Relationship between soil fertility and pasture composition on milk quality in Simmental-Fleckvieh production systems in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify the relationship between soil fertility and pasture composition on milk quality in ten Simmental-Fleckvieh cattle production systems across four provinces in the Peruvian Amazon: Chachapoyas (system I), Bongara (system II), Rodriguez de Mendoza (system III), and Utcubamba (system IV). While no significant differences were noted in pasture composition, milk, and soil parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, phosphorus, and potassium among systems, significant statistical differences were observed in soil carbon, organic matter, and nitrogen content (p < 0.05), with System IV exhibiting the highest values. Strong correlations were found between pasture dry matter and both milk fat (r = 0.62) and milk crude protein (r = 0.61). Moderate correlations between pasture dry matter and milk total solids (r = 0.52), milk lactose and soil phosphorus (r = -0.44), milk crude protein and soil potassium (r = 0.40), electric conductivity and pasture dry matter (r = 0.44), soil potassium and pasture crude ash (r = 0.49), and soil carbon and pasture crude fat (r = 0.40). These findings underscore the combined impact of pasture and soil composition on milk nutritional quality, emphasizing the need for optimized soil and pasture management to enhance productivity in these systems.