Diurnal variation in urine nitrogen and creatinine concentrations from lactating cows grazing ryegrass-dominant pasture in autumn and late spring–summer
G. P. Cosgrove A B , A. Jonker A , K. A. Lowe A , P. S. Taylor A and D. Pacheco AA AgResearch Grasslands, PB 11008, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
B Corresponding author. Email: gerald.cosgrove@agresearch.co.nz
Animal Production Science 57(7) 1297-1304 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN16709
Submitted: 4 August 2016 Accepted: 15 February 2017 Published: 30 March 2017
Abstract
In dairy production systems based on grazed pasture, urine patches are the main source of nitrogen (N) losses via leaching and gaseous emission pathways. The volume and N concentration of urine influences the amount of N in a urine patch. We conducted systematic urine sampling to determine the diurnal variation in concentrations of N and creatinine (a proxy for urine volume), and the N : creatinine ratio, to identify the sampling required for accurately estimating the daily mean concentrations of N and creatinine. Nine groups (n = 6) of multiparous Friesian and Friesian × Jersey cows in autumn (220 ± 26 days-in-milk, milked twice daily) and nine groups (n = 6) in late spring–summer (228 ± 24 days-in-milk, milked once daily) were sequentially withdrawn from the farm herd at approximately weekly intervals and each group was offered a fresh allocation of ryegrass-dominant pasture twice daily after milking for 3 days (including at the equivalent time in the afternoon in late spring–summer when they were milked once daily). For each of the 18 different groups of cows, individual urine samples were collected on Day 3 at 1100 hours, 1500 hours (afternoon milking), 1800 hours and 0700 hours (the following morning milking), and, subsequently, analysed for total N and creatinine concentrations. In autumn, urine-N concentrations were higher (P = 0.0002) at 1800 hours (5.8 g N/L) than they were at 1500 hours or 0700 hours (mean of 4.2 g N/L). In late spring–summer, the concentrations were higher (P < 0.001) at 1100 hours (8.0 g N/L) than they were at 1500 hours, 1800 hours or 0700 hours (mean of 6.3 g N/L). The urine N : creatinine ratio was 214 mol/mol in autumn and 148 mol/mol in late spring–summer, but did not vary among sampling times during the day. The highest concentrations of N were in urine samples collected ~3 h post-allocation of fresh feed when cows had grazed actively and consumed the majority of the herbage available. For accurate estimates of the daily mean urine N concentration, sample collections should be timed to encompass this diurnal variation. For the N : creatinine ratio, which was more stable through the day, the timing of sample collection is less important for estimating a daily mean.
Additional keywords: dairy, nitrogen excretion, pasture feeding management.
References
Betteridge K, Andrews WGK, Sedcole JR (1986) Intake and excretion of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus by grazing steers. The Journal of Agricultural Science 106, 393–404.| Intake and excretion of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus by grazing steers.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Betteridge K, Hoogendoorn CJ, Costall DA, Carter M, Griffiths W (2010) Sensors for detecting and logging spatial distribution of urine patches of grazing female sheep and cattle. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 73, 66–73.
| Sensors for detecting and logging spatial distribution of urine patches of grazing female sheep and cattle.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Betteridge K, Costall DA, Li FI, Luo D, Ganesh S (2013) Why we need to know what and where cows are urinating: a urine sensor to improve nitrogen models. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 75, 119–124.
Bryant RH, Dalley DE, Gibbs J, Edwards GR (2014) Effect of grazing management on herbage protein concentration, milk production and nitrogen excretion by dairy cows in mid-lactation. Grass and Forage Science 69, 644–654.
| Effect of grazing management on herbage protein concentration, milk production and nitrogen excretion by dairy cows in mid-lactation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2cXhslCjt7vL&md5=64b08edfd7cf5c151d694c03129f9e57CAS |
Clark CEF, McLeod KLM, Glassey CB, Gregorini P, Costall DA, Betteridge K, Jago JG (2010) Capturing urine while maintaining pasture intake, milk production and animal welfare of dairy cows in early and late lactation. Journal of Dairy Science 93, 2280–2286.
| Capturing urine while maintaining pasture intake, milk production and animal welfare of dairy cows in early and late lactation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXnvVansLs%3D&md5=aa0db26cc2b6c06a2010fd3c10001379CAS |
Corson DC, Waghorn GC, Ulyatt MJ, Lee J (1999) NIRS: forage analysis and livestock feeding. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 61, 127–132.
Cosgrove GP, Taylor PS, Lowe KA, Foote AG, Jonker A (2014) Milk urea estimates of nitrogen excretion by dairy cows grazing forage species with contrasting chemical and morphological characteristics. In ‘Proceedings of the 6th Australasian dairy science symposium’, Hamilton, New Zealand. (Ed JR Roche) pp. 249–251.
