Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of the content of total mixed rations (TMR) offered to high-producing cows from 20 dairy herds of Castro, Paraná State, Brazil. The average milk yield during the sample collection period was 38.0±6.8 kg/day, with 3.47±0.25% milk fat and 3.05±0.18% milk protein. The particle size distribution of samples of fresh diet and leftovers was evaluated using the Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS) and chemical analysis was also conducted. The TMR [...]
Highlights
The topic of precision nutrition has gained importance in the dairy industry over the last decades
The total mixed rations (TMR) homogeneity was estimated by the coefficient of variation (CV) of particles retained on the two intermediary sieves (1.18 mm), in which a CV higher than 5% indicated a poorly mixed TMR
The proportion of the offered TMR retained in the top Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS) sieve showed positive correlations with NDF (r = 0.58) and ADF (r = 0.54) contents of the refusals, which indicates that cows sort against long particles
Summary
The topic of precision nutrition has gained importance in the dairy industry over the last decades. In the context of formulating diets with an improved accuracy, it is assumed that on a dairy farm, there are basically three diets: the nutritionist’s diet, formulated to meet the cow’s requirements; the diet mixed by the farm, in which the ingredients are loaded into the mixing wagon and delivered to the cows; and the diet that the cows consume (Almeida et al, 2013; Rossow and Aly, 2013). 2. To achieve three similar diets, Almeida et al (2013) highlighted the practice of monitoring the quality of total mixed rations (TMR). The objective of mixing all the ingredients and offering them to the animals via TMR is that the flow of the nutrients in the rumen is more constant during the day, improving the synchronism between energy and protein and, feed utilization (Schingoethe, 2017). The lack of a properly mixture generate different distribution and concentrations of nutrients along the feed bunk, and the undesirable selection of ingredients could even be facilitated (Zebeli et al, 2012)
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