Performance and nutrient utilisation of dairy cows offered silages produced from three successive harvests of either a red clover–perennial ryegrass sward or a perennial ryegrass sward

The need to reduce reliance on imported protein feeds within the UK and Ireland has stimulated interest in locally grown forage legume crops, including red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). This 13-wk study examined the performance of 28 dairy cows offered silages produced from three successive harvests (H) of either a pure grass sward (GS) receiving 315 kg N/ha per annum or a red clover–perennial ryegrass sward (RCGS) receiving 22 kg N/ha per annum. The crops of H1, H2 and H3 were wilted for 48, 72 and 72 h, respectively. Silages from H1, H2 and H3 were offered for 5, 5 and 3 wk, respectively, with cows supplemented with 8.0 kg concentrate/d throughout the experiment. Digestibility of DM and the effectively degradable protein content were lower, while protein degradability was higher, for RCGS than for GS. Silage DM intakes (DMIs) were higher for RCGS than for GS at H1 and H2, with no differences at H3. Milk yield was higher with RCGS than with GS at H3, with no differences at H1 and H2. Milk fat and milk protein contents were lower with RCGS than with GS at H3 but did not differ at H1 and H2. Faecal N/N intake was higher in the RCGS group than in the GS group at H1, with no differences at H2 and H3. Gross energy digestibility was lower for RCGS than for GS at H2. Although cow performance was higher with RCGS treatment, the responses were variable between harvests, largely reflecting the changing proportion of RC in the swards as the season progresse