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Whole-crop triticale silage for dairy cows grazing perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) pastures in small-scale dairy systems during the dry season in the highlands of Mexico

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Abstract

The dry season in central Mexico is a difficult time for small-scale dairy systems to meet feed requirements for their herds as pasture growth is limited. Conserved forage options are needed to complement pastures. The objective was to assess on-farm the production of dairy cows complemented with triticale silage (X. Triticosecale Witt. (TSL)) at two levels of inclusion (5.0 and 7.5 kg DM/d), grazing pastures of two grass species during the dry season: perennial ryegrass (PRG; Lolium perenne) or tall fescue (TFC; Lolium arundinaceum) (TFC) with white clover (Trifolium repens), and 4.65 kg DM/d concentrate. Experimental design was a 2 × 2 factorial in repeated 4 × 4 Latin squares. Chemical composition of TSL was 96 g CP/kg DM, 667 g NDF/kg DM, 713 g in vitro enzymatic digestibility of OM (IVEDOM)/kg DM, and pH of 4.6. There were differences (P < 0.05) in net herbage accumulation (NHA) and sward height between pastures, with higher NHA in TFC than that in PRG, although the chemical composition of PRG was higher (P < 0.05) in PC, IVEDOM, and estimated ME. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in milk yield (12.3 ± 2.63 kg/cow/day), milk compositions (33.1 ± 0.45 g milkfat/kg, 41 33.3 ± 0.21 g milk protein/kg, 47.9 ± 0.36 g lactose/kg, and 10.47 ± 2.25 mg MUN/dL), body condition score (2.4 ± 0.22), or live weight (490 ± 72.8 kg). At a higher inclusion of TSL, there was lower intake of pasture. Inclusion of 5.0 kg DM/cow/day of triticale silage better complements grazing and sustains moderate milk yields when pasture growth and intake are limited.

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Abbreviations

TSL:

Triticale silage

PRG:

Perennial ryegrass pasture

TFC:

Tall fescue pasture

DM:

Dry matter

OM:

Organic matter

CP:

Crude protein

NDF:

Neutral detergent fibre

ADF:

Acid detergent fibre

IVEDOM:

In vitro enzymatic digestibility of organic matter

NHA:

Net herbage accumulation

eME:

Estimated metabolizable Energy

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

SEM:

Standard error of the mean

SEMGS :

Standard error of the mean for main plot (grass species)

SEMper :

Standard error of the mean for split plots (experimental periods)

MY:

Milk yield

MUN:

Milk urea nitrogen

LW:

Live weight

BCS:

Body condition score

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Acknowledgments

Authors express gratitude to the farmer who participated in this experiment, whose privacy and that of his family is respected by not disclosing their names. This work was undertaken thanks to funding by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) through grant UAEM 3676/2014/CIA, and the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología–CONACYT) for the postgraduate grant for Felipe de Jesús González-Alcántara. Our thanks also to Ms. Maria de Lourdes Maya-Salazar and Ms. Laura Edith Contreras-Martínez for their assistance in laboratory analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Rurales (ICAR), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM), Campus UAEM El Cerrillo, CP 50090, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico

    Felipe de Jesús González-Alcántara, Julieta Gertrudis Estrada-Flores, Felipe López-González, Aida Gómez-Miranda, Jesús Israel Vega-García & Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán

  2. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM), Campus UAEM El Cerrillo, CP 50090, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico

    Ernesto Morales-Almaraz

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  1. Felipe de Jesús González-Alcántara
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Correspondence to Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán.

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Statement on ethical standards and animal rights

The paper reports an on-farm experiment undertaken with a participating farmer who had knowledge of the objectives of the work and was duly informed at all times, and his privacy and that of his family respected by not disclosing their names. Experimental procedures with dairy cows followed accepted procedures by Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

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González-Alcántara, F., Estrada-Flores, J.G., Morales-Almaraz, E. et al. Whole-crop triticale silage for dairy cows grazing perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) pastures in small-scale dairy systems during the dry season in the highlands of Mexico. Trop Anim Health Prod 52, 1903–1910 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-020-02206-9

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