Rumen degradation characteristics of ryegrass herbage and ryegrass silage are affected by interactions between stage of maturity and nitrogen fertilisation rate

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 1263 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. H. Heeren ◽  
S. C. Podesta ◽  
B. Hatew ◽  
G. Klop ◽  
H. van Laar ◽  
...  

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate interaction effects between stage of maturity and nitrogen (N) fertilisation rate on rumen degradation characteristics determined with nylon bag incubations of ryegrass herbages and ryegrass silage. Grass herbage (n = 4) was cut after 3 or 5 weeks of regrowth and received a low (20 kg N/ha) or a high (90 kg N/ha) fertilisation rate. Grass silage (n = 6) received a low (65 kg N/ha) or high (150 kg N/ha) fertilisation rate and was harvested at early (~2000 kg DM/ha), mid (harvested 13 days later), or late (harvested 34 days later) maturity stage and ensiled in big bales. All grasses were incubated in the rumen of three lactating rumen-cannulated Holstein Friesian cows. Rumen degradation characteristics of organic matter (OM), N and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and the extent of effective degradation (ED) were evaluated. In grass herbage, NDF content varied between 390 and 454 g/kg DM and N content between 12.1 and 25.8 g/kg DM. In grass silage, NDF content varied between 438 and 593 g/kg DM and N content between 13.4 and 34.8 g/kg DM. In general, rumen degradation of grass herbage and grass silage decreased with increased maturity, and increased with increased fertilisation rate. Significant interaction between maturity and fertilisation rate was observed for ED of OM, N and NDF, except for ED of N in grass herbage. These results indicate that the effect of the rate of N fertilisation on degradation of nutrients in the rumen of dairy cattle and on nutritional value depends on the grass maturity stage.

1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 206-206
Author(s):  
R.J. Dewhurst ◽  
D. Wadhwa ◽  
L.P. Borgida ◽  
D.W.R. Davies ◽  
W.J. Fisher

Falling prices for cereals and beneficial effects on milk protein concentrations may promote greater inclusions of rapidly fermented ingredients in dairy rations. There is, however, a limit to the inclusion of these feeds into dairy rations beyond which performance declines due to sub-acidosis and related disorders. The feed compounder will need to be able to set limits on levels of feeding concentrates according to these risks. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of feeds of different acidogenicity (Wadhwa et al., 1998) on lactation performance of dairy cows offered diets based on grass- or maize-silage.Twelve multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows in the third month of lactation were used for this experiment. The experimental design involved adaptation and covariance recording on a standard diet (grass silage and 10 kg concentrates per day), followed by three 21-day experimental periods arranged as four 3x3 Latin Squares. The Latin Squares were constrained to a single forage to avoid difficulties in changeovers between grass silage and maize silage.


2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Dewhurst ◽  
R. J. Merry ◽  
D. R. Davies ◽  
J. M. Moorby ◽  
N. D. Scollan ◽  
...  

Poor animal performance associated with low digestibility silages results partly from the reduced nutrient yield per unit intake, but also from the associated lower intakes which were presumed to be a consequence of rumen fill effects. Legume silages have a lower average digestibility than grass silages, and yet often have higher intake characteristics. The objective of this work was to compare rumen fill and rumen particle size distribution for animals fed grass silage or legume silage-based diets.


Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
W.J. Fisher ◽  
A.B. McAllan

Recent trials with cows fed grass silage have shown significant increases in intake and in yields of milk and milk solids when the crude protein (CP) concentration in a supplementary concentrate was raised. Giving additional CP in the concentrate was a more effective strategy for improving yields of milk and milk protein than giving extra energy (Aston et al 1992). The objective of this trial was to examine the influence of changes to the amount and pattern of distribution of CP supplied in a fixed concentrate ration given with grass silage ad libitum.Fifty-five Holstein-Friesian cows in their second and subsequent lactations were given a standard diet for two weeks from calving and then were used in a continuous feeding trial from weeks 4 to 21. The cows received 5 kg of fresh concentrate daily containing 156 (LP), 245 (MP) or 338 (HP) g CP per kg dry matter (DM), MP comprised equal amounts of LP and HP. Concentrate carbohydrate sources were cereals and digestible fibre and CP was increased by a mixture of 3:1 soya:fish meals. Grass silage contained 253 g toluene DM/kg, 162 g CP/kg DM, D value in vivo 0.723, pH 3.7, fermentation acids 135 g/kg DM of which 0.85 was lactic acid and NH3-N 91 g/kg total N.


