Benvenuti in Selko®. Questo sito è disponibile anche in italiano.

Benvenuti in Selko®. Questa pagina è disponibile anche in italiano.

Visita il sito Rifiuta

Bienvenido a Selko®. Este sitio también está disponible en español

Bienvenido a Selko®. Esta página también está disponible en inglés

Visitar la web Cancelar

Vítejte ve společnosti Selko®. Tyto stránky jsou k dispozici také v češtině

Vítejte ve společnosti Selko®. Tato stránka je k dispozici také v angličtině

Navštivte stránky Zrušit

Vítame Vás na Selko®. Táto stránka je k dispozícii aj v slovenskom jazyk.

Vitajte v spoločnosti Selko®. Táto stránka je k dispozícii aj v slovenskom jazyku.

Prejdite na webovú lokalitu Zrušit

Bem-vindo à Selko®. Este site também está disponível em língua portuguesa.

Bem-vindo à Selko®. Esta página também está disponível em português.

Visite o site Cancelar

EN

Close
Chiudere / Cerrar / Zavřít / Zatvoriť

Select your language:
Selecione seu idioma
Vyberte jazyk
Seleccione su idioma
Selezionare la lingua
Vyberte si jazyk
Português (Brasil) Česky Español Italiano Slovensky

Increasing cow lifespan makes dairy farming more sustainable

Utilizing the full milk production potential by increasing cow lifespan with Selko

To feed the ever-increasing world population in a sustainable way, the full production potential of each animal on a farm needs to be utilised. More milk needs to be produced, using less resources, to reduce the environmental footprint.

For dairy cows, this means increasing the average milk production per day of life, from birth to culling, otherwise known as their Lifetime Daily Yield (LDY)1,2.

Lifetime Daily Yield can be increased by managing the transition to lactation in an optimal way. The amount of scientific articles and information about transition management in dairy cows is however simply overwhelming. Selko makes life easy, by translating the latest science about dairy cow transition management into simple and practical protocols to help you increasing cow lifespan and productivity.

Reducing the carbon footprint of a dairy farm without increasing cost of milk production

A life cycle assessment of Selko IntelliBond has shown that it can reduce the carbon footprint of a dairy farm while reducing the cost per kg of milk produced. Download the brochure for more information

The Selko programme for sustainable dairy farming will increase
Lifetime Daily Yield

The transition to lactation has an enormous impact on the immune system, the digestive system and the metabolism of a dairy cow. This requires 3 adaptations:

  • Immune adaptation3,4,5,6
  • Metabolic adaptation7,8,9,10,11
  • Digestive adaptation12,13,14

These 3 adaptations are not independent, they influence each other. The Selko programme for sustainable dairy farming offers a holistic approach to these 3 adaptations and deals with some of the challenges a cow has to deal with during transition to lactation. The Selko programme for sustainable dairy farming will help to:

Reduce age at first calving

Reducing the age at first calving, while still reaching rearing targets, will help to improve LDY. Studies carried out by the ILVO in Belgium18 showed that a reducing of age at first calving from 26 to 24 months reduces methane emission of dairy cows by 3.1%. It has also been demonstrated that heifers that calve at 22 to 24 months have optimal fertility and maximum milk yield in their first and second lactation19.

Increase milk production per lactation

To reach an optimal milk production per lactation, a dairy cow must deal with the transition to lactation. A resilient dairy cow is defined as a cow that deals with transitions successfully, increasing the chances to express all her genetic potential to produce milk. Studies carried out by the ILVO in Belgium18 showed that increasing the production per day by 3 kg will reduce methane emission by up to 8.4%.

Manage the calving interval

Traditionally, a calving interval of 365 days is targeted, to ensure that cows can be dried off and prepared for the next lactation by the time their milk yield starts dropping. In highly productive herds, cows can be in strong negative energy balance after calving, making it more difficult to get them pregnant. Particularly if persistence of milk production is high, aiming at short calving interval may have a negative impact on farm economics and animal welfare20, so a farm could also aim at a longer calving interval of up to 415 days.

