Forage legume silage and cold-pressed rapeseed cake for dairy bull calves

Rearing of organic dairy bull calves can be contradictory, using calves with a high need for quality protein at the same time as a high intake of forage (>60% up to 6 months of age) is required. Forage legumes contain more crude protein than grass, but with high rumen degradability of the protein. When legume forage is fed together with energy-rich cold-pressed rapeseed cake (CRC) the protein in the feeds can be utilized to a higher extent and a satisfactory calf weight gain can be achieved as shown. Using locally produced protein feeds instead of the often used soya bean meal (SBM) is of great interest not only in organic but also in conventional feeding because of environmentally advantages.