Hanna Eriksson has been awarded research funding for a project aimed at improving animal welfare in Swedish dairy farming. The project focuses on the practice of keeping cows and calves together — a method that has gained popularity in Europe in recent years. Hanna will investigate the effects of keeping cows and calves together on both animal health and milk production.
Historically, the dairy industry has focused on maximizing milk production per cow, which typically involves separating the calf from the cow within the first day. Recently, however, interest in a more natural management method has increased, as many see keeping cows and calves together as beneficial for the animals' welfare. However, this approach also poses challenges for farmers, as both the quantity and quality of milk can be affected by suckling calves, and separating the cow and calf later on can be stressful for both animals.
The project will examine three main areas to understand how cow-calf management impacts the animals' health and welfare. The first part of the project will analyze the health of cows around calving, a time when they are particularly vulnerable to diseases such as mastitis and uterine infections. Previous research suggests that keeping cows and calves together may reduce the risk of certain diseases, but more knowledge is needed about its overall impact on cow health.
The second part focuses on milk let-down and milk quality, as suckling calves can affect the fat content of the milk collected during machine milking. The researcher will investigate how prolonged mechanical stimulation of the teats can enhance oxytocin release and thereby improve milk let-down, in order to mitigate potential negative effects on milk production.
Finally, the project will also examine indicators of positive welfare during the time cows and calves are kept together. New ethological methods will be used to assess whether both cows and calves experience welfare benefits from being kept together, as well as to weigh these benefits against the stress that separation can cause.
- I am so happy that Formas chose to fund my application, says Hanna Eriksson. "The grant will give me excellent opportunities to further develop as a researcher and to build collaborations with other European research groups working on cow-calf management. These collaborations will be crucial in better supporting farmers who are interested in this management system."