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A new DAERA-funded research project at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) led by Dr Aidan Cushnahan is examining strategies to produce milk from what are termed “more sustainable feed sources”.
The SusMilk (Sustainable Milk) project will run over the next three years and will look at the impact of reducing, or removing, cereals such as wheat and barley, as well as the likes of soya-bean meal.
According to the researchers, feeding cereals to animals which can be consumed by humans, is likely to become increasingly unacceptable in future as the world population continues to grow.
In addition, they point to concerns about the sustainability of how protein feeds such as soya-bean meal (linked to deforestation in certain countries) are produced.
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