Mixing whole‐crop pea–oat silage and grass–clover silage: positive effects on intake and milk production of dairy cows

Abstract

Forty-eight high-yielding dairy cows of the Swedish Red breed were used to examine the effects of providing pea-oat silage (P), grass-clover silage (G) and a 0AE50:0AE50 mixture of the silages (M) ad libitum in diets with two concentrate levels (7 or 10 kg d )1 ). A 9-week experiment, including a 2-week pre-experimental period in which the cows were all fed the same diet, and an in vivo apparent digestibility study were conducted comparing the six dietary treatments (M7, M10, P7, P10, G7, G10). Intake and digestibility of the diets and milk production and live weight of the cows were measured. The G silage [11AE3 MJ ME kg )1 dry matter (DM)] was first-cut grass herbage wilted for 24 h prior to addition of an additive, containing formic acid, propionic acid and ammonia, at 4 L t )1 fresh matter (FM). The P forage was cut when the peas were at pod fill and ensiled directly with 6 L t )1 FM of the same additive. The main hypothesis tested, that cows fed the M silage would produce more milk than the cows fed either the P or the G silages, was confirmed. The cows fed the M7 dietary treatment had similar milk yield and milk composition to cows offered the M10, G10 and P10 dietary treatments, and cows offered the G7 and P7 dietary treatments had lower milk and milk protein yields. This suggested that a mixed ration of pea-oat bi-crop and grass-clover silage has a concentrate-sparing effect, and that the use of pea-oat bi-crop and grass-clover silage as a mixed ration for high-yielding dairy cows can be recommended.

Growth performance, carcass trait, meat quality and oxidative stability of beef cattle offered alternative silages in a finishing ration

“…intakes relative to those consuming grass forage and attributed this to faster rates of fermentation and more rapid particle breakdown and clearance from the rumen (Waghorn et al, 1989;Beever and Thorp, 1996). Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that there is a synergistic effect when a mixture of grass silage and whole-crop cereal silage are offered together relative to either of the silages offered alone (O'Kiely and Moloney, 2002;Keady et al, 2007;Rondahl et al, 2007). Benton et al (2015) reported that corn stalk resulted in better performance than alfalfa or CS when included in a low level in beef finishing diets with 30% wet distillers' grains with solubles, which was owed to the stimulation of physically effective NDF.…”

Grain Legume Production and Use in European Agricultural Systems

“…These effects arise from the energy and protein complementarity of the components providing an appropriate balance between readily fermentable nutrients for microbial protein synthesis in the rumen. Furthermore, mixing grain legume-cereal whole-crop silage with grass-clover (Rondahl et al, 2007) or grass (Lamminen et al, 2015) silages may maintain or increase intake and milk production of dairy cows in comparison to conventional grass-based forage rations.…”

Effect of intercropping vetch (Vicia sativa L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and triticale (X Triticosecale) on dry‐matter yield, nutritive and ensiling characteristics when harvested at two growth stages

“…Cereal–legume intercrops silages have been shown to produce higher feed intake and higher N retention than grass silage when offered to ruminants (Adesogan, Salawu, & Deaville, ; Adesogan, Salawu, Williams, Fisher, & Dewhurst, ), making them suitable for use in diets for highly productive ruminants like dairy cows (Rondahl, Bertilsson, & Martinsson, ; Salawu, Adesogan, & Dewhurst, ). Previous studies have compared a few cereal–legume intercrops silages (mainly wheat or barley with pea) in terms of nutritive and fermentation characteristics and found that forage DM yield, fermentation quality and nutritive characteristics may change with growth stage at harvest, legume‐to‐cereal ratio and use of silage additives (Adesogan & Salawu, ; Jacobs & Ward, ; Mustafa & Seguin, ).…”