Poing-Grub: Animal Nutrition Research

Fleckvieh dairy cows in the feed stalls at Poing-Grub

Indivual feed bins capable of providing data for feed consumption and comparison of different diets

Maizemeal silage in a clamp at the research institute at Poing-Grub

Dr Hubert Schuster demonstrating recycled rubber matting overlay for cow beds inside a dairy stall barn
Dr Thomas Ettle, research scientist, out standing in a field of oats with your correspondent

A field of oilseed rape grown for rape cake (pelletised rapeseed)

Poing-Grub Research Institute

The Bavarian State Government has a number of agricultural research institutes throughout this, the largest state in area in Germany. These centres specialise in research specifically for agricultural producers in Bavaria.

One institute near Munich is the Bayerische Landesanstalt fuer Landwirtschaft (Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture). This centre specialises in animal research, principally nutrition. Two of the researchers at the institute, Dr Thomas Ettle and Dr Hubert Schuster agreed to meet with me and discuss the range of research projects, the institute facilities and the changes in agriculture over the last 20 years and into the future.

The institute is set in a textbook peri-urban area. Twenty minutes by train from the centre of Munich, the station and the village is surrounded by farms, with a 30 acre paddock of knee-high maize the first sight you see when getting off the train. The institute was established in the early part of last century and is set on some 150 acres.

Research into cattle nutrition is Dr Ettle’s area, with specific interest in dairy cattle and bulls for beef. The bulls in question are the offspring of dairy cows of the Fleckvieh breed (more commonly known in Australia as Simmental). Used only as a beef breed in Australia, this breed forms the basis of the dairy industry in southern Germany. Other breeds used include Brown Swiss (also known as Braunvieh) and Holstein-Friesian (the familiar black and white cow). These cows first calve at 27 to 32 months of age and their bull calves go into a feeding program to provide beef for the domestic market. Heifers are raised as replacements or enter similar feeding programs.

Sophisticated identification tags allow for individual feed consumption to be calculated and then this can be related to milk production in cows or weight gain in the bull calves. Different feed components, balances and blends can be trialled and evaluated, as well as feed values for different feedstuffs. This is first calculated by digestion trials using rams then converted using standards to values for different classes of livestock. The room with 16 rams standing in metabolisable energy chambers was a real sight. Dr Ettle is currently working on a project to determine the value of lucerne as a component of grazed paddocks, silage and as a protein supplement. Substituting some lucerne for grass on dairy farms may make fertiliser requirements drop as nitrogen is replaced in the soil. His research is taken to farmers through field days and demonstrations as the Extension component of the department has been handed over to private industry.

Dairy farms here in southern Bavaria average about 30-35 cows on around 35-40 hectares. Most cows are mated using artificial insemination with no bulls noticeable during my time here. Another project in place is a long term study to determine if the lifetime production of a dairy cow is affected by calving at 2 years compared to calving at 2.5 to 3 years. Growth and consumption of food in the pre-calving period will be evaluated against the milk production over 3 calvings. Seven years is the project’s expected trial period.

Many changes have been made to dairy and beef farming in Bavaria in the last few years. Cow beds (recycled rubber matting for resting cows), automatic milking machinery (a real spin-out when you first see it), treatment of slurries and their application onto paddocks and the design of housing that allows more air movement to prevent respiratory diseases are relatively hot topics in this part of the world.
Research on different silage substrates and blends, moisture content and storage conditions also take place here. An interesting research area is that of “Futter” management, which is pasture manipulation, nutrition and management. One researcher takes regular dry matter samples from selected pasture mixes then his recommendation is put out over the radio, during the equivalent of the Country Hour, as to whether you should cut today or leave it standing for a couple of days. It is a ratings winner in the dairy scene over here.

Stand-out features different to production in Australia were the growing of oilseed rape for animal feed as a crushed cake (what we would call pellets), with no oil extraction and the weight gain targets for their bulls, which is an average of 750kg live weight at about 22 months. It is really about feeding the animal to its growth potential. Carcasses of the beef animals enter a grading scheme similar to our own with muscling scored against an EUROPA scale (E being the most muscular, down to A being the least) and fat scored against a numbered scale similar to our own.