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Matching grass supply to grazing patterns for dairy cows under strip-grazing management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

R.J. Orr
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
S.M. Rutter
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
P.D. Penning
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
N.H. Yarrow
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
L.D. Atkinson
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
R.A. Champion
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, United Kingdom
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Extract

Grazed herbage is the cheapest feed available for dairy cows but total intake of nutrients from grazed pasture alone is generally insufficient to allow high yielding dairy cows to reach their production potential. Cows have their main daily meal following afternoon milking in the period up to sunset (e.g. Rook et al., 1994 ). In addition, both the DM content and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration of grass increase over the day (e.g. Orr et al., 1997) due to the loss of moisture and the accumulation of the products of photosynthesis. Based on this evidence, this study tested the hypothesis that dairy cows receiving strip-grazing allocations following the afternoon rather than the morning milking would show higher intake rates and consequently higher milk yields.

Twenty Holstein-Friesian cows (median calving date 10 February 1997) were each supplemented with 4 kg concentrates day-1 and strip-grazed a perennial ryegrass pasture in four groups of 5 cows.

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Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1998

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References

Orr, R.J., Penning, P.D., Harvey, A. and Champion, R.A. 1997. Diurnal patterns of intake rate by sheep grazing monocultures of ryegrass or white clover. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 52: 6577.10.1016/S0168-1591(96)01120-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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