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Herbage intake and milk production by grazing dairy cows 1. The effects of variation in herbage mass and daily herbage allowance in a short‐term trial
Author(s) -
COMBELLAS J.,
HODGSON J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1979.tb01469.x
Subject(s) - grazing , allowance (engineering) , zoology , agronomy , milk production , body weight , biology , mechanical engineering , endocrinology , engineering
Twenty‐four British Friesian cows were allocated between six grazing treatments (two levels of herbage mass x three levels of daily herbage allowance) in a balanced change‐over design with four periods of 12 d each at monthly intervals. Herbage OM mass ranged from 3790 to 5770 kg ha ‐1 measured to ground level and daily herbage DM allowances were 30, 60 and 90 g per kg animal live weight. Herbage OM intake was lower at high than at low herbage mass (24·6 vs 26·3 g per kg LW), and was 26·9, 26·6 and 22·9 g per kg LW respectively at daily herbage DM allowances of 90, 60 and 30 g per kg LW. Milk yield was not affected by herbage mass but was depressed at the low herbage allowance.