Replacing grass silage with pea-barley intercrop silage in the feeding of the dairy cow

M Tuori,P Pursiainen

doi:10.2137/145960606779216281

Abstract

The effect of replacing wilted grass silage (GS) with pea-barley intercrop silage (PBS) on feed intake, diet digestibility and milk production was studied with 8 multiparous Ayrshire-cows in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square experiment. Proportion of PBS was 0 (PBS0), 33 (PBS33), 67 (PBS67) or 100 (PBS100) % of silage dry matter (DM). The DM content was 559 and 255 g kg-1 for GS and PBS. Crude protein content was 131 and 170 g kg-1 DM, respectively. Pea-barley silage was more extensively fermented than GS with total fermentation acid content of 120 vs. 12 g kg-1 DM. Silage was fed for ad libitum intake and supplemented with on the average 13 kg concentrate per day. Silage DM intake was 9.2 (PBS0), 9.7 (PBS33), 9.0 (PBS67) and 7.1 (PBS100) kg per day (Pquadr. < 0.05). The energy corrected milk yield [30.3 (PBS0), 29.8 (PBS33), 30.3 (PBS67), 31.3 (PBS100) kg per day] was not significantly affected by the treatment. Milk protein concentration decreased linearly (P < 0.05) in response to feeding PBS. It is concluded that PBS can replace up to two thirds of wilted, moderate quality GS in the feeding of dairy cows because in this experiment pure pea-barley silage reduced silage intake.

Highlights

30.3 (PBS67), 31.3 (PBS100) kg per day] was not significantly affected by the treatment
The starch content of pea increased by 5.6 g kg-1 dry matter (DM) per day from the full bloom until harvest and that of barley by 10.6 g kg-1 DM per day
In Finland, a minimum value of 690 g digestible organic matter per kg DM is recommended for high quality grass silage

Summary

Introduction

30.3 (PBS67), 31.3 (PBS100) kg per day] was not significantly affected by the treatment. There is an increasing interest to improve the efficiency of N utilisation for milk production, which often is relatively low due to high degradable crude protein (CP) content in grass silage. Mixing grass silage with less CP and more fermentable energy containing whole-crop cereal silage could improve N utilisation Keeping two silos open at the same time may impair the quality of the silages through aerobic deterioration These problems are avoided by cultivating mixtures of legume and cereal crop for intercrop silage production. Intercropping can considerably increase the feeding value of wholecrop cereal silage (Lunnan 1989, Mustafa et al.2000) as legumes can improve the digestibility of the silage (Salawu et al 2001). Significant is the fact that cultivating N-fixating legumes reduces the need to use N fertilizers (Lunnan 1989)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion