Track 2-1-1: Grazing Systems, Grassland Restoration and Livestock Production
Description
Small-scale dairy systems in Mexico represent over 78% of dairy farms and produce 37% of the nation’s milk, and have an important role in reducing rural poverty. Small-scale dairy systems are defined by having herds of 3 to 35 cows plus replacements, and rely mostly on the family for labour. In the central highlands, many small-scale dairy farms base the feeding of herds on irrigated cultivated pastures of ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum, L. perenne) – white clover (Trifolium repens), mostly under cut-and-carry by hand with scythes, straws, and large amounts of commercial compound concentrates that result in high feeding costs and low economic sustainability (Fadul-Pacheco et al., 2013). One option to optimize the use of resources in these systems is to change the use of grasslands to intensive grazing that result in lower feeding costs when compared to cut-and-carry strategies. Also, the high protein content of pasture may meet requirements for moderate yields by dairy cows, so that commercial concentrates may be substituted by lower protein, lower cost supplements like ground maize grain and remove the straws of the diets.
Citation
Velarde-Guillen, J.; Arriaga-Jordan, Carloss Manuel; Estrada-Flores, J. G.; Rayas-Amor, A. A.; Vicente, F.; Martinez-Fernandez, A.; Heredia-Nava, D.; and Arriaga-Jordan, C. M., "Effect of Supplementation of Dairy Cows under Cut and Carry or Grazing of Irrigated Cultivated Pastures in Small Scale Dairy Systems in the Highlands of Central Mexico" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 16.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/23/2-1-1/16
Included in
Effect of Supplementation of Dairy Cows under Cut and Carry or Grazing of Irrigated Cultivated Pastures in Small Scale Dairy Systems in the Highlands of Central Mexico
Small-scale dairy systems in Mexico represent over 78% of dairy farms and produce 37% of the nation’s milk, and have an important role in reducing rural poverty. Small-scale dairy systems are defined by having herds of 3 to 35 cows plus replacements, and rely mostly on the family for labour. In the central highlands, many small-scale dairy farms base the feeding of herds on irrigated cultivated pastures of ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum, L. perenne) – white clover (Trifolium repens), mostly under cut-and-carry by hand with scythes, straws, and large amounts of commercial compound concentrates that result in high feeding costs and low economic sustainability (Fadul-Pacheco et al., 2013). One option to optimize the use of resources in these systems is to change the use of grasslands to intensive grazing that result in lower feeding costs when compared to cut-and-carry strategies. Also, the high protein content of pasture may meet requirements for moderate yields by dairy cows, so that commercial concentrates may be substituted by lower protein, lower cost supplements like ground maize grain and remove the straws of the diets.
