Technical notes on sustainable dairying

A digital handbook for farmers and advisors on various aspects of low-input and organic dairy farming has just been published

The Farmer Handbook is an output of the Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying (SOLID) project, financed by the European Union.

In this series of technical notes, produced by ORC, we are presenting a selection of results and recommendations of the work undertaken in SOLID. The technical notes cover three thematic areas which we believe are particularly important for organic and low-input farming: feeding of ruminants with forage-based diets and home-grown feeds; animal management for health and welfare; and wider issues of the environment and economics.

For five years (2011 to 2016) agricultural scientists and farming experts from 25 institutions in ten European countries worked together in order to develop new knowledge and methods to improve the sustainability of the organic and low-input dairying systems in Europe. Nine of the project partners were SMEs working with low-input and organic dairy farmers (including co-operatives, advisory services and one organic certification body). The project was coordinated by the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University, UK.

Download the Farmers Handbook or individual technical notes from http://farmadvice.solidairy.eu/farmers-leaflets/

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