Welchen Einfluss hat der Weidegang auf die Gesundheit von Milchkühen? Erste Ergebnisse von Auswertungen umfangreicher Praxiserhebungen in der ökologischen Milchviehhaltung

The effects of grassland management and grazing strategy on cow health in organic dairy farming in Germany have not yet been explored. On the basis of comprehensive data sets of 124 organic dairy farms generated within the Federal Organic Farming Scheme, the aims of this study were 1) to assess grassland management and pasture use, 2) to identify the grazing strategies and, 3) to investigate the effects of grazing on health and other welfare indicators of organic dairy cows in Germany. In this paper, we describe selected animal-based parameters for herd health and compare groups of farms with different grazing strategies. Farms using pasture especially for grazing had a lower lameness prevalence and less cows with dirty hind legs, but grazing strategy had no effect on udder health state or metabolic disorders. The results further suggest that organic dairy farms using pasture mainly as outdoor runs (not especially aiming at feed intake from the pasture), produce milk on a more intensive production and management level and are characterized by higher milk yield and larger herds. To disentangle other farm structure and management effects from grassland and pasture management measures, further multivariate analysis will be carried out