Grazing behavior and production for lactating cows differing in residual feed intake while grazing spring and summer rangeland

The objectives were to determine if previously classified, efficient (LRFI, low-residual-feed intake, n = 12 x 2 yr) vs inefficient (HRFI, high-residual-feed intake, n = 12 x 2 yr) lactating 2-yr-old Hereford x Angus cows differed in grazing behavior, body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), and calf weaning weight while grazing rugged rangeland pastures. Cows were fitted with grazing halters containing both an accelerometer and a global-positioning-system (GPS) data logger during 14 June to 4 July 2016, 2 to 25 August 2016, 23 May to 12 June 2017, and 5 to 28 August 2017. GPS data were recorded at 7-min intervals in 2016 and 4-min intervals in 2017 and accelerometer data recorded at 25 times/s. Grazing time, resting, walking, bite rate, daily travel distance, elevation, and slope were analyzed with a mixed model that included fixed effects of RFI group, day, and RFI group x day and cow within treatment as the random effect. Cow BW, BCS, and calf weaning weight were analyzed by ANOVA with treatment as the main effect. There were no differences (P > 0.10) due to RFI detected for BW, BCS, or calf weaning weights. During periods of mild heat load (MHL), HRFI cows spent more (P < 0.05) time resting during the day at lower elevations (P < 0.05) than LRFI cows. During a 6-d period in spring with only 2 h MHL, HRFI cows grazed 1.7 h/d longer than LRFI cows (P < 0.05); commencing grazing earlier in the morning and extending the grazing bout later. During the summer with > MHL, LRFI cows grazed more than HRFI cows 18% of the time (P < 0.10). The HRFI cows had greater grazing time than LRFI cows only 3% of the time (P < 0.10) during summer. There was no difference (P > 0.10) in bite rate between HRFI and LRFI cattle. The daily travel distance tended (P < 0.10) to be greater for LRFI cattle during summer 2017. Over all sample periods, HRFI had greater walking than LRFI 15% of the time and LRFI exceeded HRFI cattle for walking 3% of the time (P < 0.10). The greater walking for HRFI was assumed to be associated with more search grazing. Metabolic heat load on hot summer days for HRFI cattle is presumed to have contributed to differences observed in grazing behavior. These results suggest that lactating cows with low RFI phenotypes appear to be better adapted to grazing rugged rangelands in late-summer during periods of mild heat load.