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Organic dairy farming is based on grazing systems and with a strong focus on health promotion, but many organic farms search for solutions to rely less on imported concentrate feed, as well as the use of antibiotics and anthelminthics. Most calves are removed from their dam one day after birth, despite emphasis on naturalness. GrazyDaiSy was built on the aim to develop innovative, resilient and sustainable organic grazing-based dairy systems, and make a better integration of cows and their calves, e.g. allowing mother-infant contact, and to promote health to minimize anthelminthic and antibiotic use. GrazyDaiSy was based on participatory on-farm research, and used an interdisciplinary approach. The project consisted of four work packages, which were: 1) Novel innovative grazing systems, 2) Sustainable maternal care, bonding and debonding between dam and calf, 3) Effective novel animal health and welfare promotion, and 4) Strategies and practices for resilience in a range of European dairy systems. A cross-cutting focus of GrazyDaiSy was on perceptions, visions, and barriers related to transition and use of novel strategies, as well as their daily practices, mostly focused on CCC systems, but also more broadly. Based on interview with farmers and other actors, perceptions, visions, barriers and experience was analysed in relation to views from the cow, the calf, the system and the human actors, emphasizing nutrition, care and learning aspects of dam-rearing and CCC systems. Case studies and interviews were analysed using change and transition theories in a range from behavioural and motivational individual change to community of practice and larger transition theories, and concluded that all levels of change needs to be considered when making radical systemic changes in well-established dairy sectors. GrazyDaiSy researched the use of semi-natural to natural pastures and the results demonstrated a great potential contribution of the forage on semi-natural to natural pastures to forage (protein) supply to grazing lactating cows on organic dairy farms in Europe. In Estonia, e.g., the share of grass in the diets of lactating cows was estimated to be up to 76.7% of the DM consumed during the grazing season. This depends of course on available pasture area and the extent of its use, and there is a great diversity of organic dairy farms differing in farm size and structure, agro-ecological conditions, and pasture, herd, and grazing management strategies. Timing, farmer strategies and environmental and other conditions influence the outcome. Timely adjustment of the onset and frequency of grazing, of the stocking densities on pastures, as well as of the amount and timing of supplement feeding appear to be valuable options for an improved pasture use, whereas the rotation scheme, the duration of daily pasture access, and the type of supplement feed appeared to be of less importance. Observed climate change related issues such as extreme heat and dry weather, called for urgency and the project team focused particularly on strategies addressing these issues. GrazyDaiSy had a strong focus on rearing calves with the dam for an extended period after calving, compared to the practice in most organic dairy farms. One particular focus was male calves, which should be transferred to a fattening farm. Trials showed that keeping calves until 4 weeks of age with the dam at the dairy farm led to improved weights and immune competence at arrival at the fattening farm. Although dam-rearing weight and immune system advantages did not seem to translate to better health at the fattening farm, these calves benefitted from a reduced prevalence of treatments with medicines. Providing hides on pasture to dairy cows show that cows calving for the first time move further away from herd members at calving, and seemed to prefer to isolate themselves more through distance. Results suggested that hides facilitated maternal bonding. Furthermore, it seemed that dams showed more affiliative behaviour to their calves when having full-time cow-calf contact (CCC), rather than part-time contact, later than 48hrs after calving, and that the bond between cow and calf became stronger when the calf suckled the cow, compared to contact without suckling. Environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability of CCC systems were analysed using models based on data, lining up different scenarios with CCC, and concluding that the higher amount of milk drunk by the calves in these systems, influenced the environmental impact of these systems. However, it also called for a broader focus on systems changes and inclusion of other factors such as animal welfare and biodiversity, and a more combined view on dairy herds as milk and meat producing. In GrazyDaiSy, animal health and welfare promoting strategies were researched through observational case studies, and repeatedly demonstrated the importance of context to analyse problems and find solutions, which allowed for co-learning across countries, until activities were partly interrupted due to Covid-19. The difference in management antibiotics was very big, within the frame of EU organic legislation. A strong focus was on calf and heifer health in innovative dairy systems with nurse cows, based on grazing. Cryptosporidiosis was and identified problem, but seemed to be less serious than traditionally reared calves, especially in the mixed grazing systems, where resistant (nurse cows) and susceptible calves grazed together, and they also seemed to avoid problems with intestinal parasites, and were immunised at the second grazing season when they had spent their summer as young calved on grass.

