Theme 22: Grazing Management
Description
Interest in grazing systems is growing among farmers in the USA as a means of reducing feed costs for lactating dairy cows. An experiment was conducted near Gainesville, FL to compare milk production and composition and milk income minus feed costs from two pasture-based systems with those of a conventional confinement housing system over a 276-d period. System 1 was based on a mixture of rye (Secale cereale L.), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) during the winter-spring seasons and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R.Br.) during the summerfall seasons. System 2 utilized a rye-ryegrass mixture (no clover) during winter-spring and bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) during summer-fall. Concurrently, cows managed in free-stall housing at the university farm comprised System 3. Cows in confined housing produced 20% more milk than cows on pasture, but feed cost of grazing cows was about one half that of confined cows. Milk income minus feed costs was $5.56, $5.84, and $5.34 cow-1 d-1 for Systems 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Included in
Dairy Cow Performance on Pasture-Based Feeding Systems and in Confinement
Interest in grazing systems is growing among farmers in the USA as a means of reducing feed costs for lactating dairy cows. An experiment was conducted near Gainesville, FL to compare milk production and composition and milk income minus feed costs from two pasture-based systems with those of a conventional confinement housing system over a 276-d period. System 1 was based on a mixture of rye (Secale cereale L.), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) during the winter-spring seasons and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R.Br.) during the summerfall seasons. System 2 utilized a rye-ryegrass mixture (no clover) during winter-spring and bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) during summer-fall. Concurrently, cows managed in free-stall housing at the university farm comprised System 3. Cows in confined housing produced 20% more milk than cows on pasture, but feed cost of grazing cows was about one half that of confined cows. Milk income minus feed costs was $5.56, $5.84, and $5.34 cow-1 d-1 for Systems 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
