Abstract
This study aimed to assess the corn silage used in 31 dairy farms in themunicipality of Patos de Minas, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Aquestionnaire was applied with questions related to the property, the silageprocess, and the use of roughage. A cluster analysis was then performed togroup the properties using the centroid method. Data were submitted toanalysis of variance in a completely randomized design. The continuousvariables and the discrete variables had their means compared using theTukey test and the chi-square test, respectively, with 5% probability of typeI error. Properties with low milk production were those with no technicalassistance; they tended to have nonuniform silo faces and manual removalof silage, resulting in higher silage loss.
Highlights
The State of Minas Gerais has the largest dairy cattle herd in Brazil, with 5.4 million cows milked in 2015
Considering the importance of the municipality of Patos de Minas in the Brazilian milk chain, this study aims to assess the use and quality of corn silages in dairy farms in said region
A questionnaire was applied to the producers with 16 questions, as follows: Five questions about the farm and the herd: 1) Daily milk production (L/day), 2) Composition of the herd: lactating cows, dry cows, heifers, and calves, 3) Average production (L/cow.day), 4) Milk quality: fat, protein, Somatic Cell Count (SCC), and Total
Summary
The State of Minas Gerais has the largest dairy cattle herd in Brazil, with 5.4 million cows milked in 2015. It is the largest national milk producer, with 27.1% of the Brazilian production (IBGE, 2016). Feedlots and semi-feedlots are the most used options in dairy farms, in response to the animals’ improved genetic potential. In these systems, corn silage accounts for the highest share of the roughage volume (Bernardes et al, 2013; Bernardes et al, 2014)
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