Comparison of two management systems of dairy farmlets based on conservation of either hay or silage

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Thomas ◽  
GL Mathews

Two management systems for dairy farms, early (silage farmlet) and late (hay farmlet) conservation, were compared for milk production in 4 consecutive years, at 2 cowsha. Half of the total silage farmlet area was made to wilted silage in each year. The remaining area was conserved as direct-cut silage in the first year and hay in the fourth year. About 40-50% of the hay farmlet area was made to hay. Over the 4 years, the silage farmlet produced an average of 8.2% more milk and 11.9% more (P<0.01) milk fat per year than the hay farmlet. The improvement in milk and milk fat production averaged 2.7 and 5% (P<0.01) in the spring and 27.4 and 30% (P<0.01) in the period from commencement of supplementary feeding in the summer. On average, the silage farmlet conserved a greater area, but because of high storage losses and greater consumption, it required more brought-in feed than the hay farmlet.

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Wroński ◽  
Marek Cichocki ◽  
Katarzyna Borkowska ◽  
Jan Redmer

2000 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Armstrong ◽  
J. E. Knee ◽  
P. T. Doyle ◽  
K. E. Pritchard ◽  
O. A. Gyles

A survey of 170 randomly selected, irrigated, dairy farms in northern Victoria and 9 in southern New South Wales was conducted to examine and benchmark the key factors influencing water-use efficiency. Water-use efficiency was defined as the amount of milk (kg milk fat plus protein) produced from pasture per megalitre of water (irrigation plus effective rainfall). Information on water-use, milk production, supplementary feeding, farm size and type, pasture management, and irrigation layout and management was collected for each farm by personal interview for the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. The farms were ranked in the order of water-use efficiency with the average farm compared with the highest and lowest 10% of farms. The range in water-use efficiency was 25–115 kg milk fat plus protein/ML, with the highest 10% averaging 94 kg/ML and the lowest 10% averaging 35 kg/ML. The large range in water-use efficiency indicated potential for substantial improvement on many farms. The high water-use efficiency farms, when compared with the low group: (i) produced a similar amount of milk from less water (387 v. 572 ML) (P<0.05), less land (48 v. 83 ha) (P< 0.05) and a similar number of cows (152 v. 143 cows); (ii) had higher estimated pasture consumption per hectare (11.5 v. 5.5 t DM/ha) (P<0.01) and per megalitre (1.0 v. 0.5 t DM/ML) (P<0.01); (iii) had higher stocking rates (3.2 v. 1.8 cows/ha) (P<0.01); (iv) used higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser (59 v. 18 kg N/ha.year) (P<0.05) and tended to use more phosphorus fertiliser (64 v. 34 kg P/ha.year) (P<0.10); (v) used similar levels of supplementary feed (872 v. 729 kg concentrates/cow); (vi) had higher milk production per cow (396 v. 277 kg fat plus protein) (P<0.05); and (vii) directed a higher proportion of the estimated energy consumed by cows into milk production (53 v. 46%) (P<0.05). The survey data confirmed that irrigated dairy farm systems are complex and variable. For example, the amount of feed brought in from outside the milking area varied from 0 to 74% of the estimated total energy used by a milking herd. There was a large range in the level of supplement input amongst the farms in the high water-use efficiency group, and in the low water-use efficiency group. This indicates that the management of the farming system has a greater impact on the efficiency of water-use on irrigated dairy farms, than the type of system. The data from the survey provide information for individual farms, a measure of the water-use efficiency of the industry, and an indication of the quality of regional land and water resources.


2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 979-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon R. Mitoulas ◽  
Lyle C. Gurrin ◽  
Dorota A. Doherty ◽  
Jillian L. Sherriff ◽  
Peter E. Hartmann

Despite the importance of human milk fatty acids for infant growth and development, there are few reports describing infant intakes of individual fatty acids. We have measured volume, fat content and fatty acid composition of milk from each breast at each feed over a 24h period to determine the mean daily amounts of each fatty acid delivered to the infant from breast milk at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months of lactation in five women. Daily (24h) milk production was 336·60 (sem 26·21) and 414·49 (sem 28·39) ml and milk fat content was 36·06 (sem 1·37) and 34·97 (sem 1·50) g/l for left and right breasts respectively over the course of the first year of lactation. Fatty acid composition varied over the course of the day (mean CV 14·3 (sd 7·7) %), but did not follow a circadian rhythm. The proportions (g/100g total fatty acids) of fatty acids differed significantly between mothers (P<0·05) and over the first year of lactation (P<0·05). However, amounts (g) of most fatty acids delivered to the infant over 24h did not differ during the first year of lactation and only the amounts of 18:3n-3, 22:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 delivered differed between mothers (P<0·05). Mean amounts of 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 delivered to the infant per 24h over the first year of lactation were 2·380 (sd 0·980), 0·194 (sd 0·074), 0·093 (sd 0·031) and 0·049 (sd 0·021) g respectively. These results suggest that variation in proportions of fatty acids may not translate to variation in the amount delivered and that milk production and fat content need to be considered.


