Milk Production Responses and Digestibility of Dairy Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) Partially Supplemented with Forage Rape (Brassica Napus) Silage Replacing Corn Silage

Worldwide, silage is considered the main component in dairy animal diets; however, this portion is mainly dominated by corn silage, which raises availability challenges in some agricultural production systems. The present study evaluated a partial replacement of corn silage with forage rape silage (FRS) and its effect on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, milk production, and blood metabolites in buffalo. Thirty-six lactating buffaloes were randomly assigned to four different groups, according to supplementation of FRS (only corn silage, FRS0) or with 15% (FRS15), 25% (FRS25), and 35% (FRS35) of forage rape silage instead of corn silage. The results showed that, compared to corn silage, forage rape silage has a lower carbohydrate but a higher protein concentration. The buffalo intake of dry matter and organic matter were improved linearly with the FRS increasing in the diet. The apparent total-tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, organic matter, nitrogen, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber also increased by the FRS supplementation compared with FRS0. Conversely, FRS supplementation decreased the propionic, butyric, and valeric acid contents and increased the acetic:propionic ratio and microbial protein content. Furthermore, FRS inclusion led to a significantly higher milk urea and non-fat milk solid content, higher blood glucose, total globulins, blood urea nitrogen, and lower blood high-density lipoprotein. These results suggested that FRS has high a nutritional value and digestibility, is a good feed resource, and showed favorable effects when supplemented with dairy buffalo ration.

Black Leg and Chlorotic Leaf Spot Occurrence on Brassicaceae Crop and Weed Hosts

Black leg (caused by Plenodomus lingam and P. biglobosus) and chlorotic leaf spot (caused by Pyrenopeziza brassicae) are economically important fungal diseases of Brassicaceae crops. Surveys of seed fields and weed hosts were conducted to understand the distribution and prevalence of these diseases in Oregon after black leg and chlorotic leaf spot outbreaks occurred in Brassicaceae crops in 2014. Post-harvest black leg ratings for these diseases were conducted in 2015 and 2016 in seed fields of canola, forage rape, and turnip. Black leg incidence was greater in turnip (51%) compared to canola (29%) and forage rape (25%). The overall average disease incidence was greater on seed crops harvested in 2015 (46%) compared to crops harvested in 2016 (28%). A disease survey of wild Brassicaceae plants was conducted along Interstate 5 in Oregon. Brassicaceae weed population sites were identified and 40 sites were sampled for these diseases. Black leg and chlorotic leaf spot were present in 60% and 45%, respectively, of the sampled sites. Both species of Plenodomus were detected in weed populations with P. lingam being the predominant species recovered (95%). The northernmost sample site with black leg was found less than 32 km from the Oregon-Washington border, and southernmost site occurred within 32 km of the Oregon-California border. Chlorotic leaf spot was detected less than 32 km from Oregon-Washington border, whereas the southernmost detection was approximately 164 km from the Oregon-California border. Based on this study, infected crop residues and weed hosts may facilitate persistence and spread of these pathogens.

Productivity of diverse forage brassica genotypes exceeds that of oats across multiple environments within Australia

In many areas of Australia’s mixed farming zone, cropping rotations are dominated by cereals and some areas have few suitable broadleaf alternatives. Forage brassicas are widely used in high rainfall livestock systems, but this study shows that several genotypes offer an alternative to forage oats in drier environments within Australia’s mixed farming zone. We compared a diverse set of forage brassica genotypes sown in autumn and winter with benchmark species, principally oats, across 10 experimental site-years. In both early (800–1300 growing degree days after sowing) and late (1600–2100 growing degree days after sowing) grazing windows, several forage brassica genotypes had forage production similar or superior to oats and dual-purpose canola. Many forage brassica genotypes produced higher yields of metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP), particularly in the late grazing window. In the early grazing window, Rival and Green globe turnips and HT-R24 forage rape consistently produced ~15% above the site mean for all productivity measures, whereas kale produced ~40% less than the site mean. In the late grazing window, oats produced the greatest amount of edible biomass (~44% higher than the site mean); however, Goliath and HT-R24 forage rapes, Pallaton raphanobrassica and dual-purpose canola had the highest yields of ME and CP (~16% higher than the site mean). Green globe turnip, Hunter leafy turnip and Regal kale produced ~22% less than the site mean in this late grazing window. Multi-environment analyses revealed no genotype × environment interactions within the early grazing window. In the late grazing window, there were several genotypic adaptations, particularly for Pallaton, which performed better in low–medium production environments than the other genotypes. We show that forage brassicas offer superior yields of ME and CP, indicating that they may be better able to meet the energy and protein demands of grazing livestock than forage oats.

Cattle Feeding Experiment and Chopping Device Parameter Determination for Mechanized Harvesting of Forage Rape Crop

HighlightsForage rape crop could effectively alleviate the lack of green forage for livestock in winter.With the growth of forage rape crop, stem lignification was exacerbated and its palatability degenerated.The relationship between particle length and palatability was explored in a cattle feeding experiment.Optimal working parameters of the chopping device were obtained for harvesting the crop in different stages.Abstract. Forage rape crop, which uses the immature plant leaf and stem of a hybrid rape crop (Brassica napus L.) with low erucic acid and glucosinolate to feed livestock, is an innovative fresh-fed feed material with the advantages of high yield, low cost, rich nutrients, and vigorous growth in winter. In this work, a systematic study was carried out on the relationships among the characteristics of forage rape crop stems, chopping device parameters of the harvester, feeding performance, and chopped particle length (PL) in different growth stages. The results of the stem characteristics tests indicated that stem lignification occurred and increased with growth of the crop from the bolting stage to the silique stage, leading to degeneration of its palatability. The cattle feeding experiment showed that when the bolting rape crop was used, the average feed intake of the cattle fed the chopped rape crop increased by 33.35%, compared to feeding the whole crop without chopping, while the average feeding time decreased by 35.44%. Further experiments on the effects of PL after chopping on feeding performance in different growth stages showed that the optimal PL values in the bolting, flowering, and silique stages were 80, 60, and 30 mm, respectively. Finally, the corresponding cutterhead rotational speeds of the chopping device were calculated as 450, 510, and 1200 r min-1, respectively. This study provides a reference for the development and application of harvesting equipment for forage rape crop. Keywords: Agricultural mechanization, Cattle feeding, Forage palatability, Harvester, Parameter matching.