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The use of alternative forage species in grasslands for intensive livestock production is receiving renewed attention. Data on fatty acid composition of herbs are scarce, so four herbs (Plantago lanceolata, Achillea millefolium, Cichorium intybus, Pastinaca sativa) and one grass species (timothy, Phleum pratense) were sown in a cutting trial. The chemical composition and concentration of fatty acids (FA) of individual species were determined during the growing season. Concentrations of crude protein and FA were generally higher in the herbs than in timothy. C. intybus had the highest nutritive value and FA concentrations. FA concentrations were generally lower in June after a heavy cut than in May and August.

The aim of the present paper is to present a prototype of a decision support model simulating the feed and vitamin supply during a year on a farm self-sufficient with feed. The model takes into account that the content of vitamin and minerals depends on choice of crops, conservation method, season, plant development at harvest, quality of the silage production, and duration of storage together with traditional optimizing of the feeding scheme.

The present study was carried out to establish knowledge of consequence for setting up guidelines of importance for production of competitive organic pork of high quality. Performance and meat quality characteristics were compared between three organic pig production systems based on indoor housing with access to an outdoor area and a Danish conventional indoor system including 100% concentrate during the finishing feeding stage. The three organic systems used the following three feeding regimes: 100% organic concentrate according to Danish recommendations, 70% organic concentrate (restricted) plus ad libitum organic barley/pea silage and 70% organic concentrate (restricted) plus ad libitum organic clover grass silage, respectively. With exception of a slightly lower daily gain in organic pigs fed 100% concentrate, no significant difference was found in performance and meat quality characteristics compared with results obtained in the conventional system. In contrast and independent of roughage used, organic pigs raised on 70% concentrate had a significant reduction in daily gain (P < 0.001) compared with pigs raised on 100% concentrate, despite the fact that no difference in feed conversion rate was seen between the tested production systems. However, the percentage of leanness increased significantly in meat from organic pigs raised on 70% concentrate plus roughage compared with meat from pigs given 100% concentrate. This was reflected in higher yield (weight) of lean cuts and lower yield of cuts with high fat content from pigs fed 70% concentrate plus roughage. In general, organic feeding resulted in a significantly higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the back fat (1.8%), which increased further when restricted feeding plus roughage (4%) was used. Restricted concentrate feeding gave rise to a decrease in tenderness compared with pork from pigs fed 100% concentrate.