pasture

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Resch-Zafra C., Pereira-Crespo S., Flores-Calvete G., Dagnac T., Gónzalez L., Agruña M.J., Fernández-Lorenzo B. and Veiga M.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Sixty farms located in the Galicia region (NW Spain) were sampled four times during 2012 and samples of ration ingredients and bulk-tank milk were taken with the objective of studying the relationships between dairy cow ration and the fatty acid (FA) composition of the milk. Diets were grouped into five clusters based on ration ingredients and significant differences among clusters were observed for saturated, polyunsaturated, omega-3 and conjugated linoleic fatty acids, as well as for the omega6- omega3 ratio. In general, milk from grazing extensive systems and from intensive systems based on silage and concentrates supplemented with extruded linseed showed the highest contents of human-health FA. The ability of FA-based discriminant functions for assigning farm tank milk samples to a particular diet was deemed as not satisfactory.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Schori F.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Pasture-based production systems are economically interesting, but only if grown herbage is efficiently used. The sward surface height (SSH) and the herbage mass (HM) are appropriate indicators to use in checking pasture management and thereby improving the output of milk and meat per hectare (ha). Because farms are becoming larger, the periodic measurement of SSH with a rising plate meter takes more and more time. Devices towed by small vehicles, such as the C-DAX Pasturemeter (PM), could reduce the workload significantly if the measurements are carried out correctly. To verify the estimation accuracy of the PM as compared to an electronic rising plate meter, the SSH of 252 strips (each approximately 8 m2) and 187 paddock diagonals on multi-species pastures of two farms were measured. Subsequently, the strips were cut, and the harvested biomass was weighed. The dry matter (DM) of a subsample of the biomass was determined to calculate the HM in kg DM ha‑1 over 49 mm. Because the measuring principles of the two devices are different, equations were created for the conversion of SSH. Furthermore, regressions were developed to estimate the HM based on the SSH. With the two devices, HM estimations of similar quality were obtained.

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Verwer C., Lenssinck F., Van Schooten H., Philipsen A.P. and Van Eekeren N.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Dung pats in pastures limit grass production, and lead to grazing losses and a lower eco-efficiency in dairy systems. Immediate harrowing after grazing could help to break up the pats and distribute the manure more evenly. However, in the absence of rain this may result in flattened, manure-smeared grass. Harrowing after some days of dung deposition may overcome smearing of the grass. Watering the pasture immediately after harrowing can help to wash the manure off the foliage. In a field experiment we compared the disappearance of (artificial) dung pats in the following treatments: (1) dung pat – untreated (control); (2) harrowing immediately after deposition (day 0); (3) harrowing + watering (10 mm) immediately after deposition (day 0); (4) harrowing at 7 days after deposition; and (5) harrowing + watering (10 mm) at 7 days after deposition. The results after three weeks show that harrowing fresh dung pats (day 0) did not significantly increase the disappearance of dung (43% disappeared versus 40% disappeared of the untreated pats). Harrowing 7 days after deposition resulted in a significant lower dung disappearance (31%) than observed for the untreated pats (40%), even when watered (34%). The best result was obtained when fresh dung pats were harrowed in combination with water at day 0 (61% disappearance).