Successful hay barn trial on Utrecht dairy farm

An optimal ration of fresh grass and fragrant hay. All year round and all homegrown. With the help of modern techniques, dairy farmer Aleid Blitterswijk from Werkhoven in Utrecht saw his sustainable mission become a reality. Thanks to the collaboration with a project group and a subsidy from the province of Utrecht, Blitterswijk succeeded in constructing a modern hay shed that works completely CO2-neutral. The innovative feeding method shows that both the milk and the cows are and remain healthier. The project group became intrigued by the method that was used in the past: a lot of fresh grass and little feed from outside the company on a land-bound dairy farm. Feeding a lot of fresh grass turned out to be successful with a modern approach, for example using a urea meter on the farm to measure the quality of the feed. "In addition, hay was found to retain the quality of fresh grass, provided it was properly dried", says animal feed specialist Henri van Ittersum. In this way, the ...