Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T07:52:15.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of level of concentrate supplementation in winter and grazing allowance on the milk production and financial performance of spring-calving cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. Reeve ,
W. Thompson ,
R. G. Hodson ,
R. D. Baker  and
A. J. P. Carswell
A. Reeve
Affiliation:
Imperial Chemical Industries plc
W. Thompson
Affiliation:
Imperial Chemical Industries plc
R. G. Hodson
Affiliation:
Imperial Chemical Industries plc
R. D. Baker
Affiliation:
Imperial Chemical Industries plc
A. J. P. Carswell
Affiliation:
Animal and Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 SLR
Get access

Abstract

An experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial design was used to assess the effects of offering either 6 (L6) or 12 (H12) kg concentrates daily from day 13 of lactation until turnout to grazing with grass silage (600 to 620 g digestible organic matter per kg dry matter (DM)) ad libitum and either ad libitum (G) or restricted (g) quantities of grass from turnout to the end of August. In each of 3 years, 60 to 70 January- to March-calving British Friesian cows were used. From calving until turnout to grazing the mean daily DM intakes of silage were 7·2 and 8·9 kg, and of concentrates 8·5 and 4·9 kg for the H12 and L6 groups respectively, giving a mean substitution rate of 0·47 kg silage DM per kg concentrate DM. Mean daily milk yields were 26·7 and 22·9 kg giving a direct response of 0·85 kg/kg additional concentrate DM. Milk from the L6 group had a higher fat concentration and these cows were also lighter at the end of the winter. At pasture, there were no significant interactions for milk variates between winter treatments and grass availability. The stocking rate of cows with restricted grass availability was 0·33 higher from turnout to the end of August. It resulted in a 0·10 proportional reduction in milk yield per cow but per ha there was a 0·21 proportional increase. At pasture, the H12 cows gave more milk at both grass availabilities. The total responses to concentrates were 1·59 and 2·11 kg milk per kg concentrate DM at the ad libitum and restricted grass availabilities respectively. The good response to concentrate coupled with a 0·35 cow per ha increase in annual stocking rate as a result of restricting the grazing area ensured that gross margins and grass utilization were highest for the H12g cows. Conception rates were similar on all treatments and there were no significant differences in live weight at the end of lactation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 39 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Broster, W. H. 1972. Effect on milk yield of the cow of the level of feeding during lactation. Dairy Sci. Abstr. 34: 265–288.Google Scholar
Broster, W. H. and Broster, Valerie J. 1984. Reviews of the progress of Dairy Science: Long term effects of plane of nutrition on the performance of the dairy cow. J. Dairy Res. 51: 149–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, J. P. 1984. The effects of frequency of feeding on milk production of dairy cattle: an analysis of published results. Anim. Prod. 38: 181–189.Google Scholar
Gleeson, P. A. 1970. Feeding dairy concentrates to maximum advantage under Irish conditions. In Dairy Nutrition, pp. 85–95. U.S. Feed Grain Council, London.Google Scholar
Gordon, F. J. 1976. Effect of concentrate level and stocking rate on performance of dairy cows calving in late winter. Anim. Prod. 22: 175–187.Google Scholar
Gordon, F. J. 1981. Feed input-milk output relationships in the spring-calving dairy cow. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition — 1980 (ed. Haresign, W.), pp. 15–31. Butterworth, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, C. W. 1974. The Massey Grass Meter. Dairy Fmg A., pp. 26–30.Google Scholar
Johnson, C. L. 1977. The effect of the plane and pattern of concentrate feeding on milk yield and composition in dairy cows. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 88: 79–94.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, W. 1976. Influence of the composition of the ration and the feeding frequently on pH-regulation in the rumen and on feed intake in ruminants. Livest. Prod. Sci. 3: 103–114.Google Scholar
Le Du, Y. L. P., Combellas, J., Hodgson, J. and Baker, R. D. 1979. Herbage intake and milk production by grazing dairy cows. 2. The effects of level of winter feeding and daily herbage allowance. Grass Forage Sci. 34: 249–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mott, G. O. 1960. Grazing pressure and the measurement of pasture production. Proc. 8th int. GrassId Congr., Reading, pp. 606–611.Google Scholar
Mulvany, P. 1977. Dairy cow condition scoring. National Institute for Research in Dairying Paper 4468.Google Scholar
Patchell, M. R. 1957. The influence of undernutrition of dairy cows on the yield and composition of milk. N.Z. Jl Sci. Technol. 38A: 682–688.Google Scholar
Reeve, A. and Baker, R. D. 1985. The effects of level of winter concentrate supplementation and silage quality on milk yield of the spring calving cow. Anim. Prod. 40: 558 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Reeve, A., Blair, T., Thomas, C., Thompson, W., Golightly, A. J. and Marshall, D. R. 1983. The influence of grass silage quality on voluntary intake and milk yield by the autumn-calving dairy cow. Anim. Prod. 36: 506 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Steen, R. W. J. and Gordon, F. J. 1980a. The effect of level and system of concentrate allocation to January/February calving cows on total lactation performance. Anim. Prod. 30: 39–51.Google Scholar
Steen, R. W. J. and Gordon, F. J. 1980b. The effect of type of silage and level of concentrate supplementation offered during early lactation on total lactation performance of January/February calving cows. Anim. Prod. 30: 341–354.Google Scholar
Thomas, C. 1980. Conserved forages. In Feeding Strategies for Dairy Cows (ed. Broster, W. H., Johnson, C. L. and Tayler, J. C.), pp. 8.1–8.14. Agricultural Research Council, London.Google Scholar