digestibility

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Bélanger G., Tremblay G.F., Dos Passos Bernardes A., Papadopoulos Y., Fillmore S., Lajeunesse J. and Duynisveld J.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Legume-grass mixtures generally provide more consistent forage yield than monocultures. We studied 18 binary mixtures of one legume and one grass species for dry matter (DM) yield, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) concentration and in vitro digestibility (NDFD), and estimated milk production per hectare. Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), meadow bromegrass (Bromus biebersteinii Roemer & J.A. Schultes), meadow fescue (Festuca elatior L.), tall fescue [Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub], and timothy (Phleum pratense L.) were seeded with birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) or white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Frequent clipping at two sites, simulating grazing, and cattle grazing at one site were imposed on the 18 binary mixtures in this 3-year study conducted in eastern Canada. Legume and grass species significantly affected seasonal herbage DM yield, NDF concentration, and NDFD of the mixtures averaged over three production years. Birdsfoot trefoil in mixtures with meadow bromegrass or timothy resulted in the largest estimated milk production per hectare under frequent clipping, whereas white clover with meadow bromegrass or tall fescue provided the best results under cattle grazing. Frequent clipping and cattle grazing affected differently the performance of the mixtures, primarily for the legume component. Meadow bromegrass performed very well with the three legume species and under both frequent clipping and cattle grazing.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Luske B. and Van Eekeren N.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
The reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has created renewed interest in the implementation of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems. The multifunctional use of trees for energy and wood production, nutrient cycling, carbon storage, biodiversity, landscape quality and – last but not least – fodder makes trees a potential third crop next to grass and maize on farmland including high-output dairy farms. To decide which trees to use for planting, it is important to have insight into the feeding value of the different species. Therefore we created a database on the feeding values, using data from the literature. The database includes records of tree leaves, twigs, and twigs with leaves of 40 different temperate tree species (620 records in total) (www.voederbomen.nl/nutritionalvalues). Using this database, we compared the nutritive value of the leaves of a number of temperate fodder trees. The nutritive values for grass (Lolium perenne L.) are shown for comparison. These data show that, compared to grass, the in vitro organic matter digestibility of tree leaves is relatively low. However, for some species the concentrations of crude protein, and of macro- and micronutrients, are relatively high, which shows the potential value of tree leaves as an additional feed source on dairy farms.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Garry B., Kennedy E., Baumont R., Boland T.M., Wright M.M., O’Donovan M. and Lewis E.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Pre-grazing herbage mass (PGHM) affects grass quality and intake. Higher PGHM swards usually have lower dry matter intake (DMI) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) than lower PGHM swards, leading to reduced performance in lactating dairy cows. In vivo digestibility experiments involving cows are often laborious and expensive and, as a result, sheep are often used instead. The objective of this experiment was to compare the in vivo DMD of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) at high and low PGHM in lactating dairy cows and wether sheep. A Latin-square design experiment was repeated twice (TS1 (April-May) and TS2 ( July-August)) using eight wether sheep and eight spring-calving lactating dairy cows to determine the in vivo DMD of two different PGHM swards (1,700 kg dry matter (DM) ha‑1 (low mass; LM) and 4,000 kg DM ha‑1 (high mass; HM)). There were no interactions between PGHM, animal species and TS. The in vivo DMD of perennial ryegrass reduced from LM to HM and from TS1 to TS2. There was a tendency for cows to have lower in vivo DMD of perennial ryegrass than sheep. The greater in vivo DMD of LM compared to HM may be due to the greater proportion of leaf and lower true stem proportion in LM. As there were no interaction effects on in vivo DMD, sheep DMD and cow DMD are similar to each other across all PGHM and all seasons.