Project

SOMEBIO: Soy-avoiding and methane-reducing feeding on organic dairy farms

Acronym
SOMEBIO
Code
174Z00123
Duration
01 January 2023 → 31 December 2024
Funding
Regional and community funding: various
Research disciplines
  • Agricultural and food sciences
    • Agricultural animal nutrition
Keywords
methane reduction avoiding soy organic dairy cattle
 
Project description

(Organic) dairy farming in Flanders has been looking for more feed autonomy for some time, and is at the same time expected to meet high social expectations in the field of soy phasing out and methane reduction. However, (partial) solutions that fit within the framework of a holistic system approach in organic agriculture are not available ready-made. At the initiative of a number of committed and far-sighted organic dairy farmers, this operational group wants to look for bio-specific methane-reducing feed strategies from a holistic vision, which at the same time meet the phasing out of soy, and this within the limits of technical, business economics and practical feasibility. We start from the company-specific context of the participating organic dairy farmers and combine practical knowledge with scientific insights to be developed (including the methane reduction potential of soy substitutes). The differentiation of organic dairy farms within this group increases the impact of the insights on the broad organic (dairy) livestock farming sector and by extension the conventional sector