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Relationships between blood metabolites and energy balance in early lactation dairy cows offered grass silage based diets: a meta-analysis

Authors:
Edward Hernando Cabezas-Garcia at International Livestock Research Institute
Edward Hernando Cabezas-Garcia
Alan Gordon at Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)
Alan Gordon
Conrad Peter Ferris at Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)
Conrad Peter Ferris
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           
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 

                

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

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            


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                  
                  
           



          
                    
                   
                

                 
 

      

          
          
         
         
         
          
         
         
         
          
         
          
         
                    

                

                 

... However, perhaps surprisingly, although plasma NEFA concentrations did not differ between systems in early lactation, cows on WC systems had higher NEFA concentrations than cows on SC systems throughout the remainder of the lactation. Nevertheless, a recent analysis has demonstrated that while NEFA concentrations are a good indicator of energy balance in very early lactation, the relationship becomes poorer as lactation progresses (Cabezas-Garcia et al., 2019). ...
A comparison of four contrasting milk production systems for high genetic merit winter calving dairy cows in a grassland based production environment
Article
  • Nov 2017
Meeting the greater nutrient requirements of high genetic merit dairy cows in grassland based systems provides a very real challenge. This study examines the performance of high genetic merit animals, managed on four contrasting grassland based systems of milk production, including both the winter and summer periods.
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... However, perhaps surprisingly, although plasma NEFA concentrations did not differ between systems in early lactation, cows on WC systems had higher NEFA concentrations than cows on SC systems throughout the remainder of the lactation. Nevertheless, a recent analysis has demonstrated that while NEFA concentrations are a good indicator of energy balance in very early lactation, the relationship becomes poorer as lactation progresses (Cabezas-Garcia et al., 2019). ...
Physical and economic performance of dairy cows managed within contrasting grassland-based milk production systems over 3 successive lactations
Article
  • Feb 2022
  • J DAIRY SCI
A diverse range of grassland-based milk production systems are practiced on dairy farms in temperate regions, with systems differing in relation to the proportion of grazed grass, conserved forages and concentrates in diet, calving season, duration of housing, cow genotype, and performance levels. The current study was conducted to examine performance within diverse grassland-based systems of milk production under experimental conditions. This study examined 4 milk production systems over 3 successive lactations (20 cows per system during each lactation). With winter calving-fully housed (WC-FH), Holstein cows were housed for the entire lactation and offered a complete diet consisting of grass silage, maize silage, and concentrates [approximately 50% forage on a dry matter (DM) basis]. With winter calving-conventional (WC-Con), Holstein cows were housed and offered the same diet from calving until turnout (late March) as offered with WC-FH, and thereafter cows were given access to grazing and supplemented with 5.0 kg of concentrate/cow daily. Two spring-calving systems were examined, the former involving Holstein cows (SC-H) and the latter Jersey × Holstein crossbred cows (SC-J×H). Cows on these systems were offered a grass silage-concentrate mix (70% forage on a DM basis) until turnout (late February), and thereafter cows were given access to grazing supplemented with 1.0 kg of concentrate/cow per day. The contributions of concentrates (3,080, 2,175, 722, and 760 kg of DM/cow per lactation), conserved forages (3,199, 1,556, 1,053, and 1,066 kg of DM/cow per lactation), and grazed grass (0, 2,041, 2,788, and 2,692 kg of DM/cow per lactation) to total DMI (6,362, 5,763, 4,563, and 4,473 kg of DM/cow per lactation) with WC-FH, WC-Con, SC-H, and SC-J×H, respectively, varied considerably. Similarly, milk yield (9,333, 8,443, 6,464, and 6,049 kg/cow per lactation), milk fat content (44.9, 43.3, 42.8, and 49.0 g/kg), and milk protein content (34.6, 34.9, 33.6, and 36.3 g/kg) differed between systems (WC-FH, WC-Con, SC-H, and SC-J×H, respectively). The higher milk yields with the WC systems reflect the greater concentrate inputs with these systems, whereas the greater milk fat and protein content with SC-J×H reflect the use of Jersey crossbred cows. Crossbred cows on SC-J×H produced a similar yield of milk solids as Holstein cows on SC-H. Cows on WC-FH ended the lactation with a greater body weight (BW) and body condition score than cows on any other treatment. While Jersey crossbred cows on SC-J×H had a lower BW than Holstein cows on SC-H, cows on these 2 systems were not different for any of the other BW, body condition score, or blood metabolite parameters examined. Cows on WC-FH had a greater interval from calving to conception, a greater mastitis incidence, and a greater locomotion score than cows on the spring calving systems. Whole-system stocking rates and annual milk outputs were calculated as 2.99, 2.62, 2.48, and 2.50 cows/ha, and 25,706, 20,822, 15,289, and 14,564 kg of milk/ha, with each of WC-FH, WC-Con, SC-H, and SC-J×H, respectively. Gross margin per cow was highest with WC-Con, gross margin per hectare was highest with WC-FH, and gross margin per kilogram of milk was highest with SC-J×H. This study demonstrated that diverse grassland-based milk production systems are associated with very different levels of performance when examined per cow and per hectare.
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