Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:57:20.101Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of organic grass-clover silage on fiber digestion in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

S. S. Naadland ,
H. Steinshamn ,
S. J. Krizsan  and
Å. T. Randby
S. S. Naadland*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Science, 1432 Ås, Norway
H. Steinshamn
Affiliation:
Department of Grassland and Livestock, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), 6630 Tingvoll, Norway
S. J. Krizsan
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
Å. T. Randby
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Science, 1432 Ås, Norway
*
†E-mail: sondre.naadland@nmbu.no
Get access

Abstract

There are differences in grass-clover proportions and chemical composition between herbage from primary growth (PG) and regrowth (RG) in grass-clover leys. Mixing silages made from PG and RG may provide a more optimal diet to dairy cows than when fed separately. We tested the hypotheses that increasing dietary proportions of grass-clover silage made from RG compared with PG would increase digestion rate of potentially degradable NDF (pdNDF), and increase ruminal accumulation of indigestible NDF (iNDF). Eight rumen cannulated Norwegian Red cows were used in two replicated 4×4 Latin squares with 21-day periods. Silages were prepared from PG and RG of an organically cultivated ley, where PG and RG silages were fed ad libitum in treatments with RG replacing PG in ratios of 0, 0.33, 0.67 and 1 on dry matter basis in addition to 8 kg concentrate. We evaluated the effect of the four diets with emphasis on rumen- and total tract fiber digestibility. Increasing RG proportions decreased silage intake by 7%. Omasal flow of pdNDF decreased, whereas iNDF flow increased with increasing RG proportions. Increasing RG proportions decreased rumen pool sizes of NDF and pdNDF, whereas pool sizes of iNDF and CP increased. Increasing RG proportions increased digestion rate of NDF, which resulted in greater total tract digestion of NDF. Pure PG diet had the highest calculated energy intake, but the improved rumen digestion of NDF by cows offered 0.33 and 0.67 of RG leveled out milk fat and protein yields among the three PG containing diets.

