Animal Welfare in Organic Beef Cattle: Feeding, Housing, and Litter Management

In organic beef cattle farming, workload management is closely tied to feed delivery systems and manure handling, both of which must align with animal welfare. Segregating cattle by sex and age—such as adult females, adult bulls, 12–24-month-old calves, and 0–12-month-old calves—often leads to organisational overload and may conflict with animal ethology, increasing labour time and management complexity. The use of a mixer wagon enables efficient blending and delivery of species-specific rations, including first-cut hay, lucerne, silages, and concentrates, and allows for bedding distribution in paddocks. The wagon, attached to the tractor’s most powerful hydraulic outlet, supports up to 30 animals per feeding pass and is used intensively during winter housing and for about one hour daily in summer. Its key advantage is utilising otherwise idle tractors. This system is compatible with the compost barn method, which uses a regularly turned litter area (10–30 m² per animal) to promote aeration and composting of manure mixed with organic material. The compost barn, originally developed for dairy cows, is increasingly adopted in beef systems—particularly in cow-calf and fattening operations—offering a sustainable alternative to traditional stall or litter systems. Aeration of the top 15–30 cm of litter is typically achieved using a tractor-mounted tined harrow.