There are various arguments for using total mixed rations (TMR) or not. Cows can easily become fat and thus poorly utilize the feed while it can be stated that TMR also has a positive effect on cows? health and wellbeing as the rumen environment is more constant than when separate feeding is applied. Studies do show that that especially low yielding cows kept in groups get fatter when fed TMR. The overfeeding implicates higher feeding costs. This study included 10 herds where 5 had TMR and 5 hade separate feeding of forage and concentrates.

Modern sawmills are using the raw-material and the production-capacity more efficiently today, due to rising raw-material prices and higher production costs. Log sweepness has a negative effect on the sawn yield, for sawmills with straight-sawing. It is desirable that these logs could be sorted based on more criteria, if it increases value-yield and consequently the utilization of raw-material. Bow-heights over 1 cm have a negative effect on sawn yield, since the surface of the mantle cuts down in the sawn pattern. Some of these small bow-heights reduce the logs yield of value which affects the production planning negatively. Nearly half of all the Swedish logs have a bow-height over 1 cm.

Stem rust, Puccinia graminis, has caused enormous yield losses throughout history which have had significant consequences for oat and wheat production. Today in Sweden stem rust is only reported from rye, oats and wild grasses. Stem rust infections in wheat have become unusual due to the general use of resistant wheat varieties and also due to the eradication of barberry, Berberis vulgaris, the alternate host for P. graminis. According to international sources, new races of P.

Lyckeby Starch AB is a farmer-owned company that produces products based on potato starch. In order to increase their production efficiency and their international competitiveness the company is investigating the possibilities of keeping their factories open longer. To achieve this, potato has to be stored for a longer period of time than what is practiced today. Starch potato is usually stored in large piles covered by straw and plastic, either in the field or on the farmyard. The objective was to examine in what way starch yield (starch content*tuber weight) in three different potato varieties was affected by storage in two different types of storage piles. The potato was stored for three months in total and starch content and tuber weight were controlled throughout the period. Stored tubers were also visually examined and prescense of mechanical damage as well as wet rots and dry rots was recorded. Bacteria and fungi were isolated and identified. In general, varietal differences were greater than differences between the storage piles.

To effectively manage a forest resource for both economic and other values good planning is required. The problem is complex since you want to know which forest to cut and when. Often a hierarchical planning structure is applied, including strategic (long-term), tactical, (medium-term) and operational level. Today SCA Forest is one of few forestry companies in the northern Sweden with an integrated forest wood supply and industry. The goals of the company are to supply their own industries with wood and to manage the resources of the forest through a long-term perspective with satisfactory profitability.

The production of oilseed rape is an important issue in Sweden and those who never have grown oilseed rape (OSR) are now willing to try. It is always a risk to grow oilseed rape, specially winter OSR, because of outwintering. This risk increases as you go north and therefore establishment and autumn growth is very important. These are some of the reasons that I have chosen to write about the establishment of winter oilseed rape in Middle Sweden. There are many factors that influence the outcome of the establishment, e. g.

The purpose of this thesis was to develop and optimize a method of analysis for combustion of organic chemical products, followed by an ion chromatographic quantitative analysis. This was to be achieved with the decomposition equipment IKA AOD 1. The aim was to receive a precise and repeatable method that would be able to be applied to the process of qualification and technical marking of chemical products at the company, OKG AB in Oskarshamn. A complete instruction for the decomposition equipment and the method of analysis was written. A number of parameters were chosen from the general method of the combustion equipment, which then was tested parallel with a simultaneous development of an appropriate ion chromatographic method.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) provide the opportunity for less manual labour and an increased milking frequency. But in order to reach an optimal milking frequency a well-functioning cow traffic is crucial. There are many factors affecting cow traffic but one factor that has not been studied thoroughly yet is the effect of different light intensities during the night, 22.00 h to 05.00 h. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the effect of different light intensities during the night on number of selection gate passages (GP), milking frequency and milk yield. The study was conducted as a Latin square were three light intensities were applied: LOW (11 ± 3 lux), INT (33 ± 1 lux) and HIGH (74 ± 6 lux), in three different herds.

