Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2023
Authors
Matthew M. McIntosh Andres F. Cibils Shelemia Nyamuryekung'e Richard Estell Andrew Cox Danielle M. Duni Qixu Gong Tony Waterhouse John P. Holland Huiping Cao Laura Boucheron Huiying Chen Sheri Spiegal Glenn Duff Santiago A. UtsumiAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Odd Arne Rognli Trygve S. Aamlid Muath K Alsheikh Helga Amdahl Sigridur Dalmannsdottir Kristoffer Herland Hellton Marit Jørgensen Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi Therese Mæland Akhil Reddy Pashapu Ievina Sturite Thordis Linda Thorarinsdottir Susanne Skinnehaugen WindjuAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Martha Irene Grøseth Linda Karlsson Håvard Steinshamn Marianne Johansen Alemayehu Kidane Egil PrestløkkenAbstract
A continuous production experiment was conducted in Norway with 48 Norwegian Red dairy cows in early- to mid-lactation, to investigate the effect of grass silage with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or formic acid (FA) additives, on milk yield (MY) and milk protein yield (MPY). Grass wilted to 250 g dry matter (DM)/kg was inoculated with homofermentative LAB to obtain LAB silage, whilst FA silage was produced adding a FA-based additive. The two silages were fed ad libitum and supplemented with an average 10.3 kg of either high (H) or low (L) metabolizable protein (MP) concentrates, in a 2 ✗ 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The treatments were LAB silage and L concentrate, LAB silage and H concentrate, FA silage and L concentrate and FA silage and H concentrate. The use of FA resulted in lower levels of residual water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), and higher levels of ammonia nitrogen (NH3single bondN), compared to LAB. In situ results for FA silage showed lower rumen degradability of crude protein (CP), while gas in vitro results showed lower utilizable CP (uCP), compared to LAB silage (782 vs. 750 g/kg DM and 128 vs. 119 g/kg DM, respectively). The purine over creatinine (PDC) index did not indicate any effects on the microbial protein synthesis (MPS) from any of the treatments. The higher daily intake of FA silage (12.5 vs.13.7 kg DM for LAB and FA, respectively, P < 0.001), did not result in significant differences in daily MY (31.0 vs. 30.2 kg, P = 0.208), nor MPY (1.08 vs.1.07 kg/day, P = 0.878) for LAB and FA, respectively. Feeding H concentrate gave higher MPY (P = 0.036), higher urea in milk (P < 0.001), plasma (P < 0.001) and urine (P = 0.008) and tended to give higher MY (P = 0.063) for both silages. For amino acids (AA) in plasma, alanine was higher for FA silage than for LAB silage (P = 0.030), while histidine (P = 0.001), leucine (P = 0.015) and glutamine (P = 0.007) were higher for both silages when cows were fed H concentrate. In conclusion, the FA and LAB additives did not affect MY or MPY any differently. Feeding H concentrate resulted in higher MPY for both silages, but reduced nitrogen (N) efficiency.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Mohammad Tirgariseraji Tomas Persson Yaghoob Jafari Mahmood Sabouhi Sabouni Alisher Mirzabaev Alireza Nikouei Naser Shahnoushi ForoushaniAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Shelemia Nyamuryekung'e Andrew Cox Andres Perea Richard Estell Andres F. Cibils John P. Holland Tony Waterhouse Glenn Duff Micah Funk Matthew M. McIntosh Sheri Spiegal Brandon Bestelmeyer Santiago UtsumiAbstract
Virtual fencing systems have emerged as a promising technology for managing the distribution of livestock in extensive grazing environments. This study provides comprehensive documentation of the learning process involving two conditional behavioral mechanisms and the documentation of efficient, effective, and safe animal training for virtual fence applications on nursing Brangus cows. Two hypotheses were examined: (1) animals would learn to avoid restricted zones by increasing their use of containment zones within a virtual fence polygon, and (2) animals would progressively receive fewer audio-electric cues over time and increasingly rely on auditory cues for behavioral modification. Data from GPS coordinates, behavioral metrics derived from the collar data, and cueing events were analyzed to evaluate these hypotheses. The results supported hypothesis 1, revealing that virtual fence activation significantly increased the time spent in containment zones and reduced time in restricted zones compared to when the virtual fence was deactivated. Concurrently, behavioral metrics mirrored these findings, with cows adjusting their daily travel distances, exploration area, and cumulative activity counts in response to the allocation of areas with different virtual fence configurations. Hypothesis 2 was also supported by the results, with a decrease in cueing events over time and increased reliance with animals on audio cueing to avert receiving the mild electric pulse. These outcomes underscore the rapid learning capabilities of groups of nursing cows in responding to virtual fence boundaries.
