Improving the inventory and energy value of feeds and diets representative of fe

Tender description

The Authority is looking for suppliers for Improving the inventory and energy value of feeds and diets representative of feeding conditions for ruminant production for use in the UK Agricultural GHG Inventory. Livestock feeding practices are of relevance to the understanding of agricultural productivity and associate environmental impacts. Typical feeding practices in the UK livestock industry have changed over time, for example with some dairy systems becoming increasingly reliant on maize silage over grazing at pasture. Such changes reflect changes in patterns of production, and market the demands that industry services. Characterisation of livestock diets is important to develop an understanding of market impacts on land use and also as an input to a range of environmental monitoring programmes such as the UK nutrient budgets, the UK National Inventory of Greenhouse Gasses, and the UK Ammonia Inventory. At present these models use a set of assumptions developed in the 1990s which may no longer be representative of UK farming practices. This project will address these deficiencies and provide an updated understanding of livestock feeding practices in the UK