We are part of the 3-year BLE innovation project ReMissionDairy for efficient dairy cow feeding.

These are the goals of ReMissionDairy

In view of global structural developments and climate change, strategies to increase production efficiency and minimize climate and environmental impacts are being called for in agriculture, particularly in animal production. The joint project ReMissionDairy is responding to this appeal: With the help of innovative feed controlling and management, feeding efficiency is to be increased and methane emissions from dairy farming reduced. The aim of ReMissionDairy is therefore to set up a web platform that supports feeding strategies to reduce methane and nitrogen emissions and thus increase efficiency in dairy farming.

The planned innovative web platform is intended to serve as a basis for independent feed controlling and management on the farm and to provide current key efficiency figures. In this way, ReMissionDairy supports farmers throughout Germany in making information-based management decisions at animal group and herd level. Optimization measures can be planned and implemented in a targeted manner, taking animal health aspects into account. In this way, production efficiency can be sustainably increased on an individual farm basis and the environmental impact of the individual farm can be reduced.

Precise feeding data will be collected and evaluated over two years on 30 pilot farms, which will receive intensive support as part of a feeding consultation. The data on feeding is combined with data from the milk performance test and milk quality test as well as other animal-related data. The cow’s energy status and methane emissions are estimated on the basis of milk MIR spectra. The results from the calculation of performance, emission and feeding parameters are used to calculate potential savings. In this way, the ReMissionDairy web platform can support farmers and feed consultants in increasing feed efficiency.

The project team

ReMissionDairy is a joint project in which experts from science and industry contribute their know-how and experience. The project team comprises the following partners: Vereinigte Informationssysteme Tierhaltung w. V. (vit), Deutscher Verband für Leistungs- und Qualitätsprüfungen e. V. (DLQ), Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, the state control associations in Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony and Weser-Ems as well as the two companies agrosom and us, fodjan.

Translating scientific findings into agricultural practice often fails because the link between the two areas is missing and there is no implementation. This is often not easy even in Europe, but it is even more difficult in developing countries, for example in Africa. However, digitalization offers many opportunities to break new ground here. Prof. Dr. Uta Dickhöfer and her team at the Department of Animal Nutrition and Pasture Management in the Tropics and Subtropics at the University of Hohenheim have recognized this opportunity and have set themselves the goal of improving dairy cattle feeding in Africa by putting their research results directly “in the hands” of farmers with the help of smartphones.

Dairy farms in Africa

Small and medium-sized dairy farms play an important role in the supply of milk and dairy products and as a source of income for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. The farms usually keep 1-15 dairy cows of local breeds or their crosses with exotic dairy breeds such as Holstein or Jersey cattle. Depending on the season, feeding is based on pasture fodder, cultivated forage grasses, crop residues (e.g. straw and leaves from cultivated plants) and purchased concentrates. In particular, the lack of basic feed and its low feed value, but also a lack of knowledge about feeding and the use of concentrates adapted to the animals’ needs, limit the health and performance of the animals and thus the profitability of dairy farming. We therefore want to provide farmers with a digital decision-making tool that they can use to obtain information about their feed and improve the feeding of their animals.

Start of the tropical project

In the first stage of development, the feed evaluation model was adapted with requirement values for energy and protein of the locally used dairy cattle breeds under local husbandry conditions. Another important data basis is the feed database. Here, information on the feed value of important tropical basic and concentrated feeds from previous studies in the field, as well as from scientific publications and publicly accessible overview tables, was compiled in a database.

This is where our collaboration began. From the existing knowledge and given data, fodjan developed a customized app version for Hohenheim’s tropical project. This first prototype was tested in practice for three months in Kenya by a Master’s student at the university. She presented the app to local dairy farmers, calculated rations and collected many ideas for the next development steps. Everyone involved was pleasantly surprised by the sheer level of interest shown by the farmers and organizations.

We are therefore looking forward to further cooperation.