Silage and dairy cow production

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

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 pr...

Mycotoxins in Dairy Cow Health and Production

A herd health approach to dairy cow nutrition and production diseases of the transition cow.

This paper presents a practical, on-farm approach for the monitoring and prevention of production disease in dairy cattle. This integrated approach, should be used in an interdisciplinary way by farmers, veterinarians, nutrition advisors and other relevant professionals for the improvement of animal health and welfare and producer profitability. The key areas that form the basis for this approa...

The Impact of Improving NDF Digestibility of Corn Silage on Dairy Cow Performance

Forages are a necessary component of diets for lactating dairy cows because they provide coarse fiber needed to optimize rumen function. However, forages alone provide insufficient nutrients to achieve high milk yield and they must be supplemented with other feed ingredients. Because forage quality is highly variable, their quality must be assessed before diets are formulated. Forages have been...

Maize silage for dairy cows

This paper reviews the use of maize silage in pastoral dairying systems in New Zealand. The evolution of dairying systems to make profitable use of maize silage and other supplementary feeds has occurred during the last decade in conjunction with an increased use of maize silage. When used within recommended levels of feeding, maize silage provides a low cost source of starch and fibre which co...