The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of dairy cow management techniques and milking methods on hygienic quality of raw milk. Total Bacterial Count (TBC) and Total Coliform Colonies (TCC) were studied to determine the effects. Investigations were carried out in fifty dairy farms from August 2007 to December 2007. The mean TBC and TCC for the herds with comparatively good and poor management practices were 0.9 x 10(5) cfu/ml and 0.2 x 10(3)/ml and 99 x 10(5) cfu/ml and >180 x 10(3)/ml, respectively. The overall mean TBC (22 x 10(5) cfu/ml) and TCC (47 x 10(3)/ml) obtained in this study exceeded the internationally recommended levels for TBC (10(5) cfu/ml) and TCC (<1,000/ml). The overall results obtained suggested that the raw milk tested was of poor hygienic quality with the presence of a great variability among milk samples.

Background: A field experiment to evaluate the dry matter yield and nutritive value of Sugar graze and Jumbo plus under irrigation was conducted at three different plant spacings (15 x 30, 15 x 45, 15 x 60 cm) on a red-yellow latosol in the dry zone of Sri Lanka from March to June 2016. The design was a factorial randomised complete block design with three replications. Morphological parameters measured were plant height, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area and number of leaves per plant, inter-node elongation and stem girth. Chemical composition of forages, viz. crude protein, crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and dry matter yield, was also determined. Results: There was no difference in the chemical composition of Sugar graze and Jumbo plus 60 days after planting. Sugar graze had significantly higher values (p < 0.05) for stem girth, leaf length, leaf width and leaf area 60 days after planting. Sugar graze produced significantly higher dry matter yield than Jumbo plus. The narrowest spacing 15 × 30 cm gave the highest yield than the other 2 spacings. Conclusions: It could be concluded that Sugar graze with 15 × 30 cm spacing will give more dry matter yield than Jumbo plus with similar chemical composition in the yala season of dry zone of Sri Lanka.

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A field experiment to evaluate the growth parameters and fodder yields of Sugar Graze and Jumbo Plus under occasional irrigation was conducted at 3 different plant spacings (30 × 15, 30 × 45 and 30 × 60 cm) on a red-yellow latosol in the dry zone of Sri Lanka from August 2015 to January 2016. The design was a randomized block with 3 replications. Initial harvesting of fodder was done 60 days after planting and 2 ratoon yields were assessed at successive 60-day intervals. Plant spacing was inversely related (P<0.05) to dry matter (DM) yield with the narrowest spacing (30 × 15 cm) producing yields of 14.1 t DM/ha for Sugar Graze and 12.6 t DM/ha for Jumbo Plus at the initial harvest. Plant spacing also influenced leaf area, stem girth, root length and plant height in the initial harvest. Sugar Graze produced higher yields than Jumbo Plus at the initial and second ratoon harvests. Yields from ratoon crops were about 30% of those for the initial harvest. Further studies are needed to determine how these findings apply under the low-rainfall conditions of the yala season, and chemical analyses and animal feeding studies would provide valuable information on the nutritional value of the different forages.