Track 2-16: Dairying in Australia in the 21st Century
Description
To remain competitive internationally, the Australian dairy industry will need to increase milk production per unit of land by producing and utilising more from home-grown feed. In the context of decreasing land availability but increasing feed cost per unit of land, increasing production and utilisation of home-grown feed is crucial to increase milk production in pasture-based dairy farms (Fariña et al., 2011). Pure pasture-based systems can achieve a maximum of ~20 t dry matter (DM)/ha/yr, although in practice top commercial farmers hardly exceed 15-16 t DM/ha. A strategy to increase productivity of forages is to select adequate combinations of forages alone or combined (intercropped) in a forage rotation. It was hypothesised that ≥25 t DM/ha may be achieved from a double-crop wholly grazeable forage rotation. Similarly, ≥40 t DM/ha may be achieved from a forage rotation using adequate forage options and intercropping management when grown for both grazing and conservation. The aim of this study was to investigate high yielding grazeable or a combination of grazeable and conserved double-crop forage options for dairy cows.
Included in
Forage Options for Dairy Cows
To remain competitive internationally, the Australian dairy industry will need to increase milk production per unit of land by producing and utilising more from home-grown feed. In the context of decreasing land availability but increasing feed cost per unit of land, increasing production and utilisation of home-grown feed is crucial to increase milk production in pasture-based dairy farms (Fariña et al., 2011). Pure pasture-based systems can achieve a maximum of ~20 t dry matter (DM)/ha/yr, although in practice top commercial farmers hardly exceed 15-16 t DM/ha. A strategy to increase productivity of forages is to select adequate combinations of forages alone or combined (intercropped) in a forage rotation. It was hypothesised that ≥25 t DM/ha may be achieved from a double-crop wholly grazeable forage rotation. Similarly, ≥40 t DM/ha may be achieved from a forage rotation using adequate forage options and intercropping management when grown for both grazing and conservation. The aim of this study was to investigate high yielding grazeable or a combination of grazeable and conserved double-crop forage options for dairy cows.
