The influence of cow genetic merit for milk production on response to level of concentrate supplementation in a grass based system

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 ◽  
pp. 57-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dillon ◽  
J. Kennedy ◽  
P. Faverdin ◽  
L. Delaby ◽  
F. Buckley ◽  
...  

Pre-1990 published responses to supplementation at pasture ranged from 0.4 to 0.6kg milk/kg concentrate fed. However since 1990 higher responses to concentrate supplementation at pasture have been published (Delaby 2001). The objective of this study was to determine if milk production responses of Holstein-Friesian dairy cows to concentrate supplementation at pasture are influenced by genetic merit (milk yield potential) in a spring calving grass based system of milk production.

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 156-156
Author(s):  
R. Pulido ◽  
J.D. Leaver

The increase of milk yield potential of dairy cows raises a number of questions relating to their management at pasture where the intake potential might be limiting. The interaction of initial milk yield (IMY), sward availability (SH) and level of concentrate supplementation (CI) is largely unknown.Two experiments of 42 and 24 days in spring and midsummer were carried out with 45 and 27 Holstein Friesian cows respectively. In spring, five IMY groups (range 16.9 to 35.5 kg/day) and in midsummer three IMY groups (range 22.2 to 31.8 kg/day) were used. In both periods, three compressed sward height(3 to 5, 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 cm) and three CI (0, 3 and 6 kg/day, with 160 g CP/kg DM, 12.8 MJ ME/kg DM) were used. The grazing area consisted of 7.9 ha of perennial ryegrass which was set stocked. The herbage intake (HDMI) was estimated indirectly from individual cow performance. Grazing time (GT) was recorded for each cow on 24 hour observations. Multiple regression analyses were carried out relating the dependent variables herbage intake, grazing behaviour and milk production to the independent variables (IMY, SH, CI).


2003 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 610-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kennedy ◽  
P. Dillon ◽  
L. Delaby ◽  
P. Faverdin ◽  
G. Stakelum ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Ivan Imrich ◽  
Róbert Toman ◽  
Martina Pšenková ◽  
Eva Mlyneková ◽  
Tomáš Kanka ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of environmental housing conditions on the milk yield of dairy cows. Measurements were taken in the summer period from June to September 2020 and in the winter period during January 2021 on a large-capacity farm of Holstein Friesian cattle. Cows were housed in free stall barn with the lying boxes and selected during the second or third lactations, in the summer period from the 51st day to the 135th day and in the winter period from the 64th day to the 120th day of lactation. The average temperature in the housing was 23 °C in summer, and 7.05 °C in winter. The average THI (thermal humidity index) value in summer was 70.43, but during the day the THI values sometimes reached 75. The dairy cows were therefore exposed to heat stress during summer. Increasing THI and temperature values negatively affected the milk yield, as there was a negative correlation between both THI and milk yield (r = -0.641; p <0.01) and temperature and milk yield (r = -0.637; p <0.01). Milk production in winter was at 58.77 kg per day and in summer at 49.55 kg per day. In the summer, the milk had a significantly lower content of fat (p <0.05), proteins (p <0.001), lactose (p <0.001), minerals (p <0.001) and conversely, a higher number of somatic cells (p <0.01). These results show that worse environmental conditions during the summer negatively affected the level of milk yield and the composition of the cows’ milk.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 ◽  
pp. 220-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Cooper ◽  
D. R. Arney ◽  
C. J. C. Phillips

The effects of high milk yields on the behaviour and welfare of the dairy cow are unclear. A high milk yield increases the need to consume sufficient fodder in an attempt to meet high nutrient demands. The failure to meet the demands may result in persistent hunger in the dairy cow having to modify her behaviour by employing various coping strategies. These modifications may help the cow overcome a state of hunger but at the expense of being unable to express other important behaviours. The objective of this study was therefore to determine whether the behaviour and welfare of the genetically high yielding dairy cow is being compromised by the increased nutritional demands of milk production, and to investigate the possibility that an increased amount of time spent in food-directed behaviours may have a detrimental effect on the time available to perform other important behaviours.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 5-5
Author(s):  
C.P. Ferris ◽  
F.J. Gordon ◽  
D.C. Patterson ◽  
C.S. Mayne

The genetic merit of the UK dairy herd is increasing rapidly and this trend is likely to continue for the forseeable future. With cows of higher milk yield potential and higher nutrient requirements, feeding systems developed in the past with medium genetic merit animals, may now need to be adapted to meet the needs of high genetic merit animals if nutrition x genotype interactions exist. This would be particularly true to increasing proportion of concentrates in grass silage based diets. This study was undertaken to compare the milk yield responses of high and medium merit dairy cows.


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Perisic ◽  
Z. Skalicki ◽  
V. Bogdanovic

The paper gives an analysis of the state in milk production from the aspect of total produced quantities of milk and total purchased quantites of milk by the diaries in EU. The number of farms engaged in cattle production has been analyzed, along with the farms engaged in milk production. Trend in development of cattle breeding in EU is going in the direction of decreasing the number of farms raising the breeding stocks of dairy cows and to the simultaneous increase in the number of cows per farm for milk production with constant increase of the quantity of milk produced per cow. In 2008 the number of cows per farm in EU27 was on average 9.8 cows, in EU25 on average 16.6 cows, with great variation among member countries observed. Average milk yield in total cow population in 2008 in EU15 was 6646 kg, in EU25: 6357 kg and in EU27: 6133kg. In Serbia the average milk yield in registered cows of Simmental breed is about 4500 kg, and in Holstein Friesian breed around 8700 kg. It is important to emphasize that in Serbia there is a far less number of cows under controlled milk yield (around 5.5% Simmental cows in total number), and that there is a decline observed in the number of cattle in Serbia in the last decade per average rate of 2-3 % annually.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Anna Sawa ◽  
Kamil Siatka ◽  
Sylwia Krężel-Czopek

