Control of production costs in the Irish Republic due to the use of grazing: are there lessons to be learnt for Brittany?

摘要

Brittany (France) and the Irish Republic are 2 dairying regions with identical milk quotas (about 50 million hl). Both have a maritime climate, but there are nevertheless climatic differences: grass grows more regularly throughout the year in the Irish Republic, whereas in certain regions in Brittany it will not grow in summer. In Brittany, however, maize can be grown on all farms. Faced with the recent economic constraints, Irish farmers have the advantage of being able to produce milk mainly fromgrazing: and as a consequence, the production costs are very low on some farms. This strategy, however, means that milk yield is highly seasonal, and milk composition may be poor, giving only limited added value for the processed product. This approachto the control of production costs is nonetheless of interest to farmers in Brittany, where a network of experimental stations and farms has been set up to study the approach. However, the dairy industry in Brittany remains committed to producing high quality milk, with good composition, throughout the year; it is argued that these aims may be achieved by making the best use of grazing whenever possible, and by storing fodder (preferably based on maize silage) for the winter, and in the drier regions for the summer as well. [This paper was first given at a conference entitled 'Europe laitiere: quels systemes fourragers pour demain?', France, 10-11 April 1995].