Sustainable farming –
Healthy food – A living countryside
The need for green solutions and the One Health approach in dairy farming
Frits van der Schans1 oktober 2015
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Main stream dairy farms (1)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm
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Main stream dairy farms
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha
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Main stream dairy farms (2)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow
5
Main stream dairy farms
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha
6
Main stream dairy farms (3)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha
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Main stream dairy farms (3)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha
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Main stream dairy farms (4)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha• Decreasing percentage animals outdoor grazing
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Main stream dairy farms (4)
Development fast, faster, fastest
• Increasing number of animals per farm• Increasing milk production per cow• Increasing milk production per ha
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Floating dairy farms ……
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Floating dairy farms ……
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Floating dairy farms ……
✗
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Main stream dairy farms (5)
Specialization and ‘out-sourcing’
• Advisors and specialist focused on ‘one issue’– Housing, ventilation, feeding, animal health,
breeding and grassland management• Contractors
– Grass mowing, picking up and conservation– Fertilization and manure use
• Outsourcing– Land use and feeding – Raising young stock
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Resilient dairy farms (1)
Developments
• Organic and circular dairy farming are growing slow, but gradual
• Holistic focus– Use all manure on the fields of the farm– Use the farm fields for production of feed– Use of biodiversity on and from the farm
• Improving resilient, sustainable dairy farms
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Resilient dairy farms (2)
Developments
• Healthy soil = healthy cows = healthy milk = healthy people !!??
• Is this proven? Or just a believe?
• Use and production of biodiversity
• Experiential farm development
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People – Planet - Profit
Sustainability is ….
People
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People – Planet - Profit
Sustainability is ….
People Profit
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People – Planet - Profit
Sustainability is ….
People Profit
Planet
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People – Planet - Profit
Sustainability is ….
People Profit
Planet Sustainable
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People – Planet - Profit
Sustainability is ….
PlanetPlanet
People
Profit
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Dutch Dairy farming on a cross road
Industrial or Circular
• It’s important to learn from your faults!• It’s cheaper to learn from the faults of others!
• Industrial of Circular dairy farming isn’t good or false, as long as you work ‘holistic’
• See the farm (the planet) as one system• Look at tomorrow, today is almost gone!
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Dairy farming with feed in Dutch clay
Sustainable farming –
Healthy food – A living countryside
Thank you very much for your attention!