The Deviation between Dairy Cow Metabolizable Energy Requirements and Pasture Supply on a Dairy Farm Using Proximal Hyperspectral Sensing

Federico Duranovich,Ina Draganova,Stephen Morris,Nicolás López-Villalobos,Ian Yule,Nicola Shadbolt

doi:10.3390/agriculture11030240

Federico Duranovich, Ina Draganova + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11030240

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Journal: Agriculture	Publication Date: Mar 12, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Massey University

Abstract

This study aimed at determining the extent to which the deviation of daily total metabolizable energy (MEt) requirements of individual cows from the metabolizable energy (ME) supplied per cow (DME) varied throughout the production season in a pasture-based dairy farm using proximal hyperspectral sensing (PHS). Herd tests, milk production, herbage and feed allocation data were collected during the 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 production seasons at Dairy 1, Massey University, New Zealand. Herbage ME was determined from canopy reflectance acquired using PHS. Orthogonal polynomials were used to model lactation curves for yields of milk, fat, protein and live weights of cows. Daily dietary ME supplied per cow to the herd and ME requirements of cows were calculated using the Agricultural Food and Research Council (AFRC) energy system of 1993. A linear model including the random effects of breed and cow was used to estimate variance components for DME. Daily herd MEt estimated requirements oscillated between a fifth above or below the ME supplied throughout the production seasons. DME was mostly explained by observations made within a cow rather than between cows or breeds. Having daily estimates of individual cow requirements for MEt in addition to ME dietary supply can potentially contribute to achieving a more precise fit between supply and demand for feed in a pasture-based dairy farm by devising feeding strategies aimed at reducing DME.

Highlights

Of metabolizable energy (ME) from herbage has been identified as a major factor limiting performance of cows in pasture-based dairy farms [1,2]
The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the deviation of total metabolizable energy requirements of individual cows (MEt) from the ME supplied per cow in the herd (DME) varies throughout the production season in a pasture-based dairy farm using proximal hyperspectral sensing (PHS) of canopies
This study found that the deviation of the daily MEt estimated requirements of a cow from the actual ME supplied per cow in the herd varied greatly and that such variation was mostly explained by the observations made within a cow rather than between cows or breeds

Summary

Introduction

Of metabolizable energy (ME) from herbage has been identified as a major factor limiting performance of cows in pasture-based dairy farms [1,2]. In most pasturebased dairy farms, allocation of herbage and other feeds is calculated on a dry-matter basis, where assumptions are made about the ME content of the diet and the total ME required of the herd in order to achieve performance targets while maintaining low cost [3]. It is believed that efficiency gains would arise from shifting from a dry-matter basis to a nutrition centred allocation basis. This shift in focus would suggest a change in the management approach towards the likes of the TMR system. For such an approach to be operational in practice, precise knowledge on the nutritional demand of cows in the milking herd is required

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