Added dietary sulfur and molybdenum has a greater influence on hepatic copper concentration, intake, and performance in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows offered a grass silage- rather than corn silage-based diet

To test the hypothesis that the metabolism of Cu in dairy cows is affected by basal forage and added S and Mo, 56 dairy cows that were 35 (standard error ± 2.2) days postcalving and yielding 38.9 kg of milk/d (standard error ± 0.91) were offered 1 of 4 diets in a 2 × 2 factorial design for a 14-wk period. The 4 diets contained approximately 20 mg of Cu/kg of dry matter (DM), and had a corn silage-to-grass silage ratio of 0.75:0.25 (C) or 0.25:0.75 (G) and were either unsupplemented (−) or supplemented (+) with an additional 2 g of S/kg of DM and 6.5 mg of Mo/kg of DM. We found an interaction between forage source and added S and Mo on DM intake, with cows offered G+ having a 2.1 kg of DM lower intake than those offered G−, but no effect on the corn silage-based diets. Mean milk yield was 38.9 kg/d and we observed an interaction between basal forage and added S and Mo, with yield being decreased in cows offered G+ but increased on C+. No effect of dietary treatment on milk composition or live weight was noted, but body condition was lower in cows fed added S and Mo irrespective of forage source. We found an interaction between forage source and added S and Mo on milk somatic cell count, which was higher in cows offered G+ compared with G−, but not in cows fed the corn silage-based diets, although all values were low (mean values of 1.72, 1.50, 1.39, and 1.67 log10/mL for C−, C+, G−, and G+, respectively). Mean plasma Cu, Fe, and Mn concentrations were 13.8, 41.3, and 0.25 µmol/L, respectively, and were not affected by dietary treatment, whereas plasma Mo was 0.2 µmol/L higher in cows receiving added S and Mo. The addition of dietary S and Mo decreased liver Cu balance over the study period in cows fed either basal forage, but the decrease was considerably greater in cows receiving the grass silage-based diet. Similarly, hepatic Fe decreased more in cows receiving G than C when S and Mo were included in the diet. We concluded that added S and Mo reduces hepatic Cu reserves irrespective of basal forage source, but this decrease is considerably more pronounced in cows receiving grass silage- than corn silage-based rations and is associated with a decrease in intake and milk performance and an increase in milk somatic cell count

CWR checklist and priority taxa of South Africa

The dataset includes an annotated checklist of 1593 food and fodder crop wild relatives (CWR) existing in South Africa, with taxon information, related crop, distribution and red list status. In a separate sheet are listed 258 CWR that have been prioritized for conservation based on socio-economic value of the related crop, potential for crop improvement, threat status, distribution and occurrence status