Keywords

dairy cowsfiber digestibilitygrass-clover silagesorganic productionregrowth
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 11 , Issue 6 , June 2017 , pp. 1000 - 1007
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahvenjarvi, S, Vanhatalo, A and Huhtanen, P 2002. Supplementing barley or rapeseed meal to dairy cows fed grass-red clover silage: I. Rumen degradability and microbial flow. Journal of Animal Science 80, 2176–2187.Google Scholar
Alstrup, L, Søegaard, K and Weisbjerg, MR 2016. Effects of maturity and harvest season of grass-clover silage and of forage-to-concentrate ratio on milk production of dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 99, 328–340.Google Scholar
Bayat, AR, Rinne, M, Kuoppala, K, Ahvenjärvi, S and Huhtanen, P 2011. Ruminal large and small particle kinetics in dairy cows fed primary growth and regrowth grass silages harvested at two stages of growth. Animal Feed Science and Technology 165, 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertilsson, J and Murphy, M 2003. Effects of feeding clover silages on feed intake, milk production and digestion in dairy cows. Grass and Forage Science 58, 309–322.Google Scholar
Broderick, GA, Huhtanen, P, Ahvenjarvi, S, Reynal, SM and Shingfield, KJ 2010. Quantifying ruminal nitrogen metabolism using the omasal sampling technique in cattle-a meta-analysis. Journal of Dairy Science 93, 3216–3230.Google Scholar
Calsamiglia, S, Ferret, A and Devant, M 2002. Effects of pH and pH fluctuations on microbial fermentation and nutrient flow from a dual-flow continuous culture system. Journal of Dairy Science 85, 574–579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Council of the European Union 2007. Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. Official Journal European Communities 189, 1–23.Google Scholar
Dewhurst, R 2013. Milk production from silage: comparison of grass, legume and maize silages and their mixtures. Agricultural and Food Science 22, 57–69.Google Scholar
Dewhurst, RJ, Evans, RT, Scollan, ND, Moorby, JM, Merry, RJ and Wilkins, RJ 2003b. Comparison of grass and legume silages for milk production. 2. In vivo and in sacco evaluations of rumen function. Journal of Dairy Science 86, 2612–2621.Google Scholar
Dewhurst, RJ, Fisher, WJ, Tweed, JKS and Wilkins, RJ 2003a. Comparison of grass and legume silages for milk production. 1. Production responses with different levels of concentrate. Journal of Dairy Science 86, 2598–2611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
France, J and Siddons, RC 1986. Determination of digesta flow by continuous market infusion. Journal of Theoretical Biology 121, 105–119.Google Scholar
Gierus, M, Kleen, J, Loges, R and Taube, F 2012. Forage legume species determine the nutritional quality of binary mixtures with perennial ryegrass in the first production year. Animal Feed Science and Technology 172, 150–161.Google Scholar
Halmemies-Beauchet-Filleau, A, Vanhatalo, A, Toivonen, V, Heikkilä, T, Lee, MRF and Shingfield, KJ 2013. Effect of replacing grass silage with red clover silage on ruminal lipid metabolism in lactating cows fed diets containing a 60:40 forage-to-concentrate ratio. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 5882–5900.Google Scholar
Huhtanen, P, Rinne, M and Nousiainen, J 2007. Evaluation of the factors affecting silage intake of dairy cows: a revision of the relative silage dry-matter intake index. Animal 1, 758–770.Google Scholar
Kammes, KL and Allen, MS 2012. Rates of particle size reduction and passage are faster for legume compared with cool-season grass, resulting in lower rumen fill and less effective fiber. Journal of Dairy Science 95, 3288–3297.Google Scholar
Khalili, H and Huhtanen, P 1991. Sucrose supplements in cattle given grass silage-based diet. 1. Digestion of organic matter and nitrogen. Animal Feed Science and Technology 33, 247–261.Google Scholar
Khalili, H, Sairanen, A, Nousiainen, J and Huhtanen, P 2005. Effects of silage made from primary or regrowth grass and protein supplementation on dairy cow performance. Livestock Production Science 96, 269–278.Google Scholar
Kornfelt, LF, Nørgaard, P and Weisbjerg, MR 2013. Effect of harvest time of red and white clover silage on chewing activity and particle size distribution in boli, rumen content and faeces in cows. Animal 7, 909–919.Google Scholar
Krizsan, SJ, Ahvenjärvi, S, Volden, H and Broderick, GA 2010. Estimation of rumen outflow in dairy cows fed grass silage-based diets by use of reticular sampling as an alternative to sampling from the omasal canal. Journal of Dairy Science 93, 1138–1147.Google Scholar
Kuoppala, K, Ahvenjarvi, S, Rinne, M and Vanhatalo, A 2009. Effects of feeding grass or red clover silage cut at two maturity stages in dairy cows. 2. Dry matter intake and cell wall digestion kinetics. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 5634–5644.Google Scholar
Kuoppala, K, Rinne, M, Nousiainen, J and Huhtanen, P 2008. The effect of cutting time of grass silage in primary growth and regrowth and the interactions between silage quality and concentrate level on milk production of dairy cows. Livestock Science 116, 171–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuoppala, K, Rinne, M, Ahvenjarvi, S, Nousiainen, J and Huhtanen, P 2010. The effect of harvesting strategy of grass silage on digestion and nutrient supply in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 93, 3253–3263.Google Scholar
Moseley, G and Jones, JR 1984. The physical digestion of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens) in the foregut of sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 52, 381–390.Google Scholar
Naadland, SS, Steinshamn, H and Randby, ÅT 2015. Effect of replacing organic grass-clover silage from primary growth and regrowth on feed intake and milk yield of dairy cows. Organic Agriculture 1–11, doi:10.1007/s13165-015-0144-0, Published online by Springer 16 December 2015.Google Scholar
Njåstad, KM, Adler, SA, Hansen-Møller, J, Thuen, E, Gustavsson, A-M and Steinshamn, H 2014. Gastrointestinal metabolism of phytoestrogens in lactating dairy cows fed silages with different botanical composition. Journal of Dairy Science 97, 7735–7750.Google Scholar
Nousiainen, J, Ahvenjärvi, S, Rinne, M, Hellämäki, M and Huhtanen, P 2004. Prediction of indigestible cell wall fraction of grass silage by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Animal Feed Science and Technology 115, 295–311.Google Scholar
Oba, M 2011. Review: effects of feeding sugars on productivity of lactating dairy cows. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 91, 37–46.Google Scholar
Sannes, RA, Messman, MA and Vagnoni, DB 2001. Form of rumen-degradable carbohydrate and nitrogen on microbial protein synthesis and protein efficiency of dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 85, 900–908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute Inc. 2012. SAS/STAT® User’s Guide. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Steinshamn, H and Thuen, E 2008. White or red clover-grass silage in organic dairy milk production: grassland productivity and milk production responses with different levels of concentrate. Livestock Science 119, 202–215.Google Scholar
Van, Es AJH 1978. Feed evaluation for ruminants. I. The systems in use from May 1977-onwards in The Netherlands. Livestock Production Science 5, 331–345.Google Scholar
Van Soest, PJ 1994. Nutritional ecology of the ruminant. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanhatalo, A, Kuoppala, K, Ahvenjärvi, S and Rinne, M 2009. Effects of feeding grass or red clover silage cut at two maturity stages in dairy cows. 1. Nitrogen metabolism and supply of amino acids. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 5620–5633.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weisbjerg, MR and Søegaard, K 2008. Feeding value of legumes and grasses at different harvest times. In Proceedings to 22nd General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, 9–12 June 2008, Uppsala, Sweden, pp. 513–515.Google Scholar
Wilson, JR and Kennedy, PM 1996. Plant and animal constraints to voluntary feed intake associated with fibre characteristics and particle breakdown and passage in ruminants. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 47, 199–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar