Alfalfa Silage or Hay Versus Corn Silage as the Sole Forage for Lactating Dairy Cows

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed either alfalfa silage or alfalfa hay as the sole forage.

Alfalfa was harvested from alternate windrows as 40% DM silage or hay in small rectangular bales and fed in two 12-wk 4 x 4 Latin square trials, each with 20 multiparous lactating cows (4 with ruminal cannulas). Diets contained (DM basis) 69 (trial 1) or 66% (trial 2) alfalfa, 26 to 33% high moisture corn, 1.3% minerals and vitamins, and about 1.6 Mcal of NEL/kg of DM. In trial 1, second-cuttin...

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed alfalfa or red clover silage as the sole forage.

Three Latin square trials, with 20 (two trials) or 24 (one trial) multiparous lactating Holstein cows (four in each trial with ruminal cannulae), compared the feeding value of red clover and alfalfa silages harvested over 3 yr. Overall, the forages contained similar amounts of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber; however, red clover silage contained more hemicellulose, less ash and...

Alfalfa Silage Versus Red Clover Silage or a Mixture of Alfalfa and Red Clover Silage as the Sole Forage for Lactating Dairy Cows

Introduction The large proportion of CP in alfalfa silage (AS) that is present as NPN substantially reduces the efficiency of protein utilization by lactating dairy cows (Nagel and Broderick, 1992). Red clover silage (RCS) typically has a much lower content of NPN than AS (Albrecht and Muck, 1991). In a previous feeding study (Broderick and Sterrenburg, 1996 USDFRC Res. Sum.), we found that DMI...

Effect of yeast culture supplementation of alfalfa silage or alfalfa hay fed to lactating dairy cows

Ryegrass or alfalfa silage as the dietary forage for lactating dairy cows.

Renewed interest exists in using grass forages to dilute the higher crude protein (CP) and lower digestible fiber present in legumes fed to lactating dairy cows. A 3 x 3 Latin square feeding study with 4-wk periods was conducted with 24 Holstein cows to compare ryegrass silage, either untreated control or macerated (intensively conditioned) before ensiling, with alfalfa silage as the sole dieta...