Animal behavior and pasture depletion in a pasture-based automatic milking system

Lyons, Nicolas; Kerrisk, K. L.; Dhand, Navneet K.; Scott, Virgil E.; García, S. C.

doi:10.1017/s1751731114001190

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The average milking interval of 14·4 h in our current study was similar to the milking intervals for pasture based AMS systems, albeit higher than that on a pastoral based research farm (Jago & Burke, 2013), and higher than those reported for indoor-based AMS by Lyons et al (2014). This implied that the AMS farms in the current study had a representative range for milking intervals occurring in commercial practice.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…In fact, the ICAR protocols have been developed based on studies conducted in AMS systems where cows are housed (ICAR, 2016). While a 16 h sampling period (suggested by Hand et al 2006) may be appropriate in systems with higher milking frequencies, it may not be suitable for pasture based systems since in a review on AMS systems, Lyons et al (2014) reported that cows on pasture based AMS farms have lower milking frequencies than indoor fed cows that are milked by AMS. It is, thus, important to understand the impact of the lower milking frequencies on the accuracies of the sampling protocol for herd testing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shorter sampling periods and accurate estimates of milk volume and components are possible for pasture based dairy herds milked with automated milking systems

Kamphuis

Burke

Taukiri

et al. 2016

Journal of Dairy Research

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Dairy cows grazing pasture and milked using automated milking systems (AMS) have lower milking frequencies than indoor fed cows milked using AMS. Therefore, milk recording intervals used for herd testing indoor fed cows may not be suitable for cows on pasture based farms. We hypothesised that accurate standardised 24 h estimates could be determined for AMS herds with milk recording intervals of less than the Gold Standard (48 hs), but that the optimum milk recording interval would depend on the herd average for milking frequency. The Gold Standard protocol was applied on five commercial dairy farms with AMS, between December 2011 and February 2013. From 12 milk recording test periods, involving 2211 cow-test days and 8049 cow milkings, standardised 24 h estimates for milk volume and milk composition were calculated for the Gold Standard protocol and compared with those collected during nine alternative sampling scenarios, including six shorter sampling periods and three in which a fixed number of milk samples per cow were collected. Results infer a 48 h milk recording protocol is unnecessarily long for collecting accurate estimates during milk recording on pasture based AMS farms. Collection of two milk samples only per cow was optimal in terms of high concordance correlation coefficients for milk volume and components and a low proportion of missed cow-test days. Further research is required to determine the effects of diurnal variations in milk composition on standardised 24 h estimates for milk volume and components, before a protocol based on a fixed number of samples could be considered. Based on the results of this study New Zealand have adopted a split protocol for herd testing based on the average milking frequency for the herd (NZ Herd Test Standard 8100:2015).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shorter sampling periods and accurate estimates of milk volume and components are possible for pasture based dairy herds milked with automated milking systems

Kamphuis

Burke

Taukiri

et al. 2016

Journal of Dairy Research

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“…Studies measuring the actual time at pasture are needed to further investigate the effect of the length of the grazing period on claw health. In AMS, where cows are supposed to walk to pasture voluntarily, cow traffic and grazing have to be further developed (Sporndly and Wredle, 2004;Lyons et al, 2014).…”

Section: Grazing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The motivation of cows to graze when given a free choice is dependent on different factors (Charlton et al, 2013;Lyons et al, 2014). In a Canadian preference study, dairy cows in a conventional freestall system chose being out at night but to a lesser extent in rainy weather and chose to be inside during the day and to a greater extent with increased outdoor temperature and humidity (Legrand et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of grazing management on claw disorders in Swedish freestall dairies with mandatory grazing

