Browsing by Subject "mjölkproduktion"

Most of the organic dairy producers use conventional, non-organic animals to renew their breeding stock due to lack of breeding program for organic production. Milk production and food intake is usually lower amongst organic cows. Conventional production favour cows with great milk performance, which is a trait that is not as beneficial in organic production. Organic feed is often less energetic than the conventional, which easily leads to fertility and metabolic problems in organic cows with large genetic milk performance. The adaptation to different environments depends on the interaction between genotype and environment. Because of this, animals that thrive in one environment do not succeed as well in other environments. This research is based on organic dairy breeders’ opinions, experiences and future objectives. In this study I also draw conclusions on whether the Finnish organic dairy production would be in need of its own breeding program. The results of this paper are based on two questionnaires, which were sent to organic dairy producers in the end of year 2011. The first questionnaire was sent to 124 organic dairy producers and the other questionnaire to all who answered the first one. The first part consisted of basic questions about the producers’ opinions, goals and future plans, as well as a ranking of the most desirable traits in the breeding stock. In the second part the producers were asked, among other things, to rank the seven most desirable traits in a pairwise comparison using a scale of 1 – 9. The returned questionnaires were analysed by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP) (Saaty and Vargas 2001). The consistencies of the answers were checked by calculating the matrixes consistency ratios using Microsoft Excel. The results of the AHP analysis showed that the organic producers favoured the following qualities, starting with the most favourable trait: udder health, milk production, temperament, fertility, milking abilities, leg health and body structure. Milk production was considered to be the most important trait amongst production qualities. Protein production came in second place and fat production in third and last place. The producers thought udder conformation to be more important than feet and legs and feet and legs to be more important than body size. The conclusion of the analysis is that organic dairy producers favour production traits differently than what is currently weighted in conventional production. According to organic preferences the organic producers should use local breeds. In practice, however, only 6,5% of the Finnish organic producers reported their herds to consist fully of Finn cattle, while 19,5% had a herd consisting of Finn cattle plus one other breed or several other breeds. This research shows that the majority of the Finnish organic dairy producers have similar breeding goals with the conventional production. Since the largest difference between organic and conventional dairy production is to be found in the environmental conditions, it would be beneficial to breed some of the conventional AI-bulls so that they would adapt better to organic conditions.

Avhandlingens mål var att ta reda på hur lönsamheten utvecklats på lantbruk i Svenskfinland under en kontinuerlig tidsperiod. Tre forskningsfrågor definierades; Hur ser lönsamheten och dess utveckling ut på lantbruksföretag i Finland? Vilka faktorer påverkar lönsamhetsnivån på lantbruksföretag i Svenskfinland? Hur ser lönsamhetsnivån ut på djurgårdar i Österbotten? Avhandlingen indelades i en teoretisk del och en empirisk del. I teoridelen presenterades centrala begrepp vad gäller jordbruksstöd, lönsamhet samt tidigare undersökningar angående detta. Dessutom gick man igenom strukturutvecklingen inom husdjursproduktionen samt marknadsomgivningen i Finland. Man konstaterade bland annat att både det totala antalet gårdar och antal gårdar med husdjursproduktion stadigt minskat i Finland. Husdjursproduktion har varit en central del av Finlands lantbruk under en lång tid, speciellt mjölkproduktionen. Lönsamhetsutvecklingen på gårdarna har varit negativ i Finland sedan början av 2000-talet. Företagarinkomsten har minskat med 70 procent under perioden 2002 – 2016. På grund av den minskade företagarinkomsten har även lönsamhetskvoten varit negativ under det senaste decenniet. Jordbrukspolitiken är en central del av att idka jordbruk i Finland. Sedan 1995 har Finland varit en del av EU och tillämpar EU:s gemensamma jordbrukspolitik. Finland har en del nationella stöd som betalas ut baserat på antal djur eller hektar, på C-området betalas bland annat ett literstöd till mjölkproduktionen. I den empiriska delen gjordes två multipla regressionsanalyser med bokföringsdata i form av ett paneldata. Data omfattade observationer för totalt 43 kommuner under åren 2010 – 2017. I resultatet fann man i den första regressionen att tiden (år), mjölkproduktion, avskrivningar, utgifter, hektar och stöd hade en statistiskt signifikant effekt på resultatet. I den andra regressionen var mjölk, löner, avskrivningar, utgifter, stöd och jordbruksförsäljning statistiskt signifikanta. Störst inverkan hade jordbruksförsäljning, stöd och utgifter. De två första hade en positiv effekt på resultatet medan utgifter hade en negativ effekt. I diskussionen togs det fasta på den tredje forskningsfrågan hur lönsamhetsnivån ser ut specifikt i Österbotten. Där presenterades lönsamhetsuppgifter från Lukes Ekonomidoktorn. Största andelen av intäkterna bestod av husdjursförsäljning och stöd. Kostnaderna bestod i sin tur till största delen av rörliga kostnader. Lönsamhetskvoten låg under ett (1) för både mjölk-, köttproduktion samt totalt sett i Österbotten. Begränsningar med analysen är att data är i aggregerad form och en stor del av det data som användes var i form av bokföringsdata. Bokföringsdata innefattar inte implicita kostnader såsom en lönsamhetsbokföring gör. Det gör att jämförelsen mellan estimerade resultat och lönsamhetssiffror för Österbotten endast går att göra på ett allmänt plan.

