Concentrate feeding and milk yield based on the field data of milk recorded herds

Abstract

Field data from 16 051 Finnish milk recorded herds including milk yield (MY), feed consumption, feed analyses, and the herd effect for milk yield (HMILK) obtained from the national breeding value estimation program, were analysed to detect the influence of concentrate feeding on milk production. HMILKs are deviations from the average national level with mean of 45 kg and SD of 722 kg. Mean MY was 6917 kg and mean dry matter intake (DMI) 5679 kg per cow per year. The effect of concentrate feeding on HMILK and MY was studied by using quantitative [amount of energy (FUI) and concentrates (CI) in the diet] and qualitative [proportion of grain (Gc) or compound feed (Mc) in concentrates or CP content (CPc) of concentrates] diet characteristics as dependent variables in multivariate regression analysis. The general linear effect of CI was 1.18 kg MY/kg CI. Production response of CI decreased with increasing CI as indicated by significant interactions between CI and CI classes. Gc showed a negative relationship with HMILK, but CPc proved to be a more important factor affecting HMILK. Feeding grain instead of compound feed was connected with too low protein content in concentrates. Mc was positively correlated with CP content of concentrates. However, the use of compound feed appeared to give a slight increase in HMILK even after accounting for the effect of CP. ;

Orchardgrass versus Alfalfa for Lactating Dairy Cattle: Production, Digestibility and Nitrogen Balance

“…Diet OG-L cows produced more milk than Diet OG-E animals due to higher DM intake and higher concentrate intake. Higher DM intake and greater consumption of concentrates has been associated with higher milk production among cows fed orchardgrass rations (Weiss and Shockey, 1991;Huhtanen, 1993;Kaustello et al, 1998). Cows offered Diet OG-L had higher milk protein and milk urea nitrogen levels and produced more milk protein per day ( Table 5).…”

Current and future prospects of milk quality from the Finnish dairy industry point of view

“…In contrast, the genetic trend of dairy cows for milk protein concentration is close to zero (FABA, 2005) suggesting that the positive phenotypic trend is due to more intensive feeding or more evidently because farms with a low feeding intensity have finished milk production (Kaustell et al, 1996;Huhtanen and Nousiainen, 2004). Kaustell et al (1998) reported based on milk recording data that with increasing milk yield the increase in milk protein only partly compensates the lowering milk fat concentration. Consequently raw milk DM concentration tends to decrease along with more intensive feeding and increasing milk yield.…”

Association between protein feeding and reproductive efficiency in the dairy cow: specific emphasis on protein feeding in Finland

“…Consequently, relatively large differences in the protein content of dairy cow rations can exist between individual countries. Finnish dairy cow rations typically contain lower amounts of protein (150 g CP/kg DM; Kaustell et al 1998) than diets fed in other European countries, such as Holland (185-220 g/kg DM, Tamminga 1992) or the United Kingdom (180-190 g/kg DM, N.W. Offer, personal communication).…”

“…Reproductive studies in Finnish cows have tended to concentrate on the role of energy intake (Miettinen 1990a, 1991), feeding regimen (Heinonen et al 1988, Miettinen 1990c breed (Kuni and Pirinen, 1988) or parity (Miettinen 1990b) on reproductive efficiency. In Finland, dairy cow rations contain only relatively moderate CP concentrations, typically 150 g/kg DM (Kaustell et al 1998) suggesting that potential reproductive inefficiencies due to excessive protein feeding are likely to be minimised. Furthermore, Miettinen (1991) reported that the proportion of cows fed diets according to Finnish feeding standards with plasma urea concentrations lower than 150 mg/l at 14 and 60 d postpartum was 0.89 and 0.65, respectively.…”

“…Total consumption of feeds by dairy cows fed according to Finnish feeding standards adopted in 1993 (Salo et al 1990) was divided by the number of cows in a herd to give an estimate of the mean annual intake of dairy cows within a herd. More detailed information concerning feed evaluation and sampling procedures used to obtain this data are documented by Kaustell et al (1998). Based on the criteria that records of milk composition, feed consumption and reproductive parameters of recorded herds should be complete, associations between on-farm protein feeding and reproductive efficiency were examined using measurements from 16 051 herds (refer to Table 2).…”