Villegas González, Moisés

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    Efecto de la alimentación con pasto Maralfalfa comparado a pasto Buffel y sorgo forrajero sobre la producción láctea en vacas Holstein regulares y pelonas
    (2020-12-10) Villegas González, Moisés; Ruiz López, Teodoro M.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Sánchez Rodríguez, Héctor L.; Siberio Torres, Víctor; Department of Animal Science; Irizarry Hernández, Zollianne
    The dairy industry in Puerto Rico relies on the use of high concentrate diets to feed their cows, due to the lack of quality forage; this increases feeding costs. Therefore it is important to maximize forage intake in order to reduce production costs and avoid possible metabolic disorders caused by diets with low forage and high concentrate. In northern latitudes corn is the most commonly used forage to feed dairy cattle. It’s high water requirements and susceptibility to pest damage in the tropics tends to reduce its yield; thus, is usually replaced with sorghum. Drought resistant properties and lower nitrogen fertilization requirements of sorghum, makes an ideal forage crop for the tropics. Another grass commonly used in warm climates is Buffelgrass which is also characterized for it’s drought resistant properties and similar nutritional value to other warm climate grasses. In recent years, Maralfalfa grass has attracted the attention of beef and dairy farmers due its high biomass yield, lower concentration of structural carbohydrates and high concentration of non structural carbohydrates when compared to other grass of the same genus. However, some discrepancies exists between values reported on different studies regarding it’s nutritional value, which should be assessed prior to the introduction of said grass for use in dairy cow nutrition. Maralfalfa grass silage (T1) and Buffelgrass hay (T2) were evaluated in terms of dry matter intake, milk yield and composition in wild type and slick hair Holstein cows in early lactation. The %NDF was higher in Maralfalfa grass silage than in Buffelgrass hay, which resulted in a lower consumption of cows in T1 compared to T2 (P < 0.05). This is further backed up by the NDF intake data which shows that it was higher (P < 0.05) for cows in T2. No differences were observed between treatments regarding milk yield and milk composition. However, dry matter intake feed efficiency for milk yield and 3.5% fat corrected milk was higher for T1, probably due to higher concentrate intake. A second experiment evaluated three Maralfalfa grass silage in diets with high levels of concentrate (T1), Maralfalfa grass silage in with lower levels of concentrate (T2) and Sorghum silage with low levels of concentrate (T3) in terms of dry matter intake, milk yield and composition in wild type and slick hair Holstein cows in early lactation. The %NDF in Sorghum silage was lower than in Maralfalfa grass silage, resulting in a higher forage intake for T3 than in T1 and T2. This is further backed up by the NDF intake data which shows a higher NDF intake for cows in T3. Regarding milk yield and it’s components, the values were higher for cows in T1, possibly due to a higher concentrate intake. Regrading concentrate feed efficiency on milk yield and 3.5% fat corrected milk, these values were shown to be higher for T2 and T3, probably due to a higher forage: concentrate ratio consumed. Feed efficiency on dry matter intake for milk yield and 3.5% fat corrected milk was higher for cows in T2, probably due to a higher %NDF in Maralfalfa grass silage and lower concentrate intake. No significant difference was observed between wild type and slick hair Holstein cows in any of the variables measured in either experiment. This was likely due to the cows being house in free stall barn equipped with a high roof and fans, which might have contributed to reduced heat stress. In conclusion, although %NDF was probably the reason why Maralfalfa grass silage was consumed less, the resulting milk yield and composition was mainly influenced by concentrate intake.