A Forage Allowance by Forage Type Interaction Impacts the Daily Milk Yield of Early Lactation Dairy Cows
Article
Article Title | A Forage Allowance by Forage Type Interaction Impacts the Daily Milk Yield of Early Lactation Dairy Cows |
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ERA Journal ID | 200143 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Langworthy, Adam D., Freeman, Mark J., Hills, James L., McLaren, David K., Rawnsley, Richard P. and Pembleton, Keith G. |
Journal Title | Animals |
Journal Citation | 13, pp. 1-18 |
Article Number | 1406 |
Number of Pages | 18 |
Year | 2023 |
Publisher | MDPI AG |
ISSN | 2076-2615 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081406 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1406 |
Abstract | We tested for a forage allowance effect on the milk yield of early lactation dairy cow herds grazing swards sown with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) relative to perennial ryegrass alone. The examined allowances consisted of offering 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 or 25 kg of dry matter (DM)/cow per day of grazeable herbage, with diverse swards sown as mixtures and spatially adjacent monocultures. After adapting cows to their assigned forage type for 8 days, treatment effects on milk yield and composition, blood metabolites (beta-hydroxybutyrate, non-esterified fatty acids and urea concentrations), body weight change, forage intake and selection differentials for forage species and certain nutrients were monitored over 7 days. We confirmed a forage allowance effect on milk yield improvements in dairy cows grazing diverse swards relative to perennial ryegrass monocultures. Improvements in milk yield were evident at forage allowances of 14 to 20 kg of DM/cow per day, diminishing at the highest allowance of 25 kg of DM/cow per day. Improvements in milk yield for the mixture and spatially adjacent monocultures peaked at forage allowances of 18 and 16 kg of DM/cow per day, equalling increases of 1.3 and 1.2 kg of milk/cow per day, respectively. |
Keywords | forage allocation; grazing intensity; pasture; polyculture; species mixture |
Contains Sensitive Content | Contains sensitive content |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 3003. Animal production |
Byline Affiliations | University of Tasmania |
Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems | |
School of Agriculture and Environmental Science |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/yy5zz/a-forage-allowance-by-forage-type-interaction-impacts-the-daily-milk-yield-of-early-lactation-dairy-cows
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