Effects of stocking density and supplement level on milk production and cheese characteristics in Brown cows grazing on mountain pasture

Abstract

Twenty-eight Brown cows were maintained on a mountain pasture for a period of 40 days and assigned to 4 groups following a factorial design 2 stocking density (0.7 and 1.4 cows/ha)x2 supplement levels (2.4 and 4.8 kg organic matter (OM)/d). Herbage intake, animal body condition score (BCS), milk yield, milk chemical and coagulation properties, cheese composition, rheology and sensory characteristics were measured. The average herbage intake was 12.2 kg OM/d, with a significant effect related to stocking density (low, 13.1 v. high, 11.4 kg OM/d). BCS variation was always negative and changed with supplement level, although with no statistical significance (-0.43 points on average). Milk yield was lower for the group with lower availability of herbage (low supplement and high stocking density: 15.9 kg/d), whereas it was comparable among others groups (16.9 kg/d on average). The group with high supplement and low stocking density produced milk with worse cheese making properties. Cheese composition analyses showed an effect of supplement level on calcium content, and on parameters for degree of ripening, such as nitrogen fractions and lipolysis index. As for the textural parameters, hardness and gumminess were found to be higher with the low level of supplement. The different level of supplementation could differentiate the groups on the basis of the sensory perception of cheese.

Milk and Montasio‐type cheese fatty acid composition from cows grazing on timothy and reed canarygrass pasture or fed indoor

“…As shown in Table , cheese composition was similar between experimental groups ( p > 0.05) and tended to reflect the differences in milk composition that is in agreement with Bovolenta et al () who showed that fat content was only numerically higher in PAST than in TMR cheese. This numerical difference can explain the lack of differences observed in cheese texture between the experimental groups ( p > 0.05) (Coppa et al, ).…”

“…In the present study, the differences in milk fat content could be due to the greater starch content in TMR diet as explained by O'Callaghan et al (2016) and/or to the dilution effect related to the different milk yield. Table 1, cheese composition was similar between experimental groups (p > 0.05) and tended to reflect the differences in milk composition that is in agreement with Bovolenta et al (2008) who showed that fat content was only numerically higher in PAST than in TMR cheese. This numerical difference can explain the lack of differences observed in cheese texture between the experimental groups (p > 0.05) (Coppa et al, 2011).…”

Volatile compounds and sensory properties of Montasio cheese made from the milk of Simmental cows grazing on alpine pastures

“…However, these differences were likely too small to significantly alter the protein content of cheese. Bovolenta et al (2008Bovolenta et al ( , 2009, in 2 trials on Brown cows grazing on alpine pastures and fed with different levels of supplementation (4.8 vs. 2.4 and 4.8 vs. 1.6 kg/OM per day), obtained an effect on the protein content only with the greatest difference in supplementation levels.…”

“…Lodi et al (2005), in a study regarding Bitto PDO, an exclusively alpine pasture cheese, demonstrated that the administration of 2.4 kg/head per day of cerealbased concentrates did not influence the microbiological, chemical, or sensory profiles of the raw milk cheese. More controversial were the results of triangular taste panel made on Nostrano di Primiero cheese produced from the milk of cows grazing in high pastures and subjected to different levels of concentrate (Bovolenta et al, 2008;.…”

Are cheese-making properties of dual purpose cattle impaired by highland grazing? A case study using Aosta Red Pied cows

“…However, in order to be able to profit from the added value of the dairy foods and thus help maintaining the management of these areas, premium prices have to be realised (Pretto et al 2009;Zendri et al 2016). One of the drawbacks of the HI dairy systems is the impairment of milk coagulation properties (MCP) reported from studies with specialised dairy cattle breeds, such as Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss and Brown Italian (Leiber et al 2005b(Leiber et al , 2006Bovolenta et al 2008). The main reason explaining the longer rennet coagulation time (RCT) and the less favourable curd properties, measured as curd-firming time (k 20 ) and curd firmness (a 30 ), is the energy deficit these cows are experiencing at high altitude, harsh climatic conditions and steep slopes (Christen et al 1996;Kreuzer et al 1998).…”