Increase the lifespan of dairy cows

Functional longevity is defined as the ability of a cow to avoid culling due to reasons other than poor milk production15,16,17. Increasing cow lifespan by increasing the number of lactations per cow has a big impact on Lifetime Daily Yield and environmental footprint of a dairy farm. Studies carried out by the ILVO in Belgium18 showed that reducing the culling rate by 5% and increasing milk production by 3 kg per day reduces emission of methane by 11.7%. Good transition cow management is key to avoid involuntary culling later in lactation and will increase lifespan of dairy cows.

Selko® | sharing latest scientific insights

Check the quality of your TMR
with a free TMR pathogen screening

Protect cow health and milk production with a complementary TMR pathogen screening worth €100. Early detection of contamination maintains herd performance. Contact us to claim your analysis.

This is not correct
This is not correct
This is not correct
This is not correct
This is not correct

Almost there, please provide your consent below...

Thank you for requesting your free pathogen screening.

We have just sent you an email to confirm your registration. You will be contacted within the next 5 business days to discuss further details about the screening.

Enjoy your day, the Selko global marketing team

How farmer Peer Claassen reached a lifetime production of 50,000 kg milk per year

For Peer Claassen, sustainable dairy farming means increasing cow lifespan of his dairy herd. By giving his cows a place to eat, a place to rest and a place to calve, they have a smooth transition to lactation. The replacement rate of his dairy cows is low and his cows reach 5 lactations.

Please click to accept the cookies for Youtube or you can watch the video on the Youtube channel.

Making dairy farming more sustainable according to farmer Mathijs Meijer

According to Mathijs, sustainability of dairy farming can be improved by increasing Lifetime Daily Yield. Profits start coming in from the 3rd lactation onwards. The lifespan of of his dairy herd was increased by grouping cows according to their needs, which resulted in a serious reduction of the involuntary culling rate. Mathijs wants to make sure that it is him who decides when a cow should leave the herd.

Please click to accept the cookies for Youtube or you can watch the video on the Youtube channel.

Veterinary view on increasing Lifetime Daily Yield of a dairy herd

Lifetime Daily Yield and cow lifespan can be increased by improving health of a dairy herd. This requires a tailormade health plan for each farm that allows cows to reach their genetic production potential.

Please click to accept the cookies for Youtube or you can watch the video on the Youtube channel.

Selko targets to increase the lifespan of dairy cows

To increase lifespan of dairy cattle and to achieve a Lifetime Daily Yield of at least 20kg of milk per day, the following targets must be reached19,21,22,23,24,25.

Latest updates...

We share our scientific insights to get the best results for you.

Make sure you stay connected!

At Selko we are committed to put our scientific insights to work in order to achieve sustainable dairy farming for farmers who are looking to transform their milk production processes and meet 3 critical demands: reducing the carbon dairy footprint, ensuring animal welfare and create an optimal financial performance.

Subscribe to our download center and quarterly updates and we'll keep you informed about trial results, latest scientific insights and new legislative demands on environment and sustainability, specifically for the dairy industry

This information is required
This information is required
This information is required

Thank you for joining, you are almost set...

Great to have you on board. We have just send you an email with a link to confirm your subscription. Once you have confirmed your subscription via this email your registration will be complete.

*You can unsubscribe from our marketing lists at any time via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. For information about our privacy policy and general terms and agreements, you can click on the appropriate links in the footer of our website.

Download more research and documentation

You can access all of our documentation about Selko protocols, increasing cow lifespan to make dairy farming more sustainable and latest research insights about dairy cow transition management.

How to increase longevity of dairy cows

The brochure: “How to increase longevity of dairy cows” presents the Selko programme for sustainable dairy farming including some of the scientific information that forms the basis for the programme. It also presents an overview of the support available to implement a Selko programme.

Download our brochure and learn more about the Selko programme for dairy cows

Register once and download all you need

This is not correct
This field is required
This is not correct
This is not correct.
This is not correct

Thank you for your interest in Selko

We have just sent you an email. Follow the instructions in this email to complete your download. Notice that In some cases, spam filters can block automated emails. If you do not find the email in your inbox, please check your junk email folder.

Have a nice day!