scholarly journals Evaluation of nitrogen excretion equations for ryegrass pasture-fed dairy cows

animal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 100311
Author(s):  
C. Christodoulou ◽  
J.M. Moorby ◽  
E. Tsiplakou ◽  
D. Kantas ◽  
A. Foskolos
2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 171-171
Author(s):  
Matthew R Beck ◽  
Cameron Marshall ◽  
Konagh Garrett ◽  
Andrew P Foote ◽  
Ronaldo Vibart ◽  
...  

Abstract Urine nitrogen excretion (g/d; UN) represent a significant environmental impact for both confinement feeding and pastoral based dairy systems. It is difficult to measure UN directly due to animal handling and labor requirements, especially in forage based production systems. The currently available milk urea nitrogen (MUN) equations have been shown to overestimate UN excretion of grazing dairy cows compared with an equation using urinary creatinine and UN concentration, indicating that diet may alter the relationship between MUN and UN. This potential was explored using data retrieved (treatment means: n = 69 and 27 for fresh forage [FF] and total mixed ration [TMR] fed cattle, respectively) from the literature and new data obtained from dairy cows fed FF (n = 15) in metabolism crates was used to test the new equations. The TMR data from literature was further split into a training set (to develop the model; n = 53) and a test set (to validate the model; n = 16). There was an interaction for diet type (P < 0.01) where UN (g/d) = 0.023 × MUN (mg/dL) × live-weight (kg, LW) for TMR fed cattle, (similar to a pre-established equation); however, UN (g/d) = 0.015 × MUN × LW for FF fed cattle. For FF based equations, the New MUN equation and the creatinine equation showed good precision and accuracy (Lin’s CCC = 0.79 and 0.74, respectively) and adequate predictive ability (RMSEP = 29.8 and 35.9, respectively). The new MUN equation for TMR fed cattle showed excellent accuracy and precision (Lin’s CCC = 0.87) with good predictive ability (RMSEP = 24.3) for UN excretion (observed mean = 216.5 g/d). The new equations generated during this meta-analysis provide promising predictive ability of UN excretion, which can be used for management considerations, future research, and policy making.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang ◽  
Xu ◽  
Cao ◽  
Wang ◽  
Yang ◽  
...  

This study investigated the effect of tannin sources on nutrient intake, digestibility, performance, nitrogen utilization, and blood parameters in lactating dairy cows. Four multiparous lactating Holstein cows were used in a balanced 4 × 4 Latin square design, with each period lasting 28 days. Cows were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments: Control diet (CON, a totally mixed ration without tannin supplements), control diet supplemented with 3% bayberry condensed tannins (BCT), control diet supplemented with 3% Acacia mangium condensed tannins (ACT), and control diet supplemented with 3% valonia hydrolyzed tannins (VHT). Dietary treatments did not significantly affect nutrient intake, milk yield or composition, microbial protein synthesis, nitrogen utilization efficiency, or plasma concentrations of glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, β-hydroxybutyrate, total protein, and globulin, or the albumin-to-globulin ratio. Tannin supplements decreased the apparent total tract nutrient digestibility to varying degrees and significantly decreased the milk and blood urea nitrogen contents (p < 0.05). Tannin supplements altered nitrogen excretion routes in lactating dairy cows, and BCT significantly decreased the urinary nitrogen excretion (p = 0.04). Compared with the CON, ACT, and VHT diets, BCT yielded the highest nitrogen retention and nitrogen retention-to-digestible nitrogen ratio despite having a similar nitrogen utilization efficiency (p < 0.05). Bayberry condensed tannin supplementation may be a potential way to improve nitrogen utilization and reduce concerns regarding nitrogen excretion in dairy cows.


2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 1837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio E. Beltrán ◽  
Pablo Gregorini ◽  
Alvaro Morales ◽  
Oscar A. Balocchi ◽  
Rubén G. Pulido

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the interaction effects between herbage mass and time of herbage allocation on milk production, grazing behaviour and nitrogen partitioning in lactating dairy cows. Forty-four Holstein Friesian cows were grouped according to milk production (24.7 ± 2.8 kg), bodyweight (580.6 ± 51.7 kg), days in milk (74 ± 17.1) and body condition score (3.1 ± 0.3), and then assigned randomly to one of four treatments: (1) L-AM: access to new herbage allocation after morning milking with herbage mass of 2000 kg DM/ha, (2) L-PM: access to new herbage allocation after afternoon milking with herbage mass of 2000 kg DM/ha, (3) M-AM: access to new herbage allocation after morning milking with herbage mass of 3000 kg DM/ha, and (4) M-PM: access to new herbage allocation after afternoon milking with herbage mass of 3000 kg DM/ha. All cows received a daily low herbage allowance of 21 kg DM measured above ground level, 3.0 kg DM of grass silage and 3.5 kg DM of concentrate. Herbage intake was similar between treatments, averaging 8.3 kg DM/day (P &gt; 0.05). Total grazing time was lower for M-PM compared with other treatments (P &lt; 0.01). Milk production was greater for M-AM and M-PM compared with L-PM (P &lt; 0.05). Urea in milk and plasma were greater for L-AM than L-PM and M-PM (P &lt; 0.01). Similarly, rumen ammonia was greater for L-AM compared with M-PM and M-AM (P &lt; 0.05). Nitrogen intake was 13.6% greater for L-AM than L-PM, and 17.5% greater for L-AM than M-PM (P &lt; 0.05). Nitrogen use efficiency was 22.1% greater for M-PM than L-AM, and 11.8% greater for M-PM than L-PM (P &lt; 0.01). In conclusion, the best management combination was observed when a medium herbage mass was delivered in the afternoon, maintaining a low nitrogen intake, low urinary nitrogen excretion and high milk production.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2812
Author(s):  
Fernando Vicente ◽  
Douâa Elouadaf ◽  
Alejandra Sánchez-Vera ◽  
Ana Soldado ◽  
Senén De La Torre-Santos ◽  
...  

Less than 30% of dairy cattle’s nitrogen ingested is retained in milk. Therefore, large amounts of nitrogen can be excreted in manure and urine with a potential environmental impact. In addition, some legume forages can be more susceptible to proteolysis during the silage process than grasses, and dairy cows fed these legume silages would excrete a larger quantity of nitrogen in slurry. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the amount of nitrogen excretion in dairy cows fed different protein levels and legume silages with a view to improve the slurry quality as a co-product that can be used as fertilizer. Two double 3 × 3 Latin square trials were carried out in order to study three different protein levels (high, medium, and low) and three different silages (grass, faba bean, and field pea). Dry matter intake, milk production, and composition were not affected by treatments. The excretion of ammonia-N in the urine was almost four times lower in the diet with the lowest protein level. The ammonia-N in the urine was twice as high with the pea silage than faba bean and grass silages. In conclusion, the diet containing 13% of protein meets the protein requirement for lactating cows producing 31 kg daily, with low nitrogen excretion in the urine, and the main pathway for the excretion of surplus nitrogen from legume silages is through urine and the metabolization of pea silage protein goes toward ammonia-N.


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