Publication Date
1997
Description
The objective was to investigate the effect of earlier turnout to pasture in spring on animal performance in a wet land environment. Fiftysix spring-calving dairy cows were randomly allocated to four treatments and the stocking rate for each treatment was 2.47 cows/ ha. Cows in three of these treatments commenced grazing in mid- March. The cows on Treatment A grazed 100% of the farm and received 3 kg/day of concentrate. Cows on Treatment B and C grazed 50% of the farm (area designated for silage production), received silage at night, indoors, and 6 kg/day and 3 kg/day of concentrate respectively. The animals on treatment D received silage and 6 kg/ day of concentrate. All animals were provided with pasture as the sole forage source from April 11th to the end of the experiment. There was no effect of treatment on milk production in the initial period or over the complete experimental period (10 weeks). Difficult grazing conditions prevented optimum performance from pasture.
Citation
Maher, J; Crosse, S; and Rath, M, "The Effect of Turnout Date to Pasture in Spring and Grazing Strategy on the Performance of Spring-Calving Dairy Cows in Wet Land Enviornment" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 30.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1997/session29/30
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
The Effect of Turnout Date to Pasture in Spring and Grazing Strategy on the Performance of Spring-Calving Dairy Cows in Wet Land Enviornment
The objective was to investigate the effect of earlier turnout to pasture in spring on animal performance in a wet land environment. Fiftysix spring-calving dairy cows were randomly allocated to four treatments and the stocking rate for each treatment was 2.47 cows/ ha. Cows in three of these treatments commenced grazing in mid- March. The cows on Treatment A grazed 100% of the farm and received 3 kg/day of concentrate. Cows on Treatment B and C grazed 50% of the farm (area designated for silage production), received silage at night, indoors, and 6 kg/day and 3 kg/day of concentrate respectively. The animals on treatment D received silage and 6 kg/ day of concentrate. All animals were provided with pasture as the sole forage source from April 11th to the end of the experiment. There was no effect of treatment on milk production in the initial period or over the complete experimental period (10 weeks). Difficult grazing conditions prevented optimum performance from pasture.
