Feeding dairy cows on the Vista Alegre farm (Karrantza, Bizkaia) from an agroecological point of view in the context of food sovereignty

The aim of the present document is to give those consumers who wish to know more about the feeding regimes of dairy cattle (and it’s implications for milk) the opportunity to access both general data and data specific to the Vista Alegre farm, bearing in mind two objectives:

(a)    to explain the concept of feeding dairy cattle from an agroecological point of view within the context of food sovereignty

(b)    to examine to what extent the Vista Alegre farm is moving towards agroecological milk production

Although one of the main objectives of feeding dairy cattle is animal nutrition, an agroecological approach to feeding, particularly in the context of food sovereignty, considers that the way in which fodder is supplied should also fulfil other objectives, such as maintaining or recuperating biodiversity, providing top quality milk in terms of nutrition, helping to overcome the climate crisis, guaranteeing good animal health and welfare or avoiding negative impacts for the options of food sovereignty in the global South. These objectives are all closely interrelated and their simultaneous fulfilment depends, to a large extent, on exactly how dairy cows are fed (for a detailed analysis see section 2 of this document).

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