This study investigated the immediate and long-term effects of temporary alterations to postpartum milking frequency (MF) on milk production, body condition score (BCS), and indicators of energy status in pasture-grazed cows supplemented with concentrates. Multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows (n = 150) were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 groups at calving: milked twice daily (2 ×) throughout lactation (control), or milked either once daily (1 ×) or 3 times daily (3 ×) for 3 or 6 wk immediately postpartum, and then 2 × for the remainder of lactation. During wk 1 to 3 postpartum, cows milked 1 × produced 15% less milk and 17% less energy-corrected milk (ECM) than cows milked 2 ×. This immediate production loss increased to 20% less milk and 22% less ECM during wk 4 to 6 postpartum for cows that remained on 1 × milking; these animals also produced less than 1 × cows switched to 2 × milking after 3 wk. During wk 8 to 32, when all cows were milked 2 ×, those previously milked 1 × had sustained reductions in milk (-6%) and ECM (-8%) yields, which were not affected by the duration of reduced postpartum MF. In contrast, cows milked 3 × postpartum had 7% greater milk yields during wk 1 to 6 compared with 2 × controls, irrespective of the duration of increased MF. Milk yields also remained numerically greater (+5%) during wk 8 to 32 in cows previously milked 3 ×. Nevertheless, yields of ECM were not increased by 3 × milking, because of lower milk fat and protein contents that persisted for the rest of lactation. In addition, indicators of cow energy status reflected an increasing state of negative energy balance with increasing MF. Cows milked 1 × postpartum had greater plasma glucose and lower plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations during the reduced MF, and plasma glucose remained lower for 2 wk after cows had switched to 2 × milking. Moreover, BCS was improved relative to 2 × controls from wk 5 to 6. In contrast, cows milked 3 × had lower plasma glucose concentrations, greater plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations, and greater BCS loss during wk 1 to 3; however, greater body fat mobilization was not sustained, indicating that additional energy supplements may be required to achieve better milk production responses. In conclusion, temporary 1 × milking had lactation-long negative effects on milk and milk component yields but improved cow energy status and BCS, whereas temporary 3 × milking immediately increased milk yield but did not improve milk fat and protein yields in pasture-grazed cows.
Pressure on New Zealand's largely pasture-based dairy industry has grown with a drive to increase production, expansion into new regions and demand for farmers to mitigate environmental impacts e.g., leaching of excess urinary nitrogen. A 3-year trial in the Waikato investigating the use of mixed pasture (e.g. perennial ryegrass, white clover, prairie grass, lucerne, chicory and plantain) showed similar annual dry matter (DM) production to standard pasture (perennial ryegrass and white clover) with greater yields of mixed pasture during summer (December, January, February) when lucerne and chicory grew better than perennial ryegrass in the warm, dry conditions. However, this yield advantage did not persist during the winter (June, July, August). Milk yields from cows grazing the mixed and standard pasture were similar. The mixed pasture retained a high level of species diversity and, while a single "magic bullet" is an unlikely solution to the challenges facing dairy farmers, increased species diversity could reduce risks and increase pasture stability. Keywords: pasture species diversity, dry matter yield, milk, nitrogen
We used two years of eddy covariance (EC) measurements collected over an intensively grazed dairy pasture to better understand the key drivers of changes in soil organic carbon stocks. Analysing grazing systems with EC measurements poses significant challenges as the respiration from grazing animals can result in large short-term CO2 fluxes. As paddocks are grazed only periodically, EC observations derive from a mosaic of paddocks with very different exchange rates. This violates the assumptions implicit in the use of EC methodology. To test whether these challenges could be overcome, and to develop a tool for wider scenario testing, we compared EC measurements with simulation runs with the detailed ecosystem model CenW 4.1. Simulations were run separately for 26 paddocks around the EC tower and coupled to a footprint analysis to estimate net fluxes at the EC tower. Overall, we obtained good agreement between modelled and measured fluxes, especially for the comparison of evapotranspiration rates, with model efficiency of 0.96 for weekly averaged values of the validation data. For net ecosystem productivity (NEP) comparisons, observations were omitted when cattle grazed the paddocks immediately around the tower. With those points omitted, model efficiencies for weekly averaged values of the validation data were 0.78, 0.67 and 0.54 for daytime, night-time and 24-hour NEP, respectively. While not included for model parameterisation, simulated gross primary production also agreed closely with values inferred from eddy covariance measurements (model efficiency of 0.84 for weekly averages). The study confirmed that CenW simulations could adequately model carbon and water exchange in grazed pastures. It highlighted the critical role of animal respiration for net CO2 fluxes, and showed that EC studies of grazed pastures need to consider the best approach of accounting for this important flux to avoid unbalanced accounting.
Potassium chloride (KCl) was applied at 0, 150, 450, and 750 kg ha -1
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