Staff PhD
The contribution of innovative technology to sustainable development of organic dairy production in Denmark and in the Netherlands, with the automatic milking system as a case.
Frank W. Oudshoorn
| University | Wageningen University |
| Department |
Department of Agricultural Engineering |
| Supervisor | Prof. Dr. Ir.A.J. van der Zijpp |
| Local Supervisor | Ph.D MSc. Svend Christensen, DIAS |
| Project term | 2004 - 2008 |
| Masters degree | Agriculture |
Background
Organic dairy farming in Denmark is a modern specialized production. The structural development has resulted in large units with an average of 80 milking cows and 100 ha of land.The organic dairy farm is searching for high efficiency and rational production together with high standards for animal welfare, labour environment and sustainability.These organic standards can easily conflict with e.g. introduction of new technologies.
Therefore it is necessary to focus on the special needs from an organic point of view. In this project the demand of the modern dairy farmer to relieve labour time and strain, by introducing the automatic milking system ( AMS ) , is evaluated. This is done for the situation among Danish and Dutch organic dairy farmers.
Experiments are done to understand and develop the grazing aspects together with the functioning of an AMS. Here the facilities for organic practical research in Denmark and the Netherlands are used. http://www.agrsci.dk/agrsci/afdelinger/forskningsafdelinger/jbt/grupper/rugballegaard
Aim
To investigate the consequences of innovative technology on organic dairy farming in Denmark and the Netherlands. The project will investigate the Automatic Milking System as it already is being implemented in a number of organic dairy farms, without a proper assessment.
In the project we can distinguish the following parts:
1.I nvestigation on economic, ecologic and societal aspects of the introduction of new technologies at organic dairy farms in general and on the introduction pf AMS in particular, in Denmark and in the Netherlands.
2. Experiments that help investigating the possibilities of combining grazing together with using the AMS on organic farms. Also experiments with a mobile solution of the AMS will be simulated.
3. New sensor techniques to observe and locate the herd and the cows are to be tested.
4. Registrations on practical organic farms with AMS are conducted.
5. Scenario’s are produced where economical, ecological and societal aspects are described for an organic dairy farm with AMS, without AMS and with a mobile AMS.