Comparative Value of Afalfa Pasture, Bromegrass Pasture, or Alfalfa Hay for Lactating Dairy Cows

Effect of yeast culture supplementation of alfalfa silage or alfalfa hay fed to 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...

Comparison of three techniques for estimating the forage intake of lactating dairy cows on pasture.

Quantifying DMI is necessary for estimation of nutrient consumption by ruminants, but it is inherently difficult on grazed pastures and even more so when supplements are fed. Our objectives were to compare three methods of estimating forage DMI (inference from animal performance, evaluation from fecal output using a pulse-dose marker, and estimation from herbage disappearance methods) and to id...

Acid Preservation of Alfalfa Hay for Dairy Cows

Since high quality forage is essential in a dairy ration, it is improtant to study new methods of preserving hay. In this trial, the effect of a commercial organic acid preservative on nutirent content and feeding value of alfalfa hay was evaluated. Alfalfa hay from a common field was baled at about 20 percent moisture for a control, and at about 28 percent moisture with addition of 0.1 percent...

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed varying levels of total mixed ration and pasture.

Two, 8-week experiments, each using 30 lactating Holstein cows, were conducted to examine performance of animals offered combinations of total mixed ration (TMR) and high-quality pasture. Experiment 1 was initiated in mid October 2004 and Experiment 2 was initiated in late March 2005. Cows were assigned to either a 100% TMR diet (100:00, no access to pasture) or one of the following three formu...