The amount of maize in the feed ration influences milk composition in Northern Spain

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Santiago C., Jiménez-Calderón J.D., González A., Vicente F. and Martínez-Fernández A.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
The oceanic climate conditions of Asturias (Spain) are favourable for grass and pasture production. However, the use of concentrates in dairy-cow diets has increased in the last decades. The aim was to study the differences in milk composition in the four feeding systems identified in the North of Spain through the monitoring of 16 dairy farms. The criteria to describe feeding systems were: grazing (G) and nongrazing. Moreover, three subgroups were identified within ‘non-grazing’ in terms of the percentage of the usable agricultural area (UAA) designated to maize culture: less than 20% (20M), about 50% (50M) and more than 75% (75M) of UAA. Four dairy farms were selected by their feeding system. Feed and milk were sampled and analysed in summer, autumn and winter of 2014. The results show that the protein, lactose and solids-non-fat in milk were higher (P