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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.

2014

Abstract

The spring and the summer growth of an organic grass-clover sward were preserved as extensively and restrictedly fermented silages in laboratory silos.The aim was to develop and test the hypothesis that such crops contribute complementary energy and protein qualities that can be exploited in mixed rations. The summer growth, containing 76% red clover, contributed more, and more stable crude protein than the spring growth, which was dominated by grasses. Nevertheless, when preserved as silage, summer growth supplied less metabolizable protein and net energy lactation because of its lower digestibility. Lower feed value remains to be validated in feeding experiments, and the quality of regrowth silages may also be improved by more frequent or appropriate timing of harvests. Restricted fermentation obtained by application of formic acid improved energy and protein preservation.

Abstract

This study presents the analysis of panel data on steep terrain logging productivity in Norway. Given the specification of a Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier production function in which the technical inefficiency is a function of six different environmental factors, it was found that only one (terrain hindrance) decreased the efficiency significantly. The estimated efficiencies for the sample crews ranged from 0.43 to 0.99. Because of the nature of the inefficiency factors, one way to improve the efficiency could be to train the crews for working on steep slopes. This would also improve the safety when exposing workers to these types of environmental hazards.