Effect of forage legumes on feed intake, milk production and milk quality – a review

Literature data from experiments with lactating dairy cows offered silage-based diets was reviewed to evaluate the effects of the grassland legume species Trifolium repens (WC, white clover), Trifolium pratense (RC, red clover) and Medicago sativa (M, lucerne) on feed intake, milk production and milk quality. Seven data sets were created to compare grass silage (G) with grassland legumes in general(L), G with RC, G with WC, G with M, RC with WC, RC with M and different silage proportions of RC. Daily dry matter intake and milk yield were on average 1.6 and 1.6 kg, respectively, higher and milk fat content 1.2 g/kg milk lower on L than on G based diets. Similar differences were found when G was compared with RC or WC diets. Cows offered WC yielded 1.1 kg/d more milk than RC, and milk produced on WC and M contained 0.7 g more protein per kg than milk from RC diets. Increasing the silage diet RC proportion from 0.5 to 1.0 also decreased the milk protein content by 0.8 g/kg milk. RC increased the level of poly-unsaturated fatty acids, particularly C18:3n-3, and isoflavones, particularly equol, in milk. Effects are discussed in relation to plant cell wall characteristics, plant chemical constituents and changes in rumen digestion to explain the origin of the differences in intake, milk yield and milk compositio

Produksjon og utnytting av gjenvekst ved høge avdråttsnivå

Kyr med høg avdrått må få energirikt grovfôr frå eng som er tidleg og hyppig slått, og der gjenvekstar utgjer ein stor del av årsavlinga. Mellom vårvekst og gjenvekst vil det vere variasjon i proteininnhald og fiberkvalitet. Det trengst meir kunnskap om korleis ein kan balansere dei ulike kvalitetane i ei målretta fôring

Effect of forage legumes on milk quality – a review

The review confirms that feeding legume silage leads to higher DMI and milk production than grass. White clover is superior to red clover and red clover to lucerne in milk yield relative to intake. Milk fat content is lower on red clover than on grass diets and red clover yield milk with lower protein content than white clover and lucerne. Red clover yields milk with higher proportion of the fatty acids C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 than grass and higher content og equol than grass and white clover

High Nitrogen Costs of Dairy Production in Europe: Worsened by Intensification

Intensification of agriculture has been proposed as one way of minimizing emissions per unit of product, apparently legitimizing the ongoing structural changes in agriculture. We have investigated the relationship between the farming intensity and the nitrogen (N) dissipation by calculating the overall N emission factor (E: total N surplus per unit of N in the produce) from several studies of dairy farms, covering a wide range of environments and production intensities. Fundamental steps were 1) the distinction between trophic levels, mineral, plant and animal N; and 2) the inclusion of N losses related to bought feed. The results show that E increases significantly with the production intensity of the dairy farm. The tradition for separate optimization of the animal and crop sectors may be a reason. We suggest that the N pollution can be mitigated by more extensive farming, both by re-coupling crop and animal production side by side, and by keeping land under cultivation when production is reduced

Effect of grassland management in organic and conventional farming systems on bovine milk quality – a field study

Thirty-two dairy farms in Middle-Norway participated in a field study in 2007 and 2008. Nine organic farms with short-term grassland (SO) were paired with 9 conventional farms with short-term grassland (SC) and 7 organic farms with long-term grassland (LO) were paired with 7 conventional farms with long-term grassland (LC) with regard to proximity and calving pattern. Every second month feed and tanker milk samples were collected from each farm. Data from the Norwegian dairy herd recording system were collected and botanical composition before first cut in 2007 was analysed. Milk samples were analysed for chemical composition, fatty acid composition, vitamin concentration, selenium concentration and phytoestrogen concentration. In this paper results from 2007 are presented. Milk quality was more influenced by production system then grassland system. Higher proportions of SFA and lower proportion of oleic acid in milk from O compared to C may be a future challenge for adjusting feed ratios in organic farming in Norway. Red clover stands for the main botanical effect in this study with strong effect on equol concentrations. The potential health effects of equol should be investigated further

Engdriftsmåter og melkekvalitet

Sammenhengen mellom engdriftssystemer og melkekvalitet i økologisk landbruk skal undersøkes i et nytt prosjekt. Valget mellom kortvarig og langvarig eng er avgjørende for den botaniske sammensetningen i drøvtyggerfôret og en kan forvente at melkas kvalitetsegenskaper påvirkes. Tolv økologiske melkebruk ble paret med 12 konvensjonelle i Midt-Norge og inngår i en toårig feltstudie som startet i januar 2007. Seks gårder i hver gruppe er valgt ut blant gårder med kortvarig eng og 6 blant gårder med langvarig eng. Annenhver måned skal det samles inn melkeprøver fra gårdstanken og fôrprøver på alle gårdene. Melkeprøvene vil bli analysert for fettsyresammensetning, oksidativ stabilitet, vitaminer, fytoøstrogener, sensorisk kvalitet og innhold av mikromineraler. I tillegg inngår data fra kukontrollen. På gårdene vil det bli samlet inn opplysninger om planteproduksjonen, og den botaniske sammensetningen på engarealene vil bli registrert. Hypotesen er at økologisk melk som er produsert på grovfôr fra langvarig og urterik eng 1) har lavere innhold og andel av n-3 fettsyrer, transvaksensyre, konjugerte linolsyrer, 2) har høyere innhold av vitaminer, 3) har lavere innhold av planteøstrogener, og 4) er sterkere mot oksidering enn økologisk melk produsert på grovfôr fra kortvarig og kløverrik eng. Dessuten forventes det at økologisk melk har høyere innhold og andel av n-3 fettsyrer, TVA, tokoferoler, kartotenoider og planteøstrogener, men er mer utsatt for oksidering enn konvensjonell melk

Proteinforsyning frå eng – avling og avlingskvalitet

Avlingsnivået i økologisk dyrka eng er avhengig av ytre vekstfaktorar som jord og vêr, både om vinteren og i vekstsesongen. Vidare er botanisk samansetjing i enga, særleg innhald av kløver, gjødslingsnivå, alder på enga og tal slåttar viktig. Avlingskvaliteten er i stor grad påverka av dei same faktorane. Tidleg førsteslått, hyppig slått og høg andel kløver gir høg fôrverdi, høgt proteininnhald og høg proteinavlin