Dairy cow production when supplemented with whole-crop cereal silages in spring and autumn

Abstract

The on-farm milk production, pasture intake and silage intake of cows fed either whole-crop cereal silage or pasture silage as a supplement to pasture was compared in four herds in autumn and two herds in spring during 2002 and 2003. The number of cows per herd ranged from 90 to 270 cows per feeding treatment. Silages were supplemented at rates determined by farmer feed budget. The amount offered ranged from 3 to 6.6 kg DM/cow/ day. Pasture intake estimates ranged from 7.2 to 13.0 kg DM/cow/day. Milksolids (MS) production ranged from 0.93 to 1.61 kg/cow/day in autumn and from 1.33 to 1.98 kg/cow in spring. The feeding of whole-crop cereal silage produced more MS production in two autumn studies compared to feeding pasture silage as a supplement (+0.08 kg/cow/d; P<0.001). Feeding pasture silage produced more MS production in one spring study compared to feeding whole-crop cereal silage as a supplement (+0.06 kg/cow/day; P<0.01). Variations in feed intake and feed nutrient concentrations were the major reasons for variation in milk production changes. The feed quality of whole-crop cereal silages was more variable than pasture silages and low quality was reflected in some palatability and acceptance problems with wholecrop cereal silage. Whole-crop cereal silages fed in 2003 were of more consistent and higher quality than those fed in 2002. Cow live weight gain and body condition score changes reflected the feed intake and feed quality offered to the cows. Whole-crop cereal silages showed potential to equal or better the production gained from supplementing pasture silage when the amount fed was equal and when whole-crop cereal silage quality was high. Keywords: dairy cows, feed intake, feed nutrient concentration, milk constituents, milk production, pasture, pasture silage, whole-crop cereal silage