Cattail and plantain can play a major role in the survival of livestock farmers in North Holland. Cattail can withstand water better than grass and can therefore offer a solution for farmers. And narrow plantain reduces nitrogen and other greenhouse gas emissions. Jeroen Pijlman of the Louis Bolk Institute is investigating how dairy farming in the Veenweide area can be made more sustainable.
Wet plantain cultivation saves livestock farming NNH 123 – NH
Nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions are a major threat to dairy farming and therefore to meadow birds, because most godwits live on farmland.
“Manure is an important cause,” Jeroen explains, as we stand in a meadow between ‘s Graveland and Ankeveen. “Dairy farmers want a protein-rich crop, because that is what the cow makes milk from. Perennial ryegrass is popular. But a pasture with many different herbs is much better for the environment. That retains nitrogen, so it does not end up in the air.”
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Plantain in particular is a useful plant. Jeroen: “The plant produces so-called secondary metabolites. These metabolites have an inhibitory effect on the conversion of ammonium into nitrate by bacteria in the soil itself. Nitrate is a form of nitrogen in the soil that is associated with protein production. The secondary metabolites also influence the ammonia production by the bacteria in the stomach of cows.”
In short: narrow plantain should ensure better protein utilization, less ammonia emissions and less nitrate leaching. Jeroen recently received his PhD for research into this.
In addition, narrow plantain can withstand drought better, which saves thousands of euros in diesel for the water pump. The plant also roots deeply enough to find sufficient food itself, so no fertilizer needs to be spread.
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If livestock farmers emit less nitrogen and other greenhouse gases, this is good for the environment. But also for livestock farmers, who can then be taken with fewer production-restricting measures.
“Another phenomenon is the emission of CO2 due to the compaction of the peat meadow area. If we can limit that, it would also make a big difference. For example, through the cultivation of cattails,” says Jeroen.
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The water level in polders is kept low for the cultivation of grass for cows. “As a result, the peat in the soil dries out. As a result, the soil level drops, the groundwater level rises and you have to pump more, after which the soil sinks even more, year after year, century after century. In many places in North Holland the bottom has now fallen several meters.”
That is a major problem, because during compaction – or the decomposition of the peat – a lot of CO2 is released, a greenhouse gas that is an important cause of global warming.” If we leave the water level high in some polders , that process stops. But then grass can no longer grow there and farmers have to grow something else: cattails, for example.”
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Harvest has now been completed on the cattail cultivation test field in ‘s Graveland. And that plant, also known as stink cigar, provides another (animal-friendly) advantage. Jeroen: “We can make different things from cattails. The cigars contain fluff that can be used as insulation material in jackets, instead of goose down.”
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There is also a purpose for the leaves and stems: “They are made into panels that can be used in construction as insulation material.” It is all still in an experimental phase, but this is slowly happening on an increasingly larger scale and it is becoming clear that if we dare to change, livestock farming and therefore also meadow birds have a future in North Holland.