ACROSS CLAMP SILAGE QUALITY VARIATION IMPACTS COW PERFORMANCE

13 August 2015

Grass silage quality can vary just as much across a single clamp face as it does between different cuts and clamps, and the resulting day-to-day differences in nutrient intake could easily cause daily milk yields to vary by more than 2 litres/cow.

“Data generated last winter using NIR4 Farm, a new portable NIR unit for on-farm feed quality analysis, shows that key parameters like dry matter (DM) can vary by as much as 10% from the top to the bottom of each clamp, and by as much as 8% from side to side,” states AB Vista nutritionist Dr Derek McIlmoyle.

“For a cow being fed 40 kg freshweight of grass silage daily, even a 2.5% reduction in silage DM from one day to the next can cut DM intake by 1kg, energy intake by 11MJ and milk yield by 2 litres/day.”

The results are also backed up by a Trouw Nutrition study in 2013 that found grass silage NDF also varies by around 10% across a single clamp face, whilst energy density can differ by 1.6MJ ME/kg DM and crude protein by 3%.

“Given that every aspect of silage feeding value could vary, the potential for daily fluctuations in cow nutrient intake are huge,” Dr McIlmoyle continues.

“Developing feeding strategies that can account for these variations is critical if cows are to perform consistently. Fortunately, the emergence of new portable NIR technology now makes that much easier to achieve.”

For more information, contact AB Vista on +44(0)1672 517 650 or info@abvista.com.

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Notes to editor:

AB Vista is a global supplier of micro-ingredients for the animal feed industry.

For further press information please contact Nic Daley or Mike Keeler on +44 (0)20 8647 4467.

ABV/135/15

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