In the beginning of lactation, dairy cows experience a negative energy balance that can lead to ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic condition that affects production and health, and can occur clinically or subclinically. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the association of ketosis and the cow’s breed and parity to milk production and composition. Also the association of predicted NEFA, dry period, rest period and days open with ketosis, breed and parity was investigated. The data was acquired from ProAgria’s Maidosta Maitoon (MaMa) project, where 12 dairy farms had during two test periods tested milk’s BHB (β-hydroxybutyrate) concentration during the first seven weeks after calving. On each period, 20 animals per farm were participating and each animal’s production information came from Mtech Digital Solutions. NEFA values were predicted by using the milk fatty acid composition determined with mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometry. The animals were divided into four different groups based on the milk BHB concentration (≤ 50, ≤ 100, ≤ 200 and ≥ 500 µmol/L). The most common breeds on the farms, Ayrshire and Holstein, were included in the analysis. Parity was investigated by first comparing heifers with cows and then by dividing the animals into four different parity groups (1., 2., 3. and ≥ 4.). The milk production and composition were analyzed with repeated measures for the periods of 60 and 305 days in milk. The dry period, rest period and days open were analyzed with Friedman’s non-parametric variance analysis. The ketosis group did not affect daily milk yield during 60 or 305 days. Milk fat concentration was higher and protein concentration lower in groups with higher milk ketone concentration. Holstein cows had higher milk production than Ayrshire cows, and older cows had higher production than heifers. Milk production and ECM up to 60 days tended to increase by parity, peaking in the third parity group and decreasing in the fourth or higher lactation. Milk protein yield increased in Ayrshire cows in association with higher milk BHBA concentration, whereas the opposite was observed in Holstein cows (interaction breed x ketosis group, P = 0,045). The interaction between breed and parity tended to affect protein content, Ayrshire heifers had lower protein content than Holstein heifers but Ayrshire cows had higher protein content than Holstein cows. The predicted NEFA concentration increased by ketosis group. Holstein cows tended to have greater predicted NEFA concentrations than Ayrshire cows and heifers had significantly greater predicted NEFA concentrations than cows. Ketosis group affected the length of the dry period; the dry period was the longest in the third ketosis group. In addition, the length of the dry period was increased by parity. Ayrshire had shorter rest period and less days open than Holstein. Based on the results from this study, there was a difference between breeds on how ketosis affects milk production and milk composition. Further research is needed to understand the basis of the difference between breeds.