2004 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Plaizier ◽  
T. Garner ◽  
T. Droppo ◽  
T. Whiting

A survey was conducted on 40 randomly selected dairy farms across Manitoba to document nutritional practices and diet compositions, and study relationships between diet composition and milk production. Samples from all feeds, diets, and the bulk milk tank were collected and analyzed. Inclusion rates of feed ingredients were recorded. Production data were obtained from Western Canada Dairy Herd Improvement Services (WCDHIS). Component feeding and total mixed ration (TMR) feeding were used in 37.5 and 62.5% of herds, respectively. Only 24% of TMR-fed herds used two or more TMR. The medians of dietary contents of crude protein (CP), rumen degradable protein (RDP), rumen undegradable protein (RUP), and neutral detergent fibre (NDF), and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) were 18.3% dry matter (DM), 12.2% DM, 5.7% DM, 34.8% DM, and 15.6 mg dL-1, respectively. On average, diets contained 6.2% more net energy for lactation (NEl), 35.9% more RDP, 15.8% less RUP, 74.6% more calcium (Ca), 51.9% more phosphorous (P), 44.9% more potassium (K), 116.1% more magnesium (Mg), and 4.2% more sodium (Na) than the estimated requirements based on the average milk production and estimated DM intake of the cows on each farm. In 25% of TMR-fed herds, TMR was coarser than recommended. Milk yield, and milk fat percentage were affected by breed, but were not affected by feeding practice (TMR or component feeding), diet composition, and physically effective NDF (peNDF) determined as the percent age of feed particles retained by the 8- and 19-mm screens of the Penn State Particle Separator multiplied by dietary NDF. Milk protein percentage was positively correlated to RUP. MUN was positively correlated to RDP, RUP, NDF, and days in milk (DIM). Reductions in dietary CP, RDP, Ca, P, Mg, and K could reduce nutrient excretions to the environment without reducing milk production and health. Increasing dietary RUP content could improve milk production on Manitoba dairy farms. Key words: Dairy cattle, milk production, protein, fibre, minerals, particle size.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Moate ◽  
S. R. O. Williams ◽  
C. Grainger ◽  
M. C. Hannah ◽  
D. Mapleson ◽  
...  

A 3-year experiment compared the effects of wild-type ryegrass endophyte and two novel endophytes on milk production in dairy cattle. On three 9.9-ha farmlets in West Gippsland, Victoria, pasture swards were established that were dominant in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) infected with either wild-type, AR1 or AR37 endophytes. Each farmlet was stocked with 25 spring-calving Holstein–Friesian cows, which rotationally grazed nine paddocks within their farmlet during three lactations over 3 years. The three endophytes are known to produce different alkaloids, with wild-type producing ergot alkaloids, lolitrems and peramine, AR1 producing peramine and AR37 producing epoxy-janthitrems. These alkaloids were present in fresh pasture as well as hay and silage made from that pasture. Grazed pasture comprised 53% of estimated annual DM intake. The proportion was least from December to March when the daily ration of 2 kg DM/cow.day cereal grain was increased to 6 kg/day and forage supplements were fed consisting of purchased lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay and pasture silage grown on the farmlets. There were no differences in pasture accumulation rates or nutritive characteristics of ryegrass pastures on the three farmlets and no differences in the production of milk, fat or protein by cows grazing pasture infected with the three endophytes. Ryegrass staggers was only observed in four cows consuming the wild-type-infected ryegrass in the first year when the highest concentrations of lolitrem B were recorded in pasture. Soil samples showed lower numbers of root aphids (Aploneura lentisci), mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) and pasture tunnel moths (Philobota spp.) beneath ryegrass infected with the AR37 endophyte compared with the other two endophytes. Numbers of redheaded (Adoryphorus couloni) and blackheaded (Aphodius tasmaniae) cockchafers did not differ between treatments. Under dairy management and supplementary feeding regimes common to south-eastern Australia, the novel endophytes AR1 and AR37 had no effect on the milk production compared with the wild-type endophyte, and did not cause ryegrass staggers.


1990 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Patricia Simpson ◽  
Olafur Oddgeirsson ◽  
Jon V. Jonmundsson ◽  
Robert A. Oliver

SummaryAssociations between BoLA type and milk production were investigated using information from 80 Icelandic cattle from four dairy farms in Iceland. The specificity w6 reduced milk, fat and protein yield. Although w6 has been shown to be associated with increased susceptibility to mastitis, there is no evidence to suggest that the reduced yields here were due to mastitis. The association may be due to increased disease susceptibility or due to a direct effect of BoLA Class I antigens.