Eriksson T (2012) Diurnal urinary urea concentration patterns in lactating cows, dry cows and heifers at different dietary crude protein concentrations. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd Nordic feed science conference’, Uppsala, Sweden. (Eds P Udén, T Eriksson, BO Rustas, CE Müller, R Spörndly, T Pauly, K Holtenius, E. Spörndly, M Emanuelson) pp. 135–139.
Gibb MJ, Huckell CA, Nuthall R (1998) Effect of time of day on grazing behaviour by lactating dairy cows. Grass and Forage Science 53, 41–46.
| Effect of time of day on grazing behaviour by lactating dairy cows.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gregorini P (2012) Diurnal grazing pattern: its physiological basis and strategic management. Animal Production Science 52, 416–430.
Haynes RJ, Williams PH (1993) Nutrient cycling and soil fertility in the grazed pasture ecosystem. Advances in Agronomy 49, 119–199.
| Nutrient cycling and soil fertility in the grazed pasture ecosystem.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaK3sXltlygs7Y%3D&md5=b188892aae3461a8b00c8b8109a90893CAS |
Holmes CW (2002) ‘Milk production from pasture.’ (Massey University: Palmerston North, New Zealand)
Hoogendoorn CJ, Betteridge K, Costall DA, Ledgard SF (2010) Nitrogen concentration in the urine of cattle, sheep and deer grazing a common ryegrass/cocksfoot/white clover pasture. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 53, 235–243.
| Nitrogen concentration in the urine of cattle, sheep and deer grazing a common ryegrass/cocksfoot/white clover pasture.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXhtFWnsLfI&md5=056aa28b9a65984c70062c492b5f7709CAS |
Lantinga EA, Keuning JA, Groenwold J, Deenen PJ (1987) Distribution of excreted nitrogen by grazing cattle and its effects on sward quality, herbage production and utilisation. In ‘Animal manure on grassland and fodder crops. Fertilizer or waste?’. (Eds HG van der Meer, RJ Unwin, TA van Dijk, GC Ennik). (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: Dordrecht)
Ledgard SF, Welten B, Betteridge K (2015) Salt as a mitigation option for decreasing nitrogen leaching losses from grazed pastures. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 95, 3033–3040.
| Salt as a mitigation option for decreasing nitrogen leaching losses from grazed pastures.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC2MXmvVyqu7s%3D&md5=a94ec6767bcd3cd3c090ec503679ffd4CAS |
Pacheco D, Waghorn GC (2008) Dietary nitrogen: definitions, digestion, excretion and consequences of excess for grazing ruminants. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 70, 107–116.
Pacheco D, Burke JL, Death AF, Cosgrove GP (2007) Comparison of models for estimation of urinary nitrogen excretion from dairy cows fed fresh forages. In ‘Meeting the challenges for pasture-based dairying. Proceedings of the 3rd Australasian Dairy Science Symposium’, Melbourne. (Eds DF Chapman, DA Clark, KL Macmillan, DP Nation) pp. 417–422. (National Dairy Alliance)
Pacheco D, Lowe K, Hickey MJ, Burke JL, Cosgrove GP (2010) Seasonal and dietary effects on the concentration of urinary N from grazing dairy cows. In ‘Meeting the challenges for pasture-based dairying. Proceedings of the 4th Australasian Dairy Science Symposium’, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand. (Eds GR Edwards, RH Bryant) pp. 68–73.
Ravera BL, Bryant RH, Cameron KC, Di HJ, Edwards GR, Smith N (2015) Use of a urine meter to detect variation in urination behaviour of dairy cows on winter crops. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 75, 84–88.
Selbie DR, Watkins NL, Wheeler DM, Shepherd MA (2013) Understanding the distribution and fate of nitrogen and phosphorus in OVERSEER®. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 75, 113–118.
Selbie DR, Buckthought LE, Shepherd MA (2015) The challenge of the urine patch for managing nitrogen in grazed pasture systems. Advances in Agronomy 129, 229–292.
Shepherd M, Shorten P, Costall D, Macdonald KA (2017) Evaluation of urine excretion from dairy cows under two farm systems using urine sensors. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 236, 285–294.
| Evaluation of urine excretion from dairy cows under two farm systems using urine sensors.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ueda K, Mitani T, Kondo S (2016) Herbage intake and ruminal digestion of dairy cows grazed on perennial ryegrass pasture either in the morning or evening. Animal Science Journal 87, 997–1004.
| Herbage intake and ruminal digestion of dairy cows grazed on perennial ryegrass pasture either in the morning or evening.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC28XhtF2itbjE&md5=778687d6e2b48ccbe2388c7144c49ffdCAS |
Van Vuuren AM, Smits MCJ (1997) Effect of nitrogen and sodium chloride intake on production and composition of urine in dairy cows. In ‘Gaseous nitrogen emissions from grasslands’. (Eds SC Jarvis, BF Pain) pp. 95–99. (CAB International: Wallingford, UK)