1980 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen ◽  
F. J. Gordon

ABSTRACTA 3 × 2 factorial design experiment using 84 British Friesian cows was conducted to assess the effect of offering three types of grass silage and two levels of concentrate supplementation during early lactation on the total lactation performance of cows which calve during January and February. The three types of silage were early-cut wilted (ECW), early-cut unwilted (ECU) and late-cut unwilted (LCU), and the two levels of concentrate supplementation were 538 kg (LC) and 738 kg (HC) during a mean post-calving period of 71 days. The animals had a mean calving date of 29 January and were blocked according to calving date, and allocated at random to the treatments within each block on day 7 of lactation. The treatments were applied from day 7 of lactation until the animals were turned out to pasture on 18 April. Mean milk yields for the indoor period were: HC treatments 1963 (ECW), 1979 (ECU) and 1830 (LCU); LC treatments 1938 (ECW), 1942 (ECU) and 1731 (LCU) ± 41·3 kg; and for the total lactation were: HC treatments 5375 (ECW), 5438 (ECU) and 5284 (LCU); LC treatments 5509 (ECW), 5529 (ECU) and 5316 (LCU) ± 184·1 kg. There was no significant interaction between silage type and level of concentrate supplementation.Milk composition, animal live weight and body condition were not significantly affected by either silage type or level of concentrate supplementation.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
J D Sutton ◽  
A L Abdalla ◽  
R H Phipps ◽  
S B Cammell ◽  
D J Humphries

Whole crop wheat (WCW) appears to offer an attractive alternative forage to grass silage for dairy cows, particularly in those areas where maize silage cannot be grown. However in previous feeding trials the inclusion of WCW with grass silage has increased food intake but has not led to a corresponding increase in milk yield (Phipps et al,1993). As part of a programme to try to overcome the low efficiency of diets containing WCW, the present experiment was designed to examine the effects on feed intake and digestibility and milk production of the step-wise replacement of GS by urea-treated WCW.Winter wheat (cv Hussar), harvested at 620g DM/kg fresh weight and preserved with 20 or 40 g urea/kg DM (WCW-2, WCW-4) was compared with first-cut perennial ryegrass silage (GS). Six multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows in mid-lactation were offered six diets over three 4-week periods in an incomplete change-over design. Diets were 6kg DM concentrates daily with forages ad lib. Treatments (DM basis) were GS alone, 2:1 GS:WCW-2 or WCW-4, 1:2 GS: WCW-2 or WCW-4, and WCW-4 alone. Feed intake and milk production were measured in weeks 3 and 4 and digestibility in week 4.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 961
Author(s):  
Ignacio E. Beltran ◽  
Pablo Gregorini ◽  
José Daza ◽  
Oscar A. Balocchi ◽  
Alvaro Morales ◽  
...  

