The publication describes the natural relationship between the cow and her calf and draws conclusions for the species-appropriate rearing of calves.

Calf husbandry in a mother-bonded or fostered calf rearing system is of growing interest to livestock farmers. More and more dairy farmers want to leave calves with their mothers for longer and still milk the cows. The cow and her calf should be able to live out their natural relationship more intensively.

Vitamin E is essential and supplementation to the diet is often needed to meet the requirements of farm animals. This is particularly relevant during long indoor periods where conserved forages must be fed, as conservation can degrade Vitamin E. However, synthetic vitamins are regarded as contentious inputs in organic agriculture.

Vitamin E is essential and supplementation to the diet is often needed to meet the requirements of farm animals. This is particularly relevant during long indoor periods where conserved forages must be fed, as conserva-tion can degrade Vitamin E. However, synthetic vitamins are regarded as contentious inputs in organic agriculture.

Organic sheep producers are aware that worm control issues continue to pose a threat to their business. To a large extent, they still have to rely on dewormers to maintain the health and productivity of their animals.

Published in "Biological Agriculture and Horticulture". Vitamin E is essential and supplementation to the diet is often needed to meet the requirements of farm animals. This is particularly relevant during long indoor periods where conserved forages must be fed, as conservation can degrade Vitamin E. However, synthetic vitamins are regarded as contentious inputs in organic agriculture.

This factsheet introduces the ecological approach to organic farming, changes that are necessary to implement the approach, expected benefits, and provides a few examples of recommended systems for the tropics. The information is based on long-term experiments and on-farm research conducted in the scope of three projects across different countries in Africa, as well as Bolivia and India.
The products are intended for use by African farmers, advisors, teachers and students.

Project RELACS – Improving inputs for organic farming. While antibiotics remain necessary treatments against mastitis, their widespread use leads to antibiotic resistance, which constitutes a threat to public health.

Many essential oils have antibacterial or anti-inflammatory properties. With the help of an advisor, dairy farmers can test alternative mastitis treatments with essential oils following a common protocol established by RELACS.

Project RELACS – Improving inputs for organic farming. Organic sheep producers are aware that worm control issues continue to pose a threat to their business. To a large extent, they still have to rely on dewormers to maintain the health and productivity of their animals.

Research on alternative strategies for worm control can now be put into practice. These strategies have been developed independently of each other, but we now bring them together in a “basket of options” approach.