This is beer draft. Often the Dutch farmers feed it as a by-product.

Holland

Common information

In Holland the farms are very intensive. There are a lot of cattle, pigs and chickens on a small area. For example the average amount of cows at a Dutch farm is 65 cows. There are 1,6 million dairy cows, 1,4 million young stock and 1,2 million beef cattle in Holland. So the mineral circle is very important for Dutch farmers. About 69% of the total Dutch area is used for arable or grass land. The most common breed in Holland is the Holstein Frisian.

Structure 

There’s not so much structure in silage in Holland if you compare it with silage in other countries like Finland. The Dutch farmers feed a minimum of structure. This is because the Dutch farmers cut  grass early. They want to have silage of high quality (with a lot of energy and protein). They can cut five or six times a year. Most farmers don’t feed hay to cows with a high production.

Quality of manure

Most manure in Holland is slurry, there's not so much strawmanure. The average amount of minerals in Holland is: 3,7 kg N, 1,7 kg P₂O₅ and 6,8 kg K₂O per 1000 kg manure (2002).

Quality of milk

The average milk production in Holland is 8788 kg milk per lactation (305 days). The average fat percentage is 4,45%, and the average protein percentage is 3,51%.

Most farmers feed silage, maize and concentrated feed. Often farmers feed by-products, because there’s a lot of energy and protein in them and it's not so expensive. It's good for milk quality, too.

Nitrogen in the cow

The average urea level in Holland is 23,7. Most Dutch farmers want an urea level between 20 and 25.

A few farmers in Holland said: "I want a urea level around the 20, so the protein digesting is efficient".

Another Dutch farmer: "I feed beer draft because it's very good for a rumen, and you can easily steer the urea level".

Source: Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek (CBS)

Page updated 16.5.2006