OPTIMIZING PROTEIN EFFICIENCY IN DAIRY CATTLE BY NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES

Nitrogen (N) is essential for supporting life, but its excessive use poses significant threats to environmental sustainability (including climate change, biodiversity loss, and reduced water quality) and human health. Agriculture highly contributes to these challenges through the widespread use of N-based fertilizers and livestock production, leading to ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions, as well as nitrate losses. In Europe, particularly in Flanders, legal restrictions have been enforced to address N losses and emissions to protect the environment. Dairy cattle, providing a high portion of the animal protein production for human consumption, make substantial contributions to N excretions and emissions. Addressing this environmental concern necessitates enhancing the overall protein efficiency of cattle production. The journey toward improved protein efficiency in dairy cattle begins with obtaining more efficient feed resources and extends to optimizing N efficiency within the animals themselves.