Logo of the Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

Information platform of the Federal and State Governments

optiKuh - Improvement of dairy farming by breeding strategies for feed intake, metabolism, and environmental sustainability under conditions of optimized feeding intensity and utilization of metabolism indicators and sensors in herd management

Collaborative Project


Contract period: 01.09.2014 - 30.06.2018
Budget: 2500000 Euro
Coordinating institution: LfL - Institute for Animal Nutrition and Feed Management

Development of a nucleus with high feed intake and robust metabolism by using spectral data of milk analysis and genomic informations. Target is a number of 3000 cows (2200 with identified genotype). Experiments to evaluate intensity of feeding on animal welfare, metabolism and milk performance over 2 years with two roughage qualities (6,1 MJ NEL/kg DM, 6,5 MJ NEL/kg DM and 2 levels of concentrates supplementation (150 g/kg ECM, 250 g/kg ECM) in model A. Diet formulations in accordance to the recommendations of the Comittee for requirement standards of the Society of Nutrition Physiology. Data collection until day 100 postpartum in model B. Feeding according to requirements, about 250 g concentrates/kg of milk Data sampling - Nutrient and energy intake, residual feed intake - Blood and urine samples (BHB, NEFA, Glucose, Calcium, Insulin; IGF1, Adiponectin) - Milk contents, further spectral data (OPTIMIR) - Feed intake, BCS, milk performance, fertility etc. - Data on animal welfare (with indicators: metabolism, rumen pH, ruminating activities, etc.) - Environmental effects (methane) - Central data processing by TiDa Tier und Daten GmbH - Central computation of the data from the feeding experiments.

show more show less

Collaborative Projects

Spectral Data Analysis in Milk (MIR)

Leading institution: Agricultural Center Baden-Württemberg cattle, grassland management, dairy farming, fisheries and wildlife

Research projects

Advanced Search