2018 ◽  
pp. 639-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christa Hoffmann

Harvest quality of sugar beet varies according to soil conditions, harvester type and setting, and variety, too. Harvest quality may affect storage losses, in particular when injuries occur. To determine the harvest quality of commercial sugar beet and to quantify resulting storage losses, 92 commercial sugar beet clamps were sampled across Germany and information about harvest conditions were gathered. At IfZ, soil tare, leaf residues, topping diameter, root tip breakage and surface damage of the beets were determined. The beets were stored in 6 replicates in a climate container at 9°C for 10 weeks. The results demonstrate a rather good harvesting quality of sugar beet in Germany. Soil moisture at harvest did not affect harvest quality and storage losses. Very light, but also heavier soils lead to inferior harvest quality (soil tare, root tip breakage, damage) and slightly higher storage losses compared to the typical loam soils. Significant differences occurred between the three harvester types (companies). In general, high root tip breakage and severe surface damage of the beet was related to a high infestation with mould and rots, high invert sugar contents after storage and high sugar losses. Out of the five most planted varieties, in particular one turned out to be very susceptible to damage, resulting in high storage losses. The factor analysis suggests that the effect of harvester / harvester setting and of variety is more important for harvest quality and storage losses of sugar beet than soil conditions at harvest. Therefore, attention should be paid to optimize these conditions.


Author(s):  
Ni Nyoman Suryani ◽  
I Wayan Suarna ◽  
Ni Putu Sarini ◽  
I Gede Mahardika

To determine the effect of energy levels on digestible nutrient, milk production and milk quality of 7 months pregnant Bali cattle, was the purpose of this study. The study was conducted in Bali, Province of Indonesia on 12 pregnant breeding phase of pre-calving (2 months before the birth) with the parent body weight 329-340 kg/head. The treatment given is four types of Metabolizable Energy (ME) levels: 2000, 2100, 2200 and 2300/kg respectively as treatment A, B, C, and D. All ration contain 10% of crude protein. Variables measured: energy intake, digestible nutrient, milk yield, and milk quality. This research is a randomized block design. The results showed that increase energy ration until 2300 kcal ME/kg would significantly (P<0.05) increase energy intake and highest at cattle consumed ratio D is 22239.55 kcal/day. However, digestible nutrient was not affected. Milk production increased with increasing energy rations and highest (P<0.05) at cattle received treatment D is 2179.83 ml/day compared to treatment A 936.67 ml/day. Milk fat and milk lactose also highest (P<0.05) in treatment D are 8.56% and 4.76% respectively. Based on these results, it can be concluded that increase energy ration will increase energy intake, milk yield and milk fat and milk lactose of Bali cattle. 


Author(s):  
Sylwia Małażewska ◽  
Edyta Gajos

The aim of the article was to present the changes in the profitability of milk production in farms associated in EDF and situated in Poland and selected European countries in 2006–2012. It was found that after the Polish accession to the EU, the situation has improved for milk producers – economic and production results have risen. In 2008–2009, there was a significant deterioration in the profitability of milk production due to, among others, significant declines in milk prices. Since 2010, gradual improvement of the situation is observed. Similar changes occur in dairy farms in other European countries, such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This shows how big the interconnectedness between countries is and that the situation of agricultural producers in Poland does not depend only on the local and national market fluctuations, but primarily on fluctuations in the European and global markets.


2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Aixin Liang ◽  
Zipeng Li ◽  
Chao Du ◽  
Guohua Hua ◽  
...  

This Research Communication describes the association between genetic variation within the prolactin (PRL) gene and the milk production traits of Italian Mediterranean river buffalo (Bufala mediterranea Italiana). High resolution melting (HRM) techniques were developed for genotyping 465 buffaloes. The association of genetic polymorphism with milk production traits was performed and subsequently the effects of parity and calving season were evaluated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified at exons 2 and 5 and at introns 1 and 2. All the SNPs were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, and statistical analysis showed that the polymorphism of intron1 was significantly (P < 0·05) associated with milk yield, milk protein content and peak milk yield. The average contribution of the intron1 genotype (r2intron1) to total phenotypic variance in milk production traits was 0·09, and the TT genotype showed lower values than CC and CT genotypes. A nonsynonymous SNP was identified in exon 2, which resulted in an amino acid change from arginine to cysteine. Moreover, the polymorphism of exon 2 was associated significantly with milk fat content (P < 0·05), and the buffaloes with TT genotype showed higher total fat content than the buffaloes with CT genotype. These findings provide evidence that polymorphisms of the buffalo PRL gene are associated with milk production traits and PRL can be used as a candidate gene for marker-assisted selection in Italian Mediterranean river buffalo breeding.


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