Swedish goats are mainly held for cheese production and therefore, both milk quality and composition are of great importance for dairymen. Today, only few data exists on milk composition from Swedish dairy goats and the casein content is still unknown. One way to reduce the work load for goat farmers and increase animal welfare can be to keep goats and kids together for longer periods. The aims of this study were to investigate how milk yield and composition were affected when kids suckled their dams during 8 weeks, and to measure the casein content on farm level by a mid-infrared spectroscopy method, previously calibrated for goat milk. Lactating goats were kept in two different MIX- systems where the dams are both suckled and milked.

Heifer?s growth may be divided into three main phases: calf period, puberty and pregnancy. When the heifers are about three months old a critical period begins. This period ends when the heifer reach puberty and have her first oestrus at around 9-12 months of age. In the critical period the mammary gland starts to grow at a fast rate and Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) transport the growth signals to the mammary glands.

When facing the fact that high yielding dairy cows has an increasing energy requirements, the practice of adding lipid supplements such as concentrates rich in palm oil and/or palm oil industry by-products become more common. Palm oil containing high levels of C16:0 causes high levels of free fatty acids (FFA) which are linked to larger milk fat globules (MFG) which affect the reaction of lipolysis resulting in rancid flavour and processing problems. Instead of using palm oil, rapeseed oil rich in C18:1 C18:2 can be used. In order to evaluate the effect of added C18:0 and C16:0 on milk lipolysis, 30 Swedish Red lactating dairy cows including 15 multiparous (MP) and 15 primiparous (PP) cows were randomly divided in three groups resulting in 3 10 cow-groups (5 PP and 5 MP cows per group) and fed one out of three concentrate mixtures: control (C), a standard concentrate mixture with no fat added; palmitate (P) as C plus the addition of palmitate methyl ester (10 % in DM basis); and stearate (St) as C plus the addition of stearate methyl ester (10 % in DM basis). Milk yield was registered, and milk samples were collected and analysed for milk composition, FFA content and size of MFG.

The aim of the study was to investigate if the Grazemore Decision Support System (DSS) is able to provide a grazing management strategy that gives a high utilisation of grazed grass in milk production in the north of Scandinavia. To do this, a grazing experiment was planed and performed during the summer 2005. Simulations in the DSS were run to get a suggestion of how the cows should graze, grazing calendar 1. Deviations and updates during the season resulted in the simulated grazing calendar 2. During the experiment, the actual milk yield was recorded twice weekly. The difference between actual and predicted milk yield by Grazemore DSS was analysed statistically with regression analysis and the mean square prediction error (MSPE) was estimated.

Using the Introductory Carbon Balance Model, ICBM, five different crop rotations with rye 1. Rye-Ley-Ley-Rye-Beans-Rye 2. Rye-Rye-Rapeseed-Rapeseed 3. Rye-Ley-Ley-Rye-Potatoes-Rye 4. Rye-Rye-Potatoes-Wheat 5. Rye-Rye-Potatoes-Beans-Wheat-Rye-Potatoes-Rapeseed were tested theoretically in four different cultivation scenarios ? Straw left on the field, biogas digestate added as fertilizer. Labelled ?+straw+BD?. ? Straw left on the field, only synthetic fertilizer. Labelled ?+straw-BD?. ? Straw harvested, biogas digestate added as fertilizer.

Approximately 20% of the milk within the udder of a cow is stored in the cistern and immediately available for milk removal, while activation of the milk ejection reflex is required for removing the remaining milk stored in the alveolar compartment. The aim of this literature review is to describe, evaluate and consider implications of the three different suckling activities that the calf displays during a suckling bout. In terms of milking, these phases are represented by pre-stimulation, stimulation during milking and post-stimulation. Pre-stimulation is commonly performed in order to induce the milk ejection reflex, whereby the hormone oxytocin is released and the alveoli in the secretory tissue are contracted. Time requirements regarding pre-stimulation must be considered in relation to lactation stage and milking interval.

Swedish agriculture has gone through big changes in the latest 60 years. The farm sizes have increased, which has led to raised tractor and machinery sizes and therefore increasing problems with soil compaction. A method to reduce these problems is to implement controlled traffic farming, CTF. All field operations are then concentrated to specific tracks by using GPS guidance. The aim of this work was to study how the tillage regime, with or without CTF, affects the soil, with the main focus on macroporosity. In Säby close to Uppsala, and Alnarp close to Malmö, randomized block trials has been carried out, and the data has mainly been taken from these trials.