisms and methane formation is associated with the passage rate.
The goal with this project was to make it possible for Swedish dairy farms to replace imported, soy based protein feed with on farm processed concentrate based on home-grown or regionally grown Swedish protein sources as field beans, peas and rapeseed.
In this European project we will study animal health and welfare, milk quality, environmental impacts etc in farms that use compost pack bedding and “cow gardens” in their barns for dairy cows.
The main objective of the project is to develop improved prediction methods of mastitis in dairy cows. This will be achieved by combining state-of-the-art mathematical / statistical methods with access to large amounts of online data.
Does it improve animal welfare in organic dairy herds?
The research at the Beijer Laboratory for Animal Science (BLAS) aims to make better use of data automatically collected at high-tech farms so that management and breeding of future generations of dairy cows may be as efficient as possible.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, has its main locations in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala. SLU is certified to the ISO 14001 environmental standard. • Phone:+46 18-67 10 00 • VAT nr: SE202100281701 • Contact SLU • About SLU's websites
