Dutch Dairies Reward Grazing

Changing societal drivers and consumer demands require systems that provide desired human foods produced through sustainable production systems. The aim was to show effects of grazing system on milk fatty acid (FA) composition in Dutch farming practice and to analyse current developments in grassland utilization and dairy payments. Milk conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentration was a function of hours cows spent at pasture, both at a regional and at a farm scale. Despite beneficial effects of fresh herbage in the dairy production chain on unsaturated FA in milk, the trend in The Netherlands is that cows are more indoors and consume less fresh grass. Action groups have triggered the public debate, mainly from the viewpoint of animal welfare. This has provoked much discussion and raised concern in the public opinion and in politics. Sentiments and marketing rather than scientific evidence dictated the political agenda. In 2011, retailers replaced their private label dairy products with certified products based on milk from farms where cows have access to pasture. The major Dutch dairy company changed its policy in favour of promoting grazing, mainly to preserve the natural image and for providing dairy farmers a societal license to produce. Farmers who graze cows get a premium of €0.50/100 kg milk since 2012