Today, the use of soya meal in the livestock feed is more than controversial. The major advantage of this product is its nutritional benefits, particularly in dairy cow rations based on corn silage. Conversely, the disadvantages are economic (high price volatility, import dependence) or environmental (deforestation, GMOs). To bring solutions to breeders, PROTECOW has been studying the levers that can be mobilised on dairy farms that allow the soya meal used to be partially or completely reduced.
Five levers: 14% to 100% of soy saved
Five solutions were selected on the basis of breeder expectations and available resources on the farms of the project area (France-Wallonia-Flanders). Their technical and economic impacts were then assessed by simulation on average representative farms in the region.
|
Replacing soy by … |
Quantities of soy saved |
Growth of net margin |
|
Rapeseed meal |
100 % |
+ 14 % |
|
Italian Ryegrass catch crops |
14 % |
+ 4 % |
|
Fodder richer in protein |
23 % |
+ 7 % |
|
Toasted faba beans |
22 % |
+ 2 % |
|
Switching to organic farming |
64 % |
+ 8 % |
With a reduction of soya meal from 14% to 100%, the improvement of the net margin is positive (2% to 14%) for all the solutions. The results of this study have been summarised in technical data sheets available on the PROTECOW website. To support these initial results, some of these techniques will be tested in situ in PROTECOW network farms during 2019.
For further information: www.interreg-protecow.eu
This project is subsidised by the European funds of the INTERREG V FWFl program, Wallonia and the province of West Flanders.