Milk performance and grazing behaviour of dairy cows in response to pasture allowance
A. M. Zanine A F , G. P. R. Motta B , D. J. Ferreira A , A. L. de Souza C , M. D. Ribeiro D , L. J. V. Geron E , M. Fajardo B , M. Sprunk B and R. M. A. Pinho A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA), Departamento de Zootecnia, Rodovia BR 222, km 4, s/n. CEP: 65500-000, Chapadinha, MA, Brazil.
B Facultad de La Agronomía, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), Garzón 780, Montevideo, 12900, Uruguay.
C Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso (UFMT), Avenida Fernando Corrêa da Costa, no. 2.367, Bairro Boa Esperança, CEP 78060-900, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil.
D Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Departamento de Zootecnia, Avenida Esperança, s/n. CEP: 74690-900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
E Universidade Estadual do Mato Grosso, Departamento de Zootecnia, Rodovia BR 174, s/n. CEP: 78250-000, Pontes e Lacerda, MT, Brazil.
F Corresponding author. Email: anderson.zanine@ibest.com.br
Animal Production Science 59(4) 749-756 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN17513
Submitted: 26 July 2017 Accepted: 15 February 2018 Published: 14 May 2018
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of pasture allowances on forage production, milk yield and composition, and grazing behaviour of Holstein cows during autumn. Thirty-six Holstein cows calving in the autumn were allocated to blocks considering: calving date, bodyweight, and body score. Treatments consisted of three pasture allowances as follows: high (HA; 38.4 kg DM/cow.day), medium (MA; 30.3 kg DM/cow.day), and low (LA; 26.8 kg DM/cow.day) pasture allowances. Forage mass and forage height pre-grazing were similar (P > 0.05) for all grazing targets. Pasture-use efficiency was affected (P < 0.05) by the pasture allowance. The highest and lowest efficiency was obtained with treatments LA and HA, respectively. The neutral detergent fibre content of forage harvesting was affected (P < 0.05) by the pasture allowance, with average of 44.8, 47.0, and 49.4 to HA, MA, and LA, respectively. There was an effect of pasture allowances (P < 0.05) on the milk yield per hectare and milk yield per cow. The highest production was observed in LA (438 L/ha.day) and the lowest in HA (314 L/ha.day). The percentage of milk fat, milk protein, and milk fat (g/cow.day) did not differ (P > 0.05) among pasture allowances. There was effect (P < 0.05) of pasture allowance with higher grazing time (369 min) and lower rumination time (23.3 min) observed to HA. Pasture allowances affected (P < 0.05) the total number of bites/day and bites/min, but did not affect (P > 0.05) bite mass. The pasture managements with low (26.8 kg DM/cow.day) pasture allowances provided better conditions for milk yield per area, likely due to the better grazing efficiency. However, pasture allowance provide little measurable changes on grazing behaviour.
Additional keywords: fodder crops, grazing management, milk production, pasture utilisation.
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