This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Unclaimed
Hannah Davis
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

The user biography is not available.
Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Original research article
Published: 28 October 2020 in Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Low-input (LI) dairy farming, relying heavily on grazing, is increasing in popularity for perceived sustainability, welfare, and milk nutritional quality benefits. However, there is little research into the breed suitability for these systems. The popular Holstein–Friesians are not well-suited to LI production as, to achieve their potential high yields, they require high levels of concentrate intakes and veterinary inputs. Holstein–Friesians were traditionally bred for high milk yields, which often correlate negatively with functional traits, such as fertility and health. This drives the need for alternative breed choices, and UK dairy farmers use several crossbreeding practices. Additionally, classic measures of production efficiency (kilogram feed per liter of milk) are not the sole priority in LI systems, which also aim for improved health, fertility, forage conversion, and milk quality. This study aimed to explore the effect of breeding strategy on LI and organic production in dairy systems, collecting data from 17 farms throughout England and Wales: 7 organic and 10 low-input conventional systems with both purebred and crossbred cows from different breeds. Records from 1,070 cows were collected, including background data, health, fertility, breeding, and parity. Additionally, milk was analyzed on four occasions (autumn 2011 and winter, spring, and summer 2012). Principal components analysis was used to visualize the effect of management, Farm ID, and stage of lactation on LI production. The analysis clustered cows by Farm ID, showing that individual management practice on each farm had the greatest impact on various production traits. Cows were allocated a composite score based on their yield, health records, and milk fatty acid profile, and a linear mixed-effects model indicated (p < 0.01) that crossbred New Zealand Friesian cows scored highest, whereas Dairy Shorthorn cows scored the lowest. This paper highlights weaknesses in current breeding programs for LI and organic farms in the UK, in terms of the alignment of breeds with husbandry practices. Additional research is needed to explore any gene by environment interactions to meet the true potential of individual cows and certain breeds under LI and organic management.

ACS Style

Hannah Davis; Sokratis Stergiadis; Eleni Chatzidimitriou; Roy Sanderson; Carlo Leifert; Gillian Butler. Meeting Breeding Potential in Organic and Low-Input Dairy Farming. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020, 7, 544149 .

AMA Style

Hannah Davis, Sokratis Stergiadis, Eleni Chatzidimitriou, Roy Sanderson, Carlo Leifert, Gillian Butler. Meeting Breeding Potential in Organic and Low-Input Dairy Farming. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2020; 7 ():544149.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Davis; Sokratis Stergiadis; Eleni Chatzidimitriou; Roy Sanderson; Carlo Leifert; Gillian Butler. 2020. "Meeting Breeding Potential in Organic and Low-Input Dairy Farming." Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, no. : 544149.

Journal article
Published: 02 May 2020 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Researching the distinguishing factors of nutritional milk quality is key to sustainable production and addresses increasing media and scientific scrutiny regarding human health effects and ecological impacts of dairy products. Modern Western diets have high omega-6 relative to omega-3 fatty acid (FA) consumption. This ratio in milk can be manipulated by management practices; increasing forage in dairy diets raises omega-3 in milk. Whilst studies identify higher concentrations of nutritionally beneficial FAs in organic dairy, milk from 100% forage-fed cows in the UK has not been investigated. This study explores differences in FA composition between supermarket conventional and organic and Pasture for Life Association (PFLA) milk, collected in April, July and October, 2017. PFLA milk had higher concentrations of conjugated linoleic acid (+94%) and omega-3 (+92%) than conventional milk. Additionally, concentrations of palmitic acid (+11%), omega-6 (+69%) and the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 (+201%) were higher in conventional than PFLA milk. PFLA milk had higher concentrations of alpha-linolenic acid (+39%), conjugated linoleic acid (+30%) and omega-3 (+21%) and lower concentrations of omega-6 (−36%) and a lower ratio of omega-6/omega-3 (−44%) than organic milk. This supports previous studies and demonstrates the scope to improve milk FA profiles further for potential health benefits through pasture-based management.

ACS Style

Hannah Davis; Eleni Chatzidimitriou; Carlo Leifert; Gillian Butler. Evidence That Forage-Fed Cows Can Enhance Milk Quality. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3688 .

AMA Style

Hannah Davis, Eleni Chatzidimitriou, Carlo Leifert, Gillian Butler. Evidence That Forage-Fed Cows Can Enhance Milk Quality. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (9):3688.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Davis; Eleni Chatzidimitriou; Carlo Leifert; Gillian Butler. 2020. "Evidence That Forage-Fed Cows Can Enhance Milk Quality." Sustainability 12, no. 9: 3688.