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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using dried stoned olive pomace (DSOP) as a feed supplement for dairy cattle on productive performances and milk quality traits. Control (C) and experimental (E) diets were formulated and offered to lactating Italian Holstein cows placed into two groups (five cows each) that were homogenous for liveweight (630.8 vs 667.2 kg) and for the main physiological and productive traits. The E group received 1.181 kg on dry matter (DM) basis of DSOP as a part of the concentrates pool. The C group was fed an isoenergetic (0.90 milk forage units (FU) /kg DM) and isoprotein (161.4 g/kg DM crude protein (CP)) ration but without the inclusion of DSOP. DM intake was 21 kg/day and the experiment lasted 40 days. There were no significant effects of diet on cattle performance (liveweight and body condition score), milk yield and quality (fat, protein, lactose, urea) or coagulation traits (pH, r, K 20 , A 30 ). The results showed that the inclusion of DSOP (5.61% of the total diet on DM basis) is not related to detrimental effects and could represent a valid supplement for dairy cattle.Additional keyword: by-products, dairy cattle, olive oil.

Sorghum could be a potential substitute to maize in Mediterranean buffaloes feed in order to improve sustainability of buffalo-based agriculture, due to its reduced water and nitrogen requirements compared with maize, which is currently fed primarily. The aim of this study is to obtain information on rumen degradability of fibre fraction of maize and sorghum silages and to investigate the relationship between degradability and rumen microbial populations. As such four cannulated buffalo milking cows were fed ad libitum two different iso-energetic and iso-proteic diets based on maize silage (MS) and sorghum silage (SS). Based on plate counts, values of cellulolytic bacteria showed to be higher within the rumen of SS fed buffaloes compared to MS fed buffaloes (4.4 × 10 9 vs 1.9 × 10 9 cfu/ml, P <0.05), on the contrary, those of xylanolytic bacteria (3.2 × 10 9 vs 1.3 × 10 9 cfu/ml, P < 0.01) were higher in MS possibly due to the different fibre degradability. Real-time PCR of total bacteria, Fibrobacter succinogenes, Ruminococcus albus, and Ruminococcus flavefaciens revealed no statistical difference in their 16S rDNA concentrations between diets. MS and SS were subsequently utilized for a degradability experiment. For this trial three cannulated Mediterranean dry buffalo cows were used (body weight 580 ± 8.5 kg). The MS was found to have an effective degradability of acid detergent fibre, hemicelluloses, and cellulose which were always lower than SS. Maize neutral detergent fibre degradability and slowly degradable fraction were significantly (P < 0.01) higher, on the contrary the immediately degradable fraction was found to be significantly (P < 0.001) lower compared with sorghum. The better sorghum relative feed value (P < 0.001) was related to the major content of fibre fraction compared to maize. As recommended by the IPCC Guidelines, Tier 2 was chosen to estimate the enteric CH 4 emission factor. The estimate of methane production is significantly lower in animals eating sorghum rather than maize (63.48 and 103.00 kg CH 4 /head/ year respectively, P < 0.001). In conclusion, as no difference was observed in animal weight gain and milk yield, rumen microbiota or degradability, it could be possible to substitute MS with SS in buffalo diet.

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