The objective of this work was to evaluate whether changes in time of herbage allocation and herbage mass (HM) (low (L) or medium (M)) modify the diurnal pattern of urinary nitrogen (N) concentration and ruminal ammonia (NH3) of lactating dairy cows. Four Holstein-Friesian cows fitted with rumen cannula were randomly allocated to one of four treatments: 1) low herbage mass in the morning (L-AM) (Access to new herbage allocation after morning milking with a herbage mass (HM) of 2000 kg DM/ha); 2) low herbage mass in the afternoon (L-PM) (Access to new herbage allocation after afternoon milking with a HM of 2000 kg DM/ha); 3) medium herbage mass in the morning (M-AM) (Access to new herbage allocation after morning milking with a HM of 3000 kg DM/ha); and 4) medium herbage mass in the afternoon (M-PM) (Access to new herbage allocation after afternoon milking with a HM of 3000 kg DM/ha). A four by four Latin Square design with four treatments, four cows, and four experimental periods was used to evaluate treatment effects. Rumen NH3 concentration was greater for L-AM compared to L-PM and M-PM at 13:00 and 16:00 h. Urine urea and N concentrations were lower for M-AM compared to L-AM. Urine N concentration was greater for L-AM than other treatments at 10:00 hours and greater for M-PM compared to M-AM at 16:00 hours. Results suggest that maintaining the cows in the holding pen at the milking parlor for two hours after morning grass silage supplementation for L-AM and for two hours after afternoon grass silage supplementation for M-PM, could allow collection of urine from cows at the holding pen and storage of urine in the slurry pit during the time of peak N concentration, returning cows to the pasture at a time of day when urinary N concentration is decreased.


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomo Varvikko ◽  
Aila Vanhatalo

Four ruminally and duodenally cannulated non-lactating Finnish Ayrshire cows were used in a balanced 4 × 4 Latin square to study the effect of different concentrate supplements on the true partial and total-tract digestion (TTD) of grass silage, estimated by using the combined rumen-bag-intestinal-bag method. The cows were fed, at maintenance level, grass silage alone or supplemented with good-quality ground barley, ground barley and rapeseed meal, or ground barley and soybean meal. The determination of the proportion of grass silage degraded in the rumen (RD) was based on disappearance of feeds from nylon bags during the rumen incubation as a function of time, using the outflow rate of k = 0.0625. The intestinal digestion (ID) was estimated by the mobile-bag method with the residues that resisted degradation during the 16-h rumen incubation. Combination of these two was calculated to provide the TTD. Concentrate supplementation always caused a clear and consistent decline in rumen degradation and TTD of organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and Kjeldahl-N of grass silage but had no real influence on its ID. The type of concentrate, however, had only little effect. The average TTD of NDF was 16% lower than that of OM, but TTD of N was always very much higher than the respective value for OM. The results indicate that concentrate supplementation decreases the total-tract digestion of OM, cell walls and nitrogen of grass silage owing to impaired ruminal degradation. The combined bag method appears a convenient tool to provide digestion coefficients close to the true feed digestion of the individual feeds. Key words: Grass silage, nylon bag, mobile bag, combined bag, ruminal degradation, intestinal digestion, true digestion


1960 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. G. Nicholson ◽  
R. J. Curtis

Twenty Ayrshire and twenty Holstein-Friesian cows were used at the Experimental Farms, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and Fredericton, New Brunswick, respectively, in an evaluation of the use of raw potatoes for feeding lactating dairy cows. The experiments were of the changeover design and were conducted in the period 1956–59. It was concluded that potatoes were equal to grass silage on a T.D.N. basis, provided that the protein content of the grain mixture fed with the potatoes was also increased. Better T.D.N. consumption was obtained when both silage and potatoes were fed than when silage was fed alone. Increasing the protein content of the grain mixture fed with potatoes resulted in increased production of F.C.M. and S.N.F., but not of butterfat.


Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
J.D. Sutton ◽  
R.D. Baker ◽  
W.J. Fisher

The response in yields of milk constituents to increases in the amounts of standard dairy concentrate (SC, 200 g crude protein (CP) per kg DM) given to cows consuming grass silage ad libitum were reported recently (Aston et al 1991; Baker et al 1991). A change of level however adjusts the supply of both energy and CP. Previous work also showed .linear responses in silage intake and milk and milk protein yields when CP was increased in a fixed ration of concentrate of constant energy value. In this trial energy and CP levels were varied Independently. The objective was to separate the effects of energy on the performance of lactating cows from those of CP.


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