This presentation summarises some of the changing perspectives of and transitions to cow–calf contact systems, including identifying the challenges and benefits of the various types of systems, in particular dam-rearing and nurse-cow systems. No dairy system in the study countries was initially designed to enable cow–calf contact, but a multitude of systems allowing cow–calf contact have since been developed based on existing farm structures. Interviews and case studies show that the development requires significant changes in practices, attitudes and farm structures, all of which require a lot of investment. Research over the last two to three years in this area has considered several potential ways in which organic dairy systems could encompass forms of cow–calf contact. Whilst on the one hand these studies have acknowledged the ‘naturalness’ of cow and calf systems, including the motivation behind them and the need for the cow and calf to be together, ‘unnatural elements’ have also been highlighted, for example the high milk yields, deep udders and large herd sizes in today’s dairy sector. Some issues remain unresolved and the future organic dairy sector will be required to find further solutions. One major issue is that of male calves, which are often removed from their dam early and in an abrupt way. This raises questions as to whether the current development of dam-rearing and other types of cow–calf contact systems can be seen as niche innovations, or as part of a larger change in the socio-technological landscape around dairy farming and calves. These changes are still ongoing in terms of organising new systems that are friendly and less restrictive for cows and calves, and could potentially be part of a larger transition at the systemic dairy farming level.

Interest in dam-rearing of dairy calves is growing among researchers, advisors and farmers. This internal project report collates, synthesizes and conveys scientific evidence and information on systems for dam-rearing as practiced by farmers in northern Europe. We hope this report will serve as inspiration for researchers planning experiments on dam-rearing as well as advisors and farmers developing and implementing systems for dam-rearing in practice.

The SOLID project (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) carried out research to improve the sustainability of low-input/organic dairy systems in different ways. This deliverable is part of a series of three that summarise recommendations arising from participatory research with innovative strategies involving farmers, supply chain partners and researchers in the SOLID project.

A set of common principles for active animal health and welfare planning in organic dairy farming has been developed in the ANIPLAN project group of seven European countries. Health and welfare planning is a farmer‐owned process of continuous development and improvement and may be practised in many different ways. It should incorporate health promotion and disease handling, based on a strategy where assessment of current status and risks forms the basis for evaluation, action and review. Besides this, it should be 1) farm-specific, 2) involve external person(s) and 3) external knowledge, 4) be based on organic principles, 5) be written, and 6) acknowledge good aspects in addition to targeting the problem areas in order to stimulate the learning process. Establishing farmer groups seems to be a beneficial way of stimulating a dynamic development on the farms towards continuous improvement, as in this case with focus on animal health and welfare planning. Various factors influence the process in different contexts, e.g. geographical, cultural, traditional factors, and a proper analysis of the situation as well as the purpose of the group is necessary, and can relevantly be negotiated and co‐developed with farmers as well as facilitators before being implemented. Farmer groups based on farmer‐to‐farmer advice and co‐development need a facilitator who takes on the role of facilitating the process and ‘decodes’ him‐ or herself from being ‘expert’.

A cross-sectional observational study with repeated observations was conducted on 16 Danish dairy farms to quantify the influence of observer, parity, time (stage in lactation) and farm on variables routinely selected for inclusion in clinical protocols, thereby to enable a more valid comparison of udder health between different herds. During 12 months, participating herds were visited 5 times by project technicians, who examined 20 cows and scored the selected clinical variables. The estimates of effect on variables were derived from a random regression model procedure. Statistical analyses revealed that, although estimates for occurrence of several the variables, e.g. degree of oedema, varied significantly between observers, the effects on many of these estimates were similar in size. Almost all estimates for occurrences of variables were significantly affected either parity and lactation stage, or by both e.g. udder tissue consistency. Some variables, e.g. mange, had high estimates for the farm component, and others e.g. teat skin quality had a high individual component. Several of the variables, e.g. wounds on warts, had a high residual component indicating that a there still was a major part of the variation in data, which was unexplained. It was concluded that most of the variables were relevant for implementation in herd health management, but that adjustments need to be made to improve reliability.