Abstract
More than 2/3rds of Norway’s agricultural area are grassland, and more than half of it is over 5 years old. Renewing old grassland increases annual yield but causes yield loss during renewal. Parts of the increased yield is due to replacement of low-productive species with high production species and cultivars, replacing biodiversity with productivity. Finding the optimal rate of renewal requires long term experiments to compare the sustainability of different strategies. Therefore, three field experiments were established to investigate the effect of difference renewal and harvest strategies on grass yield and quality, on similar mineral soil at Særheim (58.5°N, 5.6°E) in 1968 and Fureneset (61.3°N,5.0°E) in 1974, and on peat soil at Svanhovd (69.5°N,30.0°E) in 1968. Until 1991, the experiment included non-renewed treatments, and renewal every 3rd or 6th year. It was cut either two or three times a year, with autumn grazing on parts of the two-cut regime. The experiment was simplified in 1992, with the establishment of another non-renewed treatment, all treatments being cut 3 times a year (2 at Svanhovd), no grazing but contrasting slurry and compound fertilizer applications. This phase lasted until 2011, followed by period with no renewal and minimal registration. The third phase started in 2016, with renewal of all treatments at Fureneset and Særheim, except the permanent grassland from 1968/1974. Duration between renewals was doubled, and fertilizer applications revised. Presenting results from the third phase, we show that five to six years are required to recoup and significantly over-yield the non-renewed grassland. We will use soil chemical and physical properties, fertilizer application and yield gaps as well as ecological succession from sown seed mixture in 2017 till 2022 grassland to discuss the why we needed six years for all renewed treatments to over-yield permanent grassland from 1974.
Authors
Tatiana Francischinelli Rittl Reidun Pommeresche Anders Johansen Håvard Steinshamn Hugh Riley Anne-Kristin LøesAbstract
Renewable energy in the form of biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion (AD) of animal manure. However, there is still a lack of knowledge on the long-term effects of AD-treated manure on soil characteristics and crop productivity, compared with untreated manure. A field experiment was established in a perennial grass-clover ley in 2011 to study the effects on important soil and crop characteristics when the slurry from a herd of organically managed dairy cows is anaerobically digested. While the rate of manure application affected soil concentrations of extractable nutrients and pH, these variables were unaffected by AD. Soil organic matter (SOM) concentrations decreased in all plots and faster on the plots with high intrinsic SOM. The decrease was similar with application of untreated (non-digested) slurry (US) and anaerobically digested slurry (ADS), and it was not affected by application rates. The general decline may be explained by the initial high SOM content, the long-term effect of drainage, and higher temperatures with climatic change. US and ADS gave similar yields of grass-clover ley (2 cuts/year) and green fodder, on average 0.79 and 0.40 kg DM m−2, respectively. Clover yield was similar in manured treatments and the non-fertilized control. With respect to crop yields and chemical soil characteristics, long-term (10 years) effects of AD in an organic dairy cow farming system seem to be minor. The benefits of extracting energy from the slurry did not compromise grassland productivity or soil quality in the long term.
Authors
Vibeke LindAbstract
No abstract has been registered