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| Padel, Susanne; Gerrard, Catherine L; Leach, Katharine; Smith, Laurence G; Topp, C F E; Watson, Christine. |
| In low-input and organic systems, nutrient management is key to ensuring the short-term productivity and the longer-term sustainability of the farming system. Farm-gate nutrient budgets/balances calculate the inputs of nutrients to, and outputs from a system. Hence, they can be used to assess the nutrient use efficiency. Nutrient balances of 69 organic and low-input dairy farms in seven European countries were carried out using a sustainability assessment tool. The tool assesses each individual farm against a number of indicators. Part of the assessment of nutrient management is the calculation of an N,P,K budget, based on physical inputs and outputs for each enterprise. The results show considerable variation in the calculated N,P,K balances. The paper... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Environmental aspects; Farm nutrient management. |
| Ano: 2013 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/25556/1/15%20PADEL_GERRARD.pdf |
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| Smith, Jo; Leach, Katharine; Rinne, Marketta; Kuoppala, Kaisa. |
| Silvopastoral systems that combine livestock and trees offer two main advantages for the animals. First, trees modify microclimatic conditions which can have beneficial effects on pasture growth and animal welfare. Second, trees also provide alternative feed resources during periods of low forage availability. This paper reports on research carried out within the Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying (SOLID) project to investigate the multifunctional potential of a novel integrated willow-based bio-energy/organic dairy production system in the UK, especially the role of tree fodder for feed supplementation in organic dairy systems. The nutritional value of two ages (1st and 2nd year re-growth) of short rotation coppiced willow was assessed in two... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Feeding and growth. |
| Ano: 2012 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/21758/1/Smith_2OAHC%20proceedings_2012.pdf |
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| Leach, Katharine; Richmond, Robert; Waterfield, William. |
| There is interest in increasing soil organic matter (SOM), both to improve plant productivity, and augment carbon sequestration. One practice that may contribute to increasing SOM is a “mob grazing” approach. This involves high stocking density for a short period of time, and often grazing more mature swards, leaving higher cover and longer recovery times between grazings than is typical in the UK. This approach is likely to be best suited to swards that include a wide variety of grass and herb species, giving greater resilience than a purely ryegrass sward. The performance of dairy herds on such swards under this type of management in the UK has not been documented. This paper describes how a participatory approach is used to gather sward and animal... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Dairy cattle; Feeding and growth. |
| Ano: 2013 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/24700/1/LEACH%20et%20al%202013%20BGS%20proceedings.pdf |
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| Leach, Katharine; Smith, Jo; Padel, Susanne. |
| “Sustainable grassland farming” suggests a stable, productive system, with limited dependence on external inputs, which is economically viable. Effects on the wider environment, particularly air, water and wildlife, also need to be considered. Many principles contribute o sustainability, this article concentrate on two of them: “healthy soil” and “plant species diversity”. |
| Tipo: Newspaper or magazine article |
Palavras-chave: Dairy cattle; Pasture and forage crops. |
| Ano: 2013 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/24767/1/Leach%20sustainable%20grassland%20farming%20Grass%20and%20forage%20farmer%20autum%202013%20postprint.pdf |
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| Leach, Katharine; Barker, Zoe; Maggs, Clare; Sedgwick, Anouska; Whay, Helen; Bell, Nick; Main, David. |
| Sixty-seven organic producers were among 189 dairy farmers completing the “Healthy Feet Project” in the UK. This aimed to reduce lameness in dairy herds by implementing existing knowledge. Participants received input at two levels: monitoring alone, or monitoring with extra support through a single veterinary advisory visit, annual visits from a trained non-veterinary facilitator and materials and contacts to encourage change. On average lameness on organic farms reduced by 12 percentage points over the three year period. On the farms achieving the greatest reduction,the most common changes were improvements to tracks and cubicle comfort, and more frequent footbathing or foot trimming. Practices to improve foot cleanliness, such as more frequent removal of... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Health and welfare. |
| Ano: 2012 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/21760/1/Leach_lameness_2OAHC_2012.pdf |
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| Leach, Katharine; Palomo, Gonzalo; Waterfield, William; Zaralis, Konstantinos; Padel, Susanne. |
| The paper presents first year results of one participatory case study carried out as part of EU FP7 funded SOLID project (Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying) on an organic dairy farm managed with diverse swards and mob grazing in Britain. Mob grazing is a livestock management strategy consisting of high stocking density for a short time to remove forage rapidly due to high grazing pressure and then removing livestock to allow grass recovery. On the farm this is combined with a diverse sward, paying particular consideration to soil fertility. First results indicate that there was more available herbage in front of the cows, especially in the summer months, than could be expected from rotational grazing with shorter rest periods. Differences between... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Dairy cattle; Systems research and participatory research. |
| Ano: 2014 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/23553/1/23553%20Leach%20etal-diverse%20swards_final%20V03_MM.pdf |
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| Leach, Katharine; Gerrard, Catherine L; Kudahl, Anne Braad; Nykänen, Arja; Vaarst, Mette; Weissensteiner, Roswitha; Padel, Susanne. |
| The EU funded SOLID project supports research which will contribute to the competitiveness of organic and low input dairy systems, and increase their sustainability. There are many aspects of the sustainability of dairy farms, relating to economic, environmental and social dimensions, and methods of animal husbandry can affect all of these. A UK spreadsheet based tool for rapid assessment of the whole farm was adapted for application on a range of organic and low input dairy farms across the EU. This tool was used to assess approximately ten organic dairy farms in each of four EU countries. Data on farm management practices collected in face to face interviews with farmers were entered and the tool then calculated a composite score for each of 11 separate... |
| Tipo: Conference paper, poster, etc. |
Palavras-chave: Dairy cattle; Indicators and other value-laden measures; Feeding and growth; Health and welfare; Environmental aspects. |
| Ano: 2012 |
URL: http://orgprints.org/21761/7/21761.pdf |
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