Nitrogen Excretion by Dairy Cows Grazing Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Based Pastures during the Lactating Season

Abstract

The use of plantain pasture in dairy systems can potentially reduce nitrogen (N) leaching losses via the lower N concentration in the urine (UNc) of cows. Reducing the urinary N load while cows graze pastures can reduce the risk of N leaching losses from urine patches. Research needs to demonstrate that these environmental benefits are not at the expense of milk production and farm profit. Three groups of 20 cows grazed in the following three pasture treatments: (i) plantain, (ii) plantain–clover mix (plantain, red [Trifolium pratense] and white clover), or (iii) ryegrass-white clover (wc) pastures, from spring to autumn for two years. Each year, pasture intake, diet quality, milk production and animal N (milk and urine) excretion were evaluated in spring, summer, and autumn. The cows grazing the plantain and plantain–clover mix pastures produced similar milk solids as cows grazing ryegrass–wc pasture but reduced their UNc during summer and autumn, when compared to those grazing the plantain–clover mix and ryegrass–wc pastures. Plantain reduced urinary N loads onto pastures by a greater number of urine patches with lower urinary N loading rates. The results demonstrate that plantain pastures do not diminish milk solids production from cows, and the lower UNc from summer to autumn could reduce N being lost to the environment.

Dry‐matter production and botanical composition of multispecies and perennial ryegrass swards under varying defoliation management

“…This recovery time allowed the plants to accumulate more biomass, resulting in a higher herbage mass. This finding is consistent with previous studies by Brougham (1956), Navarrete et al (2013), and Lee et al (2015), who showed that increasing rotation length led to an increase in herbage mass production. In contrast, the slight decrease in herbage DM produced by LP (À 91 kg DM ha À1 a À1 ), when rotation length was increased could be due to the specific characteristics of this sward type such as competition among individual plants within the monoculture for the same resources.…”

Implementing plantain (Plantago lanceolata) to mitigate the impact of grazing ruminants on nitrogen losses to the environment: A review

“…Paddock scale investigations provide confidence that the PL attributes able to reduce N leaching in grazed pastures, as described above, are scalable. Navarrete et al (2018) measured 85%–90% lower N leaching losses in the first year from hydrologically isolated and grazed paddocks containing PL, compared with PR‐WC swards. In their study, the total N leaching from grazed pastures was determined using paddocks individually isolated with a mole‐pipe drain system from which all drainage water can be collected and analysed for nitrate concentration (Bowler, 1980).…”

“…Nitrogen concentration in urine from ruminant livestock decreases by 13%-75% as PL inclusion in the animals' diet increases (Box et al, 2017;Minnée et al, 2017;Minnée et al, 2020;Navarrete et al, 2022;Navarrete et al, 2023;Nkomboni, 2017). In a metaanalyses of studies, Nguyen et al (2022b) The greater urine output is associated with more frequent urination events per animal per day (Mangwe et al, 2019;Marshall et al, 2022a;Minnée et al, 2020).…”

A review of legume research and extension in New Zealand (1990–2022)

“…Research to mitigate the impact of NO 3 − leaching has concentrated on reducing the N output from cows through inclusion of plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) (Minnée et al 2020;Navarrete et al 2022) and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) (Mangwe and Bryant 2021), while trying to find pastures that can support milk production without the need for high inorganic N inputs. To this end, Myint et al (2021) evaluated monocultures, binary and tertiary mixes of perennial ryegrass, white clover and plantain under irrigated conditions.…”