Bakgrunn

The world population is predicted to exceed 9 billion by 2050. Climate change could disrupt traditional agriculture practices and food prices are expected to spiral upwards. The Norwegian population is predicted to grow by 20% by 2030, and a similar increase in Norwegian agricultural production has been called for while a decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 30% by 2020 has been demanded (Landbruksmeldinga 2012-13; Klimameldinga, 2011-12). A high degree of self-sufficiency is a safeguard against the rising prices of agricultural products, and future animal production should be based on non-food resources.

Mål

This project aims to improve the efficiency of the use of national resources, improve the total animal production bio-economy and reduce the environmental impact of this production sector.

Fremgangsmåte

The project will
(1) pinpoint the most pressing goals for resource efficiency in the sector for the next two to three decades;
(2) develop feed processing technologies that maximise the nutritional value of local feed resources;
(3) improve the feed efficiency of cattle, especially when fed more forages, and that of pigs and poultry when fed local feed resources rich in fibre and antinutrients;
(4) improve the gut health of these production animals;
(5) genetically adapt the animals to these dietary changes accounting for genotype by feed interactions; and
(6) evaluate the impact of the projected improvements on the animal production bio-economy and the environment

Samarbeid

A multidisciplinary, international project team has been built that contains expertise on animal nutrition, genetics, and veterinary and bio-economical sciences. It includes relevant industry partners to ensure that the research activities will have a commercial impact. Thus, FeedMilage is well equipped to advance the sustainability of the animal production bio-economy.