Department of Animal Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA.
J Dairy Sci. 2013 Feb;96(2):1290-300. doi: 10.3168/jds.2012-5845. Epub 2012 Dec 6.
The objective of this study was to evaluate management characteristics on organic and similarly sized conventional dairy farms located in New York, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Data from 192 organic farms (ORG), 64 conventional nongrazing farms (CON-NG), and 36 conventional grazing farms (CON-GR) were collected during farm visits and were size-matched and analyzed. The average lactation number of animals on ORG and CON-GR farms was 2.6 lactations, which was greater than that on CON-NG farms (2.3 lactations). A greater percentage of first-lactation heifers were found on conventional farms than on ORG farms. Facilities used by adult animals, including housing and milking facilities, did not differ among the grazing systems. Cattle on conventional farms were fed approximately twice as much grain as cattle on ORG farms and had greater milk production. Little difference was found for the average reported somatic cell count and standard plate count, suggesting that milk quality is not dependent on grazing system. Milking procedures were similar across all 3 grazing systems, indicating that an industry standard now exists for milking and that milk quality problems will need to be addressed with other management problems in mind. Although some disease prevention measures were commonly utilized on ORG farms, such as keeping a closed herd and having a written record of treatments administered to the animals, the use of outside support and vaccinations were found to be less prevalent on organic farms than on conventional farms.
本研究旨在评估位于纽约、威斯康星州和俄勒冈州的有机和类似规模的常规奶牛场的管理特点。在农场访问期间收集了 192 个有机农场（ORG）、64 个常规非放牧农场（CON-NG）和 36 个常规放牧农场（CON-GR）的数据，并进行了规模匹配和分析。ORG 和 CON-GR 农场的动物平均泌乳次数为 2.6 次，高于 CON-NG 农场（2.3 次）。常规农场的初产小母牛比例高于 ORG 农场。成年动物使用的设施，包括住房和挤奶设施，在放牧系统之间没有差异。常规农场的牛饲料中谷物的摄入量约为 ORG 农场的两倍，产奶量也更高。平均体细胞计数和标准平板计数报告差异不大，表明牛奶质量不依赖于放牧系统。所有 3 个放牧系统的挤奶程序都相似，表明现在已经为挤奶制定了行业标准，并且需要在考虑其他管理问题的情况下解决牛奶质量问题。尽管 ORG 农场通常采用一些疾病预防措施，例如保持封闭的畜群并记录对动物进行的治疗，但与常规农场相比，有机农场使用外部支持和疫苗的情况较少。
