The influence of dairy management strategies on water productivity of milk production

Krauß, Michael; Kraatz, Simone; Drastig, Katrin; Prochnow, Annette

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2014.07.015

Cited by 23 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The cows in the HBP group were fed a total mixed ratio of 45.2% grass silage, 47.5% maize silage, 6.1% rape seed meal, and 1.2% minerals and vitamins, providing a dry matter intake of 17.4 kg per cow per day with a dry matter content of 35%. The composition, dry matter intake, and dry matter content of each diet was ruminant appropriate, being similar to those reported by Krauß et al [2].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…The technical water demand in the HBP was 89 L per cow per day and in the AMS 121 L per cow per day. Given a water demand between 600 and 700 L per kg milk for the production of feed, according to the farm water productivity approach [2] the measured water demand for drinking was 0.4% of total water demand. The relation of cleaning water to total water demand was 0.1% for the AMS and 0.2% for the HBP.…”

Section: Relation Of Technical Water Demand To Total Water Demand Formentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The water used in the barn is mainly provided by technical means and represents part of the technical water [6]. This technical water accounts for less than 5% of total water use in German dairy farming [2], but it is diverted from its natural cycle and so must be paid for. Hence particular attention is paid to the use of technical water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultivation of feed crops accounts for the highest share of water use in dairy farming [1][2][3][4][5]. In rainfed farming, this water is provided by the natural water cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drinking and Cleaning Water Use in a Dairy Cow Barn

Krauß

Drastig

Prochnow

et al. 2016

Water

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Abstract:Water is used in dairy farming for producing feed, watering the animals, and cleaning and disinfecting barns and equipment. The objective of this study was to investigate the drinking and cleaning water use in a dairy cow barn. The water use was measured on a well-managed commercial dairy farm in North-East Germany. Thirty-eight water meters were installed in a barn with 176 cows and two milking systems (an automatic milking system and a herringbone parlour). Their counts were logged hourly over 806 days. On average, the cows in the automatic milking system used 91.1 (SD 14.3) L drinking water per cow per day, while those in the herringbone parlour used 54.4 (SD 5.3) L per cow per day. The cows drink most of the water during the hours of (natural and artificial) light in the barn. Previously published regression functions of drinking water intake of the cows were reviewed and a new regression function based on the ambient temperature and the milk yield was developed (drinking water intake (L per cow per day) =´27.937 + 0.49ˆmean temperature + 3.15ˆmilk yield (R 2 = 0.67)). The cleaning water demand had a mean of 28.6 (SD 14.8) L per cow per day in the automatic milking system, and a mean of 33.8 (SD 14.1) L per cow per day in the herringbone parlour. These findings show that the total technical water use in the barn makes only a minor contribution to water use in dairy farming compared with the water use for feed production.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Relation Of Technical Water Demand To Total Water Demand Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultivation of feed crops accounts for the highest share of water use in dairy farming [1][2][3][4][5]. In rainfed farming, this water is provided by the natural water cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drinking and Cleaning Water Use in a Dairy Cow Barn

Krauß

Drastig

Prochnow

et al. 2016

Water

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“…A number of studies showed that improvement in the production efficiency of livestock has a positive effect on water use efficiency (Gebreselassie et al, 2009;Peden et al, 2009;Capper, 2011;Krauß et al, 2015). This is partly attributable to lower share of water for maintenance purposes due to the need to raise fewer animals to produce a given amount of product , an outcome referred to as "dilution of maintenance."…”

Section: Increasing Water Use Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

BOARD-INVITED REVIEW: Quantifying water use in ruminant production1

Legesse

Ominski

Beauchemin

et al. 2017

Journal of Animal Science

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ABSTRACT:The depletion of water resources, in terms of both quantity and quality, has become a major concern both locally and globally. Ruminants, in particular, are under increased public scrutiny due to their relatively high water use per unit of meat or milk produced. Estimating the water footprint of livestock production is a relatively new field of research for which methods are still evolving. This review describes the approaches used to quantify water use in ruminant production systems as well as the methodological and conceptual issues associated with each approach. Water use estimates for the main products from ruminant production systems are also presented, along with possible management strategies to reduce water use. In the past, quantifying water withdrawal in ruminant production focused on the water demand for drinking or operational purposes. Recently, the recognition of water as a scarce resource has led to the development of several methodologies including water footprint assessment, life cycle assessment, and livestock water productivity to assess water use and its environmental impacts. These methods differ with respect to their target outcome (efficiency or environmental impacts), geographic focus (local or global), description of water sources (green, blue, and gray), handling of water quality concerns, the interpretation of environmental impacts, and the metric by which results are communicated (volumetric units or impact equivalents). Ruminant production is a complex activity where animals are often reared at different sites using a range of resources over their lifetime. Additional water use occurs during slaughter, product processing, and packaging. Estimating water use at the various stages of meat and milk production and communicating those estimates will help producers and other stakeholders identify hotspots and implement strategies to improve water use efficiency. Improvements in ruminant productivity (i.e., BW and milk production) and reproductive efficiency can also reduce the water footprint per unit product. However, given that feed production makes up the majority of water use by ruminants, research and development efforts should focus on this area. More research and clarity are needed to examine the validity of assumptions and possible trade-offs between ruminants' water use and other sustainability indicators.

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Water productivity of poultry production: the influence of different broiler fattening systems

Krauß

Keßler

Prochnow

et al. 2015

Food and Energy Security

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With the expected increase in poultry meat consumption water use will increase as well. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of fattening systems on the water productivity in broiler chicken production with consideration given to conditions in Germany. Four fattening systems were analyzed in terms of water use for feed production, drinking, cleaning, and the parent stock. The fattening systems differed in intensity, ranging from fast fattening with a fattening period of 30 days and a carcass weight of 1.1 kg to slow fattening with a period up to 46 days and a carcass weight of 2.1 kg. During the fattening period the broiler chicken were fed with performance-linked feed. The water productivity of the feed components varied from 0.4 kg dry mass per m 3 water input for soybean meal to 1.8 kg dry mass per m 3 water input for maize. In all fattening systems the water input for feed production accounted for 90 to 93% of the total water input. The share for the parent stock was 7 to 10%, while drinking and cleaning water accounted for less than 1%. For all fattening systems the water productivity was 0.3 kg carcass weight per m 3 water input, 2.8 MJ food energy per m 3 water input and 57 g food protein per m 3 water input. The shorter fattening period and lower feed demand in the more intensive fattening systems were juxtaposed to the higher carcass weight and higher water productivity of the feed components in the more extensive systems.

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The influence of dairy management strategies on water productivity of milk production

Cited by 23 publications

References 38 publications

Drinking and Cleaning Water Use in a Dairy Cow Barn

Drinking and Cleaning Water Use in a Dairy Cow Barn

BOARD-INVITED REVIEW: Quantifying water use in ruminant production1

Water productivity of poultry production: the influence of different broiler fattening systems

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