In the past the most important objective of dairy cattle feeding regimes was considered to be a positive repercussion in milk production in terms of the quantity of milk produced per unit of feed (measured in weight or economic terms). However, although this is one of the main aims of a dairy farm, from an agroecological point of view, the way in which fodder is supplied should also simultaneously fulfil other objectives:
• Optimise the welfare of dairy cows:
-Correct metabolism
-Correct development of a dairy cow’s breeding capacity
-A high standard of general health

• Optimise the positive role that the way in which fodder is supplied can play in the environment:
- The capacity to maintain wild and farm plant and animal biodiversity-
- The capacity to save energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels
- The capacity to conserve soils
- The capacity to help solve the climate crisis

Grazing meadow with high values of floristic biodiversity

Marbled white butterfly



• Optimise milk quality ( and that of yoghurt, cheese and any other dairy products) and not just the quantity of milk produced with consequences for the health and nutrition of  the consumer population
• Optimise a farm’s technological and economic independence
• Prevent negative socio-economic and environmental impacts in the global South.

Agroecology attempts to identify that way by which fodder is supplied that allows all these objectives to be both optimally and simultaneously achieved, as well as covering the basic nutritional needs of cows.

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