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Silage from maize (Zea mays), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) or their mixture in the dry season feeding of grazing dairy cows in small-scale dairy production systems in the Highlands of Mexico

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Abstract

Small-scale dairy systems based on grazing have dry-season herbage shortages. A repeated 3 × 3 Latin Square experiment evaluated grazing with silage from maize (MS), annual ryegrass (ARG) or a mixture (MIX) with 9 cows with 3 week periods; continuously grazed at 3.6 cows/ha with 3.6 kg DM/day of concentrate. Treatments were 7 kg DM of MS, ARG or a 2 MS:1 ARG mixture. Milk yield (MY), milk composition, live-weight, body condition, silage and concentrate intake were recorded. Herbage DM intake was estimated indirectly. Activity budgets were done for economic analysis. MY on MS (21.5 kg/cow/d) was 0.06 higher than on ARG (P < 0.09) with no differences on MIX. There were no differences for milk fat, milk protein, or body condition score. Live-weight on ARG was higher (P < 0.01) than on MS or MIX. Silage intake was higher (P < 0.01) on ARG and MS than on MIX. Herbage intake was lower (P < 0.05) on MS, compared with MIX and ARG. Total DM intake on ARG was higher than MS (P < 0.01), and MIX in between. MS resulted in 0.12 higher economic returns over ARG which had highest costs. Annual ryegrass may have a place in small-scale systems, but not as silage due to higher costs.

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Abbreviations

ADF:

Acid Detergent Fibre

ADL:

Acid Detergent Lignin

ARG:

Annual Ryegrass

DM:

Dry Matter

DMIVD:

Dry Matter in vitro Digestibility

OMIVD:

Organic Matter in vitro Digestibility

m.a.s.l.:

metres above sea level

ME:

Metabolisable Energy

NDF:

Neutral Detergent Fiber

NHA:

Net Herbage Accumulation

OM:

Organic Matter

SEM:

Standard Error of the Mean

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Acknowledgements

The authors express gratitude to the village of Ejido San Cristóbal, particularly Mr. Ernesto Álvarez-González who ran the demonstration module where the experiment took place, to Ms. Laura Edith Martínez-Contreras and Ms. María de Lourdes Maya-Salazar from Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Agropecuarias (CICA) for the chemical analyses. This work was undertaken with funds from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (project UAEM 2384/2006); our gratitude also to the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología - CONACYT) for the grant received by Juan Pablo Anaya-Ortega.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Agropecuarias (CICA), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Instituto Literario # 100, 50000, Toluca, Estado de México, México

    J. P. Anaya-Ortega, G. Garduño-Castro & A. Espinoza-Ortega

  2. Centro Universitario UAEM Temascaltepec, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Instituto Literario # 100, 50000, Toluca, Estado de México, México

    R. Rojo-Rubio

  3. Secretaría de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Instituto Literario # 100, 50000, Toluca, Estado de México, México

    C. M. Arriaga-Jordán

Authors
  1. J. P. Anaya-Ortega
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  2. G. Garduño-Castro
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  3. A. Espinoza-Ortega
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  4. R. Rojo-Rubio
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  5. C. M. Arriaga-Jordán
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Correspondence to C. M. Arriaga-Jordán.

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Anaya-Ortega, J.P., Garduño-Castro, G., Espinoza-Ortega, A. et al. Silage from maize (Zea mays), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) or their mixture in the dry season feeding of grazing dairy cows in small-scale dairy production systems in the Highlands of Mexico. Trop Anim Health Prod 41, 607–616 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-008-9231-5

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