Milk production and ingestive behavior of cows grazing on Marandu and Mulato II pastures under rotational stocking

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate milk production and ingestive behavior of Holstein cows and the structural characteristics of Mulato II, a hybrid Brachiaria grass CIAT 36087 (B. ruziziensis × B. decumbens × B. brizantha), and Marandu (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu) pastures under rotational stocking. The experiment was conducted from December 2011 to April 2012 after 10 months of adaptation to the grazing management objectives (25 cm pre-grazing height and 15-20 cm post-grazing height). An area of 4 ha was divided into 28 paddocks: 14 with Mulato II pasture and 14 with Marandu pasture. The treatments consisted of the two grasses and a completely randomized design of the grazing variables with six repetitions each (paddock of evaluation) was used. For the animal variables, a randomized matched pairs design of 20 Holstein cows forming 10 blocks of two animals with similar production each was used. The forage mass or accumulation rate did not differ between grasses. Mulato II pastures had a higher tiller population density (822 tillers m −2 ) and crude protein content (143.5 g kg −1 ) than Marandu pastures (636 tillers m −2 and 130.3 g kg −1 crude protein). Cows kept on Mulato II exhibited shorter nighttime grazing activity (234 and 246 min in summer and autumn, respectively) than animals kept on Marandu (273 and 394 min, respectively). The average milk yield during the experimental period was higher for Mulato II (15.3 kg cow −1 day −1 ) compared with Marandu (14.3 kg cow −1 day −1 ). Both grasses have potential to be used in milk production systems for the grazing management objectives evaluated.

Evaluation of Formulated Concentrate Feeds on Feed Intake and Milk Yield of Lactating Upgraded Dairy Cows at Nekemte and Ijaji Towns

“…In this experiment both the CP and ME intakes were sufficient to meet requirement for the observed milk yield. The mean daily milk yield obtained from cows in the present study was almost comparable to the values of 16.6 kg d -1 reported by [10]. The variation between different reports might be due to the differences in IVDMD intake and intrinsic factors like level of production, parity, stage of lactation, external factors like environmental stress, and unequal intervals between milking and changes in feeding.…”

How canopy structural and morphological characteristics, and forage chemical composition affect a pasture-based dairy system?

“…This is because grazing management is the main factor responsible for animal performance, where each forage species deserves adequate grazing management to express its potential (Rouquette, 2015;Silva et al, 2015). Evaluating two Urochloa species (pastures of Marandu and Mulato II) under the same rotational stocking target, Demski et al (2019) reported that cows grazed on Mulato II grass had 7% more MY (15.2 kg cow -1 day -1 ) compared to Marandu grass (14.1 kg cow -1 day -1 ) and attributed this to the higher leaf:stem ratio and nutritive value of the Mulato II grass. The MY obtained in the current experiment was lower than that reported in pasture systems using tropical grasses such as elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), ranging from 14.1 to 16.7 kg cow -1 day -1 (Voltolini et al, 2010) and from 18.5 to 15.5 kg cow -1 day -1 (Congio et al, 2018), Mombasa guinea grass, ranging from 10.8 to 14.1 kg cow -1 day -1 (Hack et al, 2007), and Marandu and Mulato II grasses, ranging from 11.9 to 17.3 kg cow -1 day -1 .…”

Stocking method effects on forage accumulation, canopy attributes, and nutritive value of grazed Mulato II brachiariagrass pastures

“…Rich.) pastures were compared under RS by dairy cows, adopting a pre‐graze canopy height of 25 cm and stubble heights of 15 and 20 cm, and Mulato II presented greater forage crude protein (CP) concentration (134.5 g kg −1 ) and 7% more milk production (Demski et al, 2019). Krinchev et al (2018) compared Marandu palisadegrass and Mulato II brachiariagrass under RS by Nellore steers, while Marandu showed a greater FA in 15%, Mulato II reported greater vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) and lesser neutral detergent fibre (NDF) concentration (826 vs. 753 and 646 vs. 677 g kg −1 , respectively) and average daily gain (0.682 vs. 0.605 kg animal −1 day −1 ).…”