AbstractThe objective of the study was to analyse the effect of age at first calving (AFC) on first lactation milk yield, lifetime milk production and longevity of dairy cows. The study used SYMLEK data on the milk yield and culling of 111 857 Polish Holstein-Friesian cows from the active population in Pomerania and Kujawy, Poland. The cows first calved during 2000–2009 and were used or removed from the herds until the end of 2015. For each cow, calculations were made of first lactation milk yield, lifetime milk production, first lactation milk yield per milking day, lifetime milk production per day, as well as the lifespan (length of productive life, duration of rearing) and number of calvings. Based on the age at first calving (duration of the rearing period), the cows were grouped as follows: ≤22, 22.1–24.0, 24.1–26.0, 26.1–28.0, 28.1–30.0, 30.1–32.0 and >32 months. The GLM, CORR PEARSON and FREQ procedures from the SAS package were used in the statistical calculations. Considering first lactation milk yield, lifetime milk production and longevity, it is recommended that the cows should be first milked between 22.1 and 26.0 months of age. This is supported by the approximately 24% higher lifetime milk production in relation to the latest calving cows (P<0.01). Late commencement of the first milking (especially after 28 months) causes a considerable decrease in the first lactation milk yield and lifetime milk production, shortens the productive period, reduces the number of calvings, and increases culling rate due to low milk yield and udder diseases.


2001 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. ARRIAGA-JORDÁN, ◽  
F. J. FLORES-GALLEGOS ◽  
G. PEÑA-CARMONA ◽  
B. ALBARRÁN-PORTILLO ◽  
A. GARCÍA-MARTÍNEZ ◽  
...  

Concentrates are the main cash expenditure in smallholder campesino dairying in the highlands of Central Mexico. Improved, low-cost, appropriate feeding strategies have been therefore identified by campesinos as a priority. An on-farm trial was undertaken in 1998 to evaluate the response to supplementation with concentrates by dairy cows in early lactation during the rainy season with restricted access to grazing of ryegrass/white clover pastures. A base of 3·0 kg commercial concentrate/cow/day (S3) was compared against the higher rate used by farmers of 5·0 kg/cow/day (S5). Three farmers with one, and one farmer with two pairs of freshly calved upgraded Holstein cows participated in the trial (24±10·7 days into lactation). Data were analysed by a random block split-plot design where supplementation treatments were main plots and measurement periods were split-plots. Milk yield was recorded once per week for 9 weeks, and live weight and condition score for four 28 day periods. Milk yields were 21·8 for S3 and 21·9 for S5 (±0·714) kg milk/day/cow (P > 0·05); live weight S3 = 444·0 and S5 = 496·0 (±12·663) kg/cow (P > 0·05), and condition score S3 = 1·9, and S5 = 1·8 (±1·127) (P >0·05). There were no significant (P> 0·05) effects of measurement periods, and there was no significant (P > 0·05) interaction. The lack of response in milk yield, live weight or condition score to increased concentrate supplementation demonstrates that at these levels of production and management, the access to grazing of improved pastures, plus limited concentrate, enables cows in campesino systems to meet their nutrient requirements, and the feasibility of efficient milk production from grazed pastures as an appropriate technology. It is also concluded that it is an appropriate technology and that the results have implications for research and extension workers in rural development who have promoted large amounts of concentrate to dairy cows as the only way towards high yields and efficient milk production.


2000 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 295-304
Author(s):  
A.F. Carson ◽  
L.E.R. Dawson ◽  
F.J. Gordon

AbstractOne hundred and thirteen Holstein Friesian heifers (PIN (95) £88 s.d. 11.1) were used in a study to determine the effect of rearing regime, in terms of diet offered and target calving weight, on milk production in high genetic merit heifers. Eighty of the heifers were supplied from 11 commercial farms, the remainder were supplied from the herd at the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland. The heifers commenced the experiment at 7 weeks of age when they were allocated on the basis of source, live weight and genetic merit to one of four rearing regimes. The target weights at calving were 540 kg (Treatment 1) and 620 kg (treatments 2, 3 and 4). Treatments 1 heifers were offered grass silage-based diets during the winter and grass–based diets during the summer. Treatment 2 heifers were offered the same forage base along with additional concentrate supplementation. Treatment 3 heifers were offered a straw/concentrate diet during the winter and grass-based diets during the summer. Treatment 4 heifers received the same diets as treatment 3, apart from the first summer period when they were housed and offered a straw/concentrate diet. The heifers were mated at 14 months of age and were returned to the 11 farms one month prior to calving. Heifers reared on treatment 1 weighed less had a lower withers height (P<0.001) and were of a lower condition score (P<0.001) before calving than heifers reared on the other treatments. During early lactation (3 months post-calving) heifers reared on treatment 1 lost less weight and condition score than the heifers reared on treatments 2, 3 and 4. Over the winter housing period (mean 140 days) the average milk yield was lower for heifers reared on treatment 1 compared with heifers reared on treatments 2 (P<0.05), 3 (P=0.08) and 4 (P<0.05). Milk protein content was higher in animals reared on treatment 1 compared with treatment 2 (P<0.01), 3 (P<0.05) and 4 (P=0.12). Overall milk fat plus protein yield was lower for heifers reared on treatment 1 compared with treatments 2 (P<0.05), 3 (P=0.06) and 4 (P<0.05).


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