Thanks to state-of-the-art 3D cameras and 24/7 feed surveillance, cow management has the potential to be transformed.
More climate-friendly cows
Feed impacts the environment, animal welfare and dairy business bottom lines. Dairy farm owners require tools to pinpoint the most efficient cows to ensure resilience, productiveness and climate friendliness.
Some cows are superior at turning feed into meat and milk. Others are less efficient and use too much feed for maintenance.
Cows spend 6% energy-producing methane rather than milk on average but can be anywhere between 2-12% depending on the cow’s feed-to-milk efficiency. A focus on carbon footprint and sustainability is therefore essential.
VikingGenetics invests heavily in reducing cattle breeding’s carbon footprint.
“Replacing average European cows with ones from VikingGenetics saves 0.1 kg CO2 per kg milk. The savings are much bigger on other continents at approximately 0.33 kg CO2 per kg milk, equating to roughly 0.74 million tonnes CO2 per year”, says Chief Sales and Marketing Officer David Stenkær Ravnkilde.
“Being part of the solution makes sense. We must contribute our knowledge to this important effort. Indian dairy farmers, for example, can reduce methane emissions by as much as 33% per liter milk using our genetics”, he adds.
Feed-efficient cows = savings
- Nordic research shows a €200 saving on cows per year when looking at the most efficient versus the least efficient cows.
- The effect of our initiatives over the next ten years is the equivalent of removing 50,000 diesel cars in Denmark.