Some challenges and opportunities for grazing dairy cows on temperate pastures.

J Michael Wilkinson,M Jordana Rivero,A Thomas Chamberlain,Michael R F Lee

doi:10.1111/gfs.12458

J Michael Wilkinson, M Jordana Rivero + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12458

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Abstract

Grazing plays an important role in milk production in most regions of the world. In this review, some challenges to the grazing cow are discussed together with opportunities for future improvement. We focus on daily feed intake, efficiency of pasture utilization, output of milk per head, environmental impact of grazing and the nutritional quality to humans of milk produced from dairy cows in contrasting production systems. Challenges are discussed in the context of a trend towards increased size of individual herds and include limited and variable levels of daily herbage consumption, lower levels of milk output per cow, excessive excretion of nitrogenous compounds and requirements for minimal periods of grazing regardless of production system. A major challenge is to engage more farmers in making appropriate adjustments to their grazing management. In relation to product quality, the main challenge is to demonstrate enhanced nutritional/processing benefits of milk from grazed cows. Opportunities include more accurate diet formulations, supplementation of grazed pasture to match macro‐ and micronutrient supply with animal requirement and plant breeding. The application of robotics and artificial intelligence to pasture management will assist in matching daily supply to animal requirement. Wider consumer recognition of the perceived enhanced nutritional value of milk from grazed cows, together with greater appreciation of the animal health, welfare and behavioural benefits of grazing should contribute to the future sustainability of demand for milk from dairy cows on pasture.

Highlights

Herds of dairy cattle grazed on grasslands are ubiquitous worldwide, and their daily management ranges from semi-nomadic to closely controlled intensive grazing (FAO, 2009)
The focus in this review is on some challenges and opportunities associated with the controlled grazing of temperate pastures by dairy cows in the context of feed intake, efficiency of pasture utilization, stocking rate (SR), output per animal, environmental impact and product nutritional quality, using examples from research investigating milk production from grazed pasture
Roca-Fernández, Peyraud, Delaby, and Delagarde (2016) found that cows rotationally grazing a multispecies sward ate 14.5% more DM, 12% more digestible OM, and produced 13%–21% more milk and 12%–15% more milk solids per day than cows grazing a single species sward of perennial ryegrass. These findings show that increasing sward botanical complexity under similar grazing management can have positive effects on animal performance (Roca-Fernández et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Herds of dairy cattle grazed on grasslands are ubiquitous worldwide, and their daily management ranges from semi-nomadic to closely controlled intensive grazing (FAO, 2009). Challenges to efficient management of grazed pastures include variable herbage supply and low herbage intake, which limit milk output per head.

Results

Conclusion