Jämförelse av heltidsbete och deltidsbete: effekter på mjölkkors produktion och välfärd

Abstract: The intensity of the Swedish milk production has increased during the past 50 years. In addition, Swedish farmers have to adjust to the law regarding grazing. This could contribute to the fact that these farmers has trouble competing on the market. Therefore there is an interest in studies regarding making the milk production more efficient when keeping within the law. Combining high nutritional value for animal, efficient management and minimized loss in health and welfare is desirable. This review will examine the differences in milk production, behaviour and welfare when full-time grazing is compared to part-time grazing. The relevance of the study for our Swedish cows will be discussed. Result from the review showed that milk production will not differ or even decrease if a transition from full-time to part-time grazing is made. These results can not be applied on Swedish dairy cows due to differences in production system. In a Swedish system where cows with high milk yield is in addition to grazing, fed with silage and concentrate, the milk yield is instead expected to increase when changing from full-time to part-time grazing. Grazing behaviour was also affected by a transition from full-time grazing to part-time grazing but applying these results on Swedish dairy cows can also be questioned. To make correct conclusions about health and welfare, more studies that compare full-time grazing to part-time grazing would be needed. In this review the results show that health and welfare tend to decrease together with less time at pasture.