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Characteristics of cattle production in Europe

Environmental impacts of (beef) cattle

Seerp Tamminga

North + West
no heat stress grass based grazing dairy (+ beef)

South + East
heat stress maize silage zero grazing beef (+dairy)

The Netherlands 150 km

clay below sea level sand above sea level

Statistics about the Netherlands

1975
Size (ha) * Agriculture (ha) * People* P/.sq. km
*: millions

1985
3.73 2.02 14.5 426

1995
3.73 1.96 16.0 430

300 km

Wageningen

3.72 2.08 13.6 409

Men and animals in the Netherlands

1975 People* Cattle* Sheep* Pigs* Poultry*
*: x

Animal Production (Systems)

ANIMAL
MANURE

1985 14.5 5.25 0.81 12.4 89.9

1995 16.0 4.65 1.67 14.4 89.6

2005 16.1 3.60 1.20 10.8 85.8

13.6 4.96 0.76 7.28 77.5

Carbon (C) Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K) PLANT SOIL

million

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Environmental concerns

Animal production and Environment

Carbon dioxide CO2 Methane CH4 Its shit again Feces, urine Ammonia, NH3

Acid deposition Water contamination P accumulation (soil) Greenhouse effect Impairment ozone layer

Feed Milk

Interventions
soil greenhouse gases CO2 CH4 N2O capture (no) tillage oxidation fertilizer plant capture animal nutrition nutrition nutrition housing ? numbers housing storage storage acidification storage injection acidification manure

Nutrients in plants and animals

Plants C from photosynthesis (C from CO2) N from soil, fertiliser or manure P2O5 from fertiliser or manure Animals C from DOM, TDN, ME or NE C lost in CH4 N from MP in feed P from feed

fertilizer legumes species zero grazing fertilizer fertilizer

NH3 Nitrate Phosphorus fertilizer fertilizer

replacement

Nutrients required by farm animals

Energy (C) is the driving force Utilisation of energy is primarily determined by digestibility Within energy, N (and P) are required up to a level where the marginal efficiency is almost zero Efficiency of N utilisation depends on microbial protein synthesis in the rumen Efficiency of N utilisation depends AA ratio

C/N/P and N/P ratios in inputs

Product C N1 P1 N2 P2 =============================================== Inputs grass 100 8.4 0.98 100 8.6 maize silage 100 3.0 0.56 100 5.4 grass silage 100 6.4 0.82 100 7.8 grains 100 4.4 0.90 100 4.9 oil seeds 100 7.0 1.33 100 5.3 legume seeds 100 9.8 1.04 100 9.4 oil seed meals 100 11.9 1.70 100 7.0

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C/N/P and N/P ratios in outputs

Product C N1 P1 N2 P2 ================================================ high value outputs milk 100 7.3 1.24 100 5.9 eggs 100 13.3 1.39 100 9.5 pigs 100 8.0 1.66 100 4.8 cattle 100 10.9 3.21 100 3.4 poultry 100 17.9 3.29 100 5.4 low value outputs cattle manure swine manure poultry manure 100 100 100 28.5 22.1 21.6 4.32 5.83 7.48 100 100 100 15.2 26.4 34.5

Energy partitioning
Gross Energy Fecal energy

Digestible energy (DOM, TDN) Methane energy Urinary energy Metabolizable Energy (ME) Fermentation heat Oxidation heat Net Energy (NE) Ketogenic Glycogenic Aminogenic

Protein partitioning
Crude Protein (CP = Nx6.25) Undegraded Feed Protein Rumen degraded protein Microbial Protein Faecal protein Metabolizable Protein (MP) Oxidation Protein deposition (Milk, Body) Urea Ammonia Nucleic acids

Nutrients (g/kg DOM) in different processes

N P g/ kg DOM 5.2 3.4 14.4 3.7 20.0 4.0 31.0 5.7 40.0 8.6

Maintenance Growth mature (fat) Rumen microbes Milk Growth young (protein)

NE, MP and P lost in maintenance

BW Stockers Feedlot Replacement Beef cows Bulls 300 450 425 600 650 NE 0.76 0.52 0.64 0.76 0.55 MP 0.71 0.44 0.65 0.71 0.66 P 0.74 0.60 0.65 0.74 0.66

Animal models for nutrient use

Downstream or upstream Downstream: Divide farm or area level or balance over number of animals Nutrients not retained my cycle more often through the system Upstream: Multiply animal balance with number of animals on farm or in area When given free choice (grazing) animals may select

