Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Virkajärvi P., Rinne M., Mononen J., Niskanen O., Järvenranta K. and Sairanen A.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
In Finland milk and beef contribute 50% of the agricultural gross return. The growing season is short, 125-180 days, and therefore the indoor period plays a major role relative to the grazing season. This leads to high capital costs for production (winter-proof housing systems, forage and slurry storage, harvesting machinery). Thus, production demand per animal is high and Finnish cows produce ca. 8,000 kg energy corrected milk per cow per year. Milk production is mostly located in central and northern parts of Finland where climate and geology restrict other agricultural land use options. Finnish dairy farms and herds have been small, but there has been a continuous increase in herd size, currently averaging 33 cows per herd. Grass silage contributes 55-60% of the dietary dry matter. Hard winter conditions limit the choice of forage species; the most important are timothy, meadow fescue and red clover. Potential annual grass yield is 9-12 Mg ha‑1, typically harvested 2 or 3 times per season. Silage is mostly prewilted and additives are commonly used. Concentrates typically include barley, oats and rapeseed meal. Grassland covers 32% of the agricultural land and therefore the forage production practices have strong environmental impacts.
milk production
Herbage and milk production from a grass-only sward and grass-white clover swards in an intensive grass-based system
Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Egan M.J., Lynch M.B. and Hennessy D.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
White clover (Trifolium repens L.; clover) can increase the sustainability of grass-based dairy systems and has the potential to increase milk production. This experiment compared milk production from a perennial ryegrass (PRG) sward receiving 250 kg N ha‑1 yr‑1 (Gr250), a PRG-clover sward receiving 250 kg N ha‑1 yr‑1 (Cl250) and a PRG-clover sward receiving 150 kg N ha‑1 yr‑1 (Cl150) in a rotationally grazed system in 2013 and 2014. Three groups of cows were allocated to graze each sward in 2013 and 2014 (n=14 and 19, respectively). Clover inclusion into PRG swards had no effect on the total herbage production. There was a treatment×week interaction on sward clover content; Cl150 had greater clover content in the second half of the grazing year. Treatment had an effect on cumulative milk yield (MY) and milk solids (MS) production. The Cl150 had lower cumulative MY compared to Cl250 (6,055 and 6,343 kg milk cow‑1, respectively); there was no significant difference between Cl150 and Gr250 (6,055 and 5,912 kg milk cow‑1, respectively); and Cl250 had greater cumulative MY than Gr250 (6,343 and 5,912 kg milk cow‑1, respectively). The MS yield of the clover treatments were significantly greater than the Gr250 and were similar between both clover treatments.
Milk production in relation to farm organization
Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Jankowski K., Skrzyczyńska J., Wiśniewska-Kadżajan B., Sosnowski J., Malinowska E. and Kolczarek R.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
In recent years, dairy production has been considered to be the most profitable farming activity in Poland. This study focuses on a sample of 40 randomly selected dairy farms from the north-eastern part of the Lublin province and compares their technical results. The research was completed in 2012 with a questionnaire containing 18 questions sent to the farm managers. The farms were classified into five production groups according to their annual milk sales. The largest research group accounted for 37.5% of farms; this group produced 100-250,000 litres of milk, with the average area of 47 ha and the average number of 30 cows. A large share of permanent grassland as a proportion of the agricultural area, and high stocking density on grasslands in the north-eastern Lublin province, indicate a change in the direction of grassland management.
The effect of tetraploid and diploid perennial ryegrass swards sown with and without clover on milk and herbage production
Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: McCarthy B., Dineen M., Guy C., Coughlan F. and Gilliland T.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
An experiment to investigate the impact of tetraploid and diploid perennial ryegrass swards sown with and without white clover on the productivity of spring milk production systems was established in 2012 (75%) and 2013 (25%). Four separate grazing treatments/swards were sown for the experiment: tetraploid only, diploid only, tetraploid with clover and diploid with clover. Eight cultivars (four diploid: Tyrella, Aberchoice, Glenveagh and Drumbo; four tetraploid: Aston Energy, Kintyre, Twymax and Dunluce) were sown as monocultures with and without clover. Thirty cows were allocated to each treatment after calving in February 2014. All treatments were stocked at 2.75 cows ha‑1 and received 250 kg of nitrogen fertiliser ha‑1. There was no difference in milk or milk solids yield between the tetraploid-only (4,895 and 414 kg cow‑1, respectively) and diploid-only (4,848 and 403 kg cow‑1, respectively) swards. However, incorporating clover resulted in 13.3% greater milk yield and 13.4% greater milk solids yield (5,532 and 464 kg cow‑1, respectively, and 5,506 and 462 kg cow‑1, respectively, for the tetraploid with clover and diploid with clover treatments, respectively). Pasture dry matter (DM) production was 16.8% greater on the grass-clover swards (17,400 kg DM ha‑1) compared to the grass-only swards (14,900 kg DM ha‑1).