Cattle farming has the great advantage of being able to convert plant protein into high-quality animal protein inefficiently for humans. However, for efficient animal production, the Need for plant protein quite high. Unfortunately, the Flemish climate lends itself much better to the production of energy-rich crops (cereals, maize) than protein-rich crops (soya, beans, rapeseed, sunflower, ...) which prefer warmer temperatures.
Yet the Flemish dairy farming industry, with grass clover over a highly efficient protein crop which often ends up somewhat in the forgotten pit in that respect. Grass-clover does seem to have become more and more established in recent years
This increase was initially mainly due to premiums, but in the meantime it has increasingly been driven by the increasing focus on own protein production and on reducing the use of (artificial) manure.
The cultivation of grass-clover seems so obvious that relatively little attention is paid to it. This lack of attention shows from measurements and experience that there are much efficiency to be gained in protein production is.
Moreover, the impact of the farmer is very high as he or she has to make a lot of decisions that determine the quality of the final product, which is much less the case with other single-crop crops.
Grass clover also has huge strengths in the major challenges agriculture is facing (more focus on organic matter, less (artificial) manure, less available crop protection products, more own protein supply, reduced carbon footprint ...). These challenges are causing new initiatives to quietly emerge (e.g. summer stable feeding). The combination of the above elements means that optimisation of cultivation and the corresponding (protein) yield will be an important aspect in making the agricultural sector more sustainable in the future.
both climatic and environmental. In collaboration with the production chain, this project aims to set up an advisory service to support farmers to make grass-clover a success story and thus strengthen home-grown protein supply.
