Literature review exploring the options of herbs in grasslands in the Netherlands : Effects on resilience and robustness of cattle and the ability to cope with heat stress

Abstract

Within the framework of the Knowledgebase Program 34 (Circular and Climate Neutral), this literature review presents information about herbs in Dutch pastures that can contribute to heat stress reduction in cattle. For dairy cattle there is growing interest in herbal pastures, both to increase biodiversity and to support animal health. In this review the focus is on the effects of these plants on cattle 'resilience' and their ability to cope with heat stress.To achieve this a literature review was performed using the following method: based on an existing database of plants in grassland, PubMed, Scopus and some handbooks on veterinary phytotherapy were searched for effects of the mentioned plants on resilience and heat stress in cattle. Finally, promising plants are listed with their common and botanical name, their constituents, their biological action and indication according to standard works on phytotherapy.Positive effects on 'resilience' are defined as positive effects on appetite, digestion, anti-inflammatory, antiphlogistic, anti-oxidant, spasmolytic, blood purifying, analgesic, anxiolytic, antimicrobial, immunemodulating effects, effects on liver (cholagogue), effects on kidneys (diuretic) and high levels of vitamins (vitamin C, B, A). Literature was searched for plants that specifically affect the animals ability to cope with heat stress and plants containing high levels of vitamin C, anxiolytic effects and appetite stimulating effects were also considered as having a positive effect.The results show that promising pasture herbs for increasing resilience include common dandelion, stinging nettle, shepherd's-purse, chamomile, red clover, white clover, plantain, soft-brome, cuckoo flower, milk thistle, forget me not daisy, common chickweed, cow parsley, salad burnet, yarrow, fennel, lady's bedstraw, corn chamomile, chicory, common sainfoin, dill, caraway, parsley, black medick, alfalfa, fenugreek, hedge bedstraw and London rocket.An easy solution to prevent heat stress in cows is to provide pastures with trees and shrubs. If trees and shrubs cannot be provided, pasture plants researched for biochemical effects specifically on heat stress according to literature are dill, chicory, London rocket and fenugreek. Herbs like Shepherd's-purse, chamomile, plantain, milk thistle, daisy, common chickweed, fennel and caraway could also contribute to the ability of dairy cows to cope with heat stress based on their biological actions. However, it depends on the availability in the pasture and the amount of plant material that the animals eat whether the plants can achieve the effects listed in the aforementioned literature. This should be further investigated.Moreover, other herbs and herbal extracts of plants, not native to the Netherlands, can contribute to reduction in heat stress, such as rosemary, cinnamon, turmeric, clove buds, Psyllium, white wormwood, cornus, thyme and oregano. Extracts or grounded products of these herbs could be used as complementary feed. In conclusion many promising herbs for cattle healt...

Nature-based solutions en hun bijdragen aan transities richting een circulaire en klimaatneutrale toekomst : Een verkenning van vijf casussen uit het KB programma Nature Based Solutions for Circulair and Climate Neutral Food Systems van Wageningen University & Research

“…koeien. Onderzoek naar kruidenrijk grasland focust zich momenteel op het in kaart brengen van de kwaliteiten van individuele grassoorten (Groot, 2022a), de kwaliteit van graslandschappen in relatie tot klimaatverandering (Verstand, 2022) en de kwaliteit van individuele grassoorten op de diergezondheid van koeien (Balakrishnan, Nair & Groot, 2022ab;Groot, 2022b). Deze onderzoeken richten zich zowel op de landschapskwaliteit van kruidenrijk grasland (mesoniveau) als op de specifieke kwaliteit van diverse grassoorten (microniveau).…”

“…klaverachtigen) lijken stikstof-en methaan-bindende kwaliteiten te bezitten en tannine-houdende kruiden lijken de wormdruk voor koeien te verlagen (Groot, 2022a). Kortom: er wordt gewerkt aan een belangrijke kennisbasis die tegemoetkomt aan een opkomende maatschappelijke behoefte.…”