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Upstream: Integrated dynamic models

Controlled indoor feeding systems Dairy cattle CNCPS: Fox et al, 2004 Methane: Mills et al, 2001 Nitrogen: Kebreab et al., 2001 Phosphorus: Kebreab et al, 2004 Beef cattle CNCPS, Fox et al., 2004

Downstream: Animal model development

Nutrient (N, P) balance calculated Covering energy requirements determines DMI An average diet is composed The average diet determines N and P intake N and P deposition is calculated Correction for (unavoidable) gaseous N losses

Steps
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Animal categories
Code 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 category cattle turkeys poultry pigs sheep goats fur animals ducks rabbits sub-categories 8 3 5 10 2 2 6 2 4

Animal categories (52) Feed and N (or P) intake per animal per year N (or P) output in animal products (milk, eggs, growth) per animal per year Gross excretion by difference Correction for gaseous N losses (%) Net excretion in kg N (or P) per animal per year

Animal categories cattle

Category 100 101 102 112 120 123 124 125 Sub-categories dairy cattle young cattle < 1 year young cattle > 1 year veal calves suckler cows beef cattle 0-16 months beef cattle < 1 year beef cattle > 1 year

In- and output per animal per year per category kg (DM) N/kg (DM) kg N
Intake Feed 1 Feed 2 Feed 3 Feed 4 Deposition Milk (egg) Body Excretion ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... + ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... _ .......

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Animal category: cattle

Premises National availability of grass/maize silage and concentrates Number of dairy cows and beef cattle Milk (FPCM) per dairy cow/year Heifers and calves/dairy cow/year Energy (NEL or VEM) required per dairy cow (102% of requirements) For maintenance, pregnancy, negative energy balance, grazing and for milk (FPCM) production Average dairy diet amount of fresh grass

N deposition

Form Calf Cow Heifer Milk Total

kg 44 600 525 7439

times/yr 0,65 0,65 0,35 (7913)

g N/kg 29,4 22,5 23,1 5,5

kg N +0,8 +4,7 - 4.2 +40,9 +42,2

Standard N excretion/cow/year in dairy cattle

Intake
Fresh grass Grass silage Maize silage Standard concentr. High CP conc. Wet by-pr.

Standard N excretion/cow/year in beef cattle

Intake
Milk (replacer) Maize silage Standard concentr. High CP conc. Low CP conc. Wet by-pr.

kg ds
1445 2160 1200 1500 250 150

N/ds
34.6 29.0 12.5 27.0 35.0 20.0

kg N
50.0 62.6 15.0 40.5 8.8 3.0

kg ds
25 1377 56 318 440 261

N/ds
34,0 11,7 32,0 32,0 26.0 19.0

kg N
0.85 16.1 1.8 10.2 11.4 5.0

179.9 Deposition
in milk in body (+ calf) 42,2

45.4 Deposition
in body (+ calf) 11.4

Excretion

137.7

Excretion

34.0

Gaseous losses
Sources
Ammonia volatilisation Nitrification Denitrification

N excretions in farm animals

Category Dairy cattle Veal calves gross excretion (kg N/yr) 137.7 12.0 gaseous losses (%) 11 18 net excretion (kg N/yr 122.5 9.8

Sources of variation
Animal category (ratio urine/faeces) Type of housing

Beef cattle
Sheep Goats Fattening pigs Laying hens Broilers Rabbits

34.0
13.3 14.2 11.7 0.676 0.543 0.703

19
9 44 29 25 28 32

27.5
12.1 8.0 8.3 0.50 0.39 0.48

Measuring techniques
Direct Indirect from N and P balance

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Conclusions
Animal production inevitably causes nutrient losses Costs (damage) and trade off values needed between losses of N, P and greenhouse gases In beef cattle between 50 and 75% of nutrients is lost in maintenance Minimum dietary N levels are dictated by the needs of the rumen microbial population Most by-products are (too) high in N and P related to energy

Recommendations
Minimize N and P losses in maintenance Allow no weight loss Minimize number of replacement animals Reduce N (and P) intake to below requirements for rumen microbes and make use of recycling Shift N excretion from urine to feces Reduce urinary N losses Stimulate hind gut fermentation Limit use of by-products in beef cattle

Thanks for your attention

Wageningen UR