Based on research from the SOLID project Spanish nutritionists recommend Mediterranean farmers to apply a low input strategy using by-products from the olive- and greenhouse industry as feed for dairy goats.
By Ulla Skovsbøl
Tomato salad with rich olive oil is a simple but delicious dish on the Mediterranean dining table. But tomatoes and olives are not only suited for the human diet – silages made out of waste from the olive and tomato industries have also proved to be an attractive feed for dairy goats.
Within the SOLID project the scientists at the Animal Nutrition Institute at the research institution CSIC in Granada have tested a broad range of by-products fit for husbandry production on low input farms.
In particular, leaves and pulp from the olive oil industry and wasted fruits from the intensive greenhouse production – primarily tomatoes – appeared to be promising as goat feed.
Both types of products were fed as silage and tested in vitro as well as in vivo at the institute and also on case study farms. Silage made out of tomato waste mixed with straw and barley appears to be very well suited for feeding ruminants, although the challenge is the high moisture of the tomatoes.
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