This paper focuses on the changes in production, herd health and veterinary treatments in Danish organic dairy herds during approximately eleven years based on historic data from herds converted to organic milk production before 1990 (old organic herds) compared to herds converted in 1995 and 1999-2000 and herds that are still conventional. Herd size, milk production, the shape of the lactation curve, somatic cell counts and veterinary treatments for mastitis, retained placenta and ketosis are compared over time and between herd groups. The old organic herds differed from the other three herd groups by having lower milk production per cow, lower somatic cell counts and fewer treatments of mastitis. Herds converted in 1995 and 1999-2000 were comparable to the conventional herds before conversion for all analyzed parameters. However, herd size was larger than both the older organic herds and the conventional herds after conversion. Production was about 2 kg energy corrected milk lower per cow per day than before conversion and compared to the conventional herds. In the herds converted in 1999-2000 little difference could be seen in relation to udder health after conversion when compared to conventional herds. The organic herds had fewer treatments for retained placenta and ketosis than the conventional herds. The shape of the lactation curves changed over the 11 year period with better persistency from day 60 to day 305 in all herd groups except for the old organic herds, which had the best persistency in 1990.

Early separation of cow and calf is still common practice on dairy farms. In recent years, interest in mother-bonded calf rearing practices has increased. They are considered to be animal-friendly, labour-saving and health-promoting for the calf. However, these systems are challenging, e.g. regarding the cow's willingness to let down milk or the pain of separation after establishing a social bonding. We tested the hypothesis that calves allowed dam suckling (DS) twice a day would benefit concerning weight gain, health-related traits and show fewer behavioural disorders (oral manipulations) compared to bucket fed (BF) group mates. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of cow-calf contact compared to bucket feeding on selected immune parameters in calf blood and cow milk.

Organic farmers adhere to high standards in producing quality food while protecting the envi-ronment and ensuring animal health and welfare. However, organic farming needs to improve continuously to keep meeting its ambitious objectives. The project ‘Replacement of Conten-tious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems’ (RELACS)fosters the development and adoption of tools and techniques to further reduce the use of external inputs on organic farms. RELACS takes far-advanced solutions forward. With regard to animal husbandry, this is brought about by (i) developing integrated endoparasite control strategies for ruminants by exploiting bioactive forages (heather) and the biocontrol agent Duddingtonia flagrans.(ii) reducing dependency on antibiotic use in dairy cows by transferring Animal Health and Welfare Planning protocols and by refining the use of essential oils.(iii) exploring the potential for reduction or replacement of synthetic/GMO produced vitamins by validating requirement definitions and by developing GMO-free vitamin B production.This paper gives an overview of the overall work plan related to livestock and presents se-lected results obtained during the first 18-month period of RELACS. Outcomes of the REL-ACS-survey on the use of antibiotics and anthelmintics are presented by Chylinski et al. in these proceedings