Bergsten

Carlsson

Mörk

2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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Our hypothesis was that grazing time, the number of days (duration) and number of hours per day, affected claw health. From Swedish freestall herds that fulfilled our criteria of claw-trimming routines, 201 herds were randomly selected for a telephone interview regarding grazing management. Herd data were retrieved from the Swedish Official Milk Recording Scheme. Claw disorders to be analyzed were recorded at maintenance claw trimming before and after the grazing period and included mild and severe dermatitis, severe heel-horn erosion, and sole ulcer (including severe sole hemorrhage). Any remark included one or more of these recorded disorders. The odds for having a recorded claw disorder at the autumn trimming in relation to grazing management, as well as to herd- and cow-related parameters, was tested using multilevel logistic regression models. The final statistical analysis included 17,600 cows in 174 herds, which were distributed from the south to the north of Sweden with decreasing length of mandatory grazing period because of climate. Grazing duration was statistically associated with the risk of sole ulcer, but it was not linear. However, grazing duration was not statistically associated with the odds for any remark, dermatitis, or heel-horn erosion. The odds for dermatitis were lower with access to pasture for 24 h compared with either day or night access. Otherwise, the number of hours that the animals had access to grazing per day was not significantly associated with any of the other analyzed claw disorders. Higher pasture stocking density (number of cow hours per day per hectare) was associated with a higher odds for dermatitis and sole ulcer. For all recorded claw disorders, the highest odds for having a disorder after the grazing period were consistently when the cow had the same claw disorder before the release to pasture. The positive effects of grazing on claw health were less than expected, and the previous known effects of breed, days in milk, parity, production system, housing environment, and management were verified for most claw disorders. If cows in today's loose housing systems have a more restrictive grazing than cows in tie-stall herds previously experienced, one cannot expect as strong an effect even if grazing is mandatory in all Swedish dairy cattle. Despite some positive effects of grazing, good stall environment and management during the housing period seem to be more important to obtain good claw health.

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“…In these conditions, low pasture biomass was linked to an increase in time spent indoors and consequently to a rise in milkings. Lyons et al (2014) observed that at low pasture availability, cows tend to walk to a new pasture allocation. A similar observation was made in the present study, as cows preferred to return to the robot and eventually get refused than to stay on the pasture.…”

Section: Impact On Voluntary Cow Trafficmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

Lessire

Froidmont

Shortall

et al. 2017

Animal

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Increased economic, societal and environmental challenges facing agriculture are leading to a greater focus on effective way to combine grazing and automatic milking systems (AMS). One of the fundamental aspects of robotic milking is cows' traffic to the AMS. Numerous studies have identified feed provided, either as fresh grass or concentrate supplement, as the main incentive for cows to return to the robot. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of concentrate allocation on voluntary cow traffic from pasture to the robot during the grazing period, to highlight the interactions between grazed pasture and concentrate allocation in terms of substitution rate and the subsequent effect on average milk yield and composition. Thus, 29 grazing cows, milked by a mobile robot, were monitored for the grazing period (4 months). They were assigned to two groups: a low concentrate (LC) group (15 cows) and a high concentrate (HC) group (14 cows) receiving 2 and 4 kg concentrate/cow per day, respectively; two allocations per day of fresh pasture were provided at 0700 and 1600 h. The cows had to go through the AMS to receive the fresh pasture allocation. The effect of concentrate level on robot visitation was calculated by summing milkings, refusals and failed milkings/cow per day. The impact on average daily milk yield and composition was also determined. The interaction between lactation number and month was used as an indicator of pasture availability. Concentrate allocation increased significantly robot visitations in HC (3.60 ± 0.07 visitations/cow per day in HC and 3.10 ± 0.07 visitations/cow per day in LC; P < 0.001) while milkings/cow per day were similar in both groups (LC: 2.37 ± 0.02/day and HC: 2.39 ± 0.02/day; Ns). The average daily milk yield over the grazing period was enhanced in HC (22.39 ± 0.22 kg/cow per day in HC and 21.33 ± 0.22 kg/cow per day in LC; P < 0.001). However the gain in milk due to higher concentrate supply was limited with regards to the amount of provided concentrates. Milking frequency in HC primiparous compared with LC was increased. In the context of this study, considering high concentrate levels as an incentive for robot visitation might be questioned, as it had no impact on milking frequency and limited impact on average milk yield and composition. By contrast, increased concentrate supply could be targeted specifically to primiparous cows.

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Animal behavior and pasture depletion in a pasture-based automatic milking system

Cited by 9 publications

References 38 publications

Shorter sampling periods and accurate estimates of milk volume and components are possible for pasture based dairy herds milked with automated milking systems

Shorter sampling periods and accurate estimates of milk volume and components are possible for pasture based dairy herds milked with automated milking systems

Influence of grazing management on claw disorders in Swedish freestall dairies with mandatory grazing

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

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