Livestock is a key element of organic agriculture. The concept of closed nutrient cycles requires the close integration of crop and livestock systems whenever possible within a farm, or at least within regions (e.g. IFOAM, 2014; Bioland, 2016; Bio Suisse, 2016). Ruminants play a particularly important role in integrated organic systems, since they can efficiently utilize grassland resources, legume forages from crop rotations and crop residues, and they provide valuable manure for the soil. However, large amounts of concentrates are still fed to organic cattle, requiring the transport of soya bean on a large scale across the globe (Früh et al., 2014) with severe ecological and social consequences (Pellentier and Tyedmers 2010; Semino et al., 2009). Furthermore, the demand for arable land areas to produce cereals for organic ruminant production is still very high. This is a status quo that should be overcome against the background of the environmental and social claims of organic agriculture (IFOAM, 2014). On the other hand, it is particularly the ruminal digestion of fibre which produces methane, thus directly impacting climate change dynamics in a most problematic way (Beauchemin et al., 2008). In this context, a dilemma of contemporary ruminant production becomes obvious, which is of particular relevance for the targets of organic systems as there seem to be serious contradictions between some of the key aspects of sustainable livestock production. These can be summarized as follows: a) Globally, it appears unavoidable to make efficient and ecologically sustainable use of the large permanent grassland resources for animal source food production, thereby lowering the demand for livestock feed from arable land (Wilkinson, 2011; O’Mara, 2012; Schader et al., 2015). b) Ruminants, as important providers of dairy and meat products, are the most efficient livestock species to utilize fibrous grassland swards (Clauss et al., 2010), and are, compared to poultry and pigs, less efficient in utilizing human-edible feedstuffs, when these are fed in high proportions (Wilkinson, 2011). c) The digestion of fibre is the most prominent source of enteric methane production in ruminants (Johnson and Johnson, 1995). This results in the apparent dilemma that the more a ruminant production system is based on roughages and avoids concentrates, the higher the methane emission is per unit of product (Beauchemin et al., 2008; Grandl et al., 2016), a challenge which is even more relevant for organic dairy production, due to lower yields. Possible options to deal with this dilemma are more holistic and systemic views on agricultural production systems, the integration of milk and meat production in dual-output production systems (Zehetmeier et al., 2012), the integration of feeding systems with breeding schemes (Spengler Neff et al., 2007) and critically assessing what level of demand for animal products is reasonable and responsible (Schader et al., 2015). Furthermore, organic principles aim at high animal welfare, based on choice of suitable breeds, species-appropriate management, housing and feeding conditions. This implies space requirements, animal-friendly barn systems, explicit framing of the human–animal relationship and, again, the principle that ruminant grazers such as cattle and sheep should be predominantly fed on roughages, while high proportions of concentrates are considered inappropriate for these species. This is another reason why organic principles include restrictions on supplying ruminants with concentrates. Animal health is a further key target of organic dairy systems. Currently, the average productive lifetime of dairy cows in conventional systems is clearly lower than three lactations in many industrialized countries (Knaus, 2009; Stiglbauer et al., 2013). The most common reasons for culling are fertility problems, diseases of the mammary gland or lameness (Pritchard et al., 2013), which may all be considered to be potentially related to metabolic problems due to high yields and inappropriate feeding (Knaus, 2009). There is no general evidence that the figures are better for organic cows, but the high significance of animal welfare in organic standards requires farmers to pay particular attention to this problem. This is further reinforced by the fact that realizing a long productive lifespan integrates higher animal welfare with environmental and production efficiency (Zehetmeier et al., 2012; Grandl et al., 2016). In conclusion, the main issue requiring a solution for sustainable organic dairy production is the proper fit of regionally available feed resources, feeding systems and breeding strategies with the target of optimal roughage utilization, low emissions and healthy long-living cows. The implied contradictions represent big tasks for research and system development and are a core challenge for achieving sustainable food systems.

As the organic dairy farming sector grows across Europe, it is necessary to continuously review its various merits and challenges within the organic sector and in comparison with conventional farming methods. Drawing together empirical findings from across the Europe, this chapter summarises some of the major issues surrounding organic dairy farming, such as the effects on herd health, regulations around pasture access and different methods of calf rearing. It then considers a number of current ‘hot topics’ in this area, including the self-sufficiency of concentrated feeds and the effect of organic methods on udder health. The chapter concludes that organic dairy farming presents many potential benefits, but notes that improvements are necessary, particularly in the area of animal health. It emphasises that solutions to current problems must be site-specific, while observing that particularly successful strategies could serve as helpful models in both organic and conventional dairy farms.