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Greenland MS, Waldron BL, Isom SC, Fonnesbeck SD, Peel MD, Rood KA, Thornton KJ, Miller RL, Hadfield JA, Henderson B, Creech JE. Dry matter intake and feed efficiency of heifers from 4 dairy breed types grazing organic grass and grass-birdsfoot trefoil mixed pastures. J Dairy Sci 2023; 106:3918-3931. [PMID: 37105873 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2022-22858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Insufficient dry matter intake (DMI) of pasture by dairy cattle is a major factor limiting growth and milk production; however, it has been hypothesized that some dairy breeds may be more efficient grazers than others. This study was conducted to determine whether dairy breed types differ in DMI and feed efficiency when grazing either grass monoculture or grass-legume mixed pastures. The experiment compared 4 different dairy breed types (Jersey, Holstein, Holstein-Jersey crossbreds, and Montbéliarde-Swedish Red-Holstein 3-breed crossbreds) and 2 levels of pasture type [grass monoculture (MONO) and grass-birdsfoot trefoil (BFT) mixture (MX)] for a total of 8 treatments. Pastures were rotationally stocked with groups of 4 prepubertal heifers for 105 d for 3 yr, and DMI was determined from herbage disappearance. Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) and residual feed intake (RFI) were then derived from DMI, and heifer body weights (BW) and normalized to animal units (AU) as 40% metabolic mature BW of the corresponding dairy breed type to account for inherent differences in size and growth rates. We observed differences in DMI and feed efficiency among breed types and between pasture types. On average, Holsteins had the greatest overall DMI (4.4 kg/AU), followed by intermediate DMI by the crossbreds (4.0 kg/AU), and Jerseys had the least DMI (3.6 kg/AU). Heifers grazing MX pastures had on average 22% greater DMI than those grazing MONO, but heifers on grass monocultures were more efficient in converting DMI to BW gain (i.e., RFI/AU of 0.27 and -0.27, respectively; more negative RFI numbers indicate less DMI to achieve the expected gains). Overall, Jerseys had the most favorable feed efficiency; however, ranking of Holsteins and crossbreds depended upon the feed efficiency metric. This study is one of the first to compare the interaction of dairy breed and pasture quality on grazing efficiency. However, the lack of a breed type × pasture type interaction for DMI, FCE, or RFI indicated that none of these dairy breed types were better adapted than another breed type to pastures with contrasting levels of nutritive value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S Greenland
- Plants, Soils, and Climate Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4820
| | - Blair L Waldron
- Forage and Range Research Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Logan, UT 84322-6300.
| | - S Clay Isom
- Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4815
| | - Sawyer D Fonnesbeck
- Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4815
| | - Michael D Peel
- Forage and Range Research Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Logan, UT 84322-6300
| | - Kerry A Rood
- Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4815
| | - Kara J Thornton
- Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4815
| | - Rhonda L Miller
- Applied Sciences, Technology, and Education Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-2300
| | - Jacob A Hadfield
- Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4815
| | - Bracken Henderson
- Franklin County Office, University of Idaho Extension, Preston 83263
| | - J Earl Creech
- Plants, Soils, and Climate Department, Utah State University, Logan 84322-4820
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Steinwidder A, Rohrer H, Pfister R, Gallnböck M, Podstatzky L, Gasteiner J. Effects of concentrate supplementation strategies during the transition period and milking frequency in early lactation on seasonal winter-calving organic dairy cows. Livest Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2021.104595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Salinas-Martínez JA, Posadas-Domínguez RR, Morales-Díaz LD, Rebollar-Rebollar S, Rojo-Rubio R. Cost analysis and economic optimization of small-scale dairy production systems in Mexico. Livest Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2020.104028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Duruz S, Vajana E, Burren A, Flury C, Joost S. Big dairy data to unravel effects of environmental, physiological and morphological factors on milk production of mountain-pastured Braunvieh cows. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200638. [PMID: 32874658 PMCID: PMC7428251 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The transhumance system, which consists in moving animals to high mountain pastures during summer, plays a considerable role in preserving both local biodiversity and traditions, as well as protecting against natural hazard. In cows, particularly, milk production is observed to decline as a response to food shortage and climatic stress, leading to atypical lactation curves that are barely described by current lactation models. Here, we relied on 5 million monthly milk records from over 200 000 Braunvieh and Original Braunvieh cows to devise a new model accounting for transhumance, and test the influence of environmental, physiological and morphological factors on cattle productivity. Counter to expectations, environmental conditions in the mountain showed a globally limited impact on milk production during transhumance, with cows in favourable conditions producing only 10% more compared with cows living in detrimental conditions, and with precipitation in spring and altitude revealing to be the most production-affecting variables. Conversely, physiological factors such as lactation number and pregnancy stage presented an important impact over the whole lactation cycle with 20% difference in milk production, and alter the way animals respond to transhumance. Finally, the considered morphological factors (cow height and foot angle) presented a smaller impact during the whole lactation cycle (10% difference in milk production). The present findings help to anticipate the effect of climate change and to identify problematic environmental conditions by comparing their impact with the effect of factors that are known to influence lactation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solange Duruz
- Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Elia Vajana
- Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Burren
- School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland
| | - Christine Flury
- School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland
| | - Stéphane Joost
- Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems (LASIG), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
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Comparison of performance and fitness traits in German Angler, Swedish Red and Swedish Polled with Holstein dairy cattle breeds under organic production. Animal 2019; 14:609-616. [PMID: 31477188 DOI: 10.1017/s1751731119001964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the use of local breeds is recommended by organic regulations, breed comparisons performed under organic production conditions with similar production intensities are scarce. Therefore, we compared data of local and widely used Holstein dairy cattle breeds from 2011 to 2015 regarding production, fertility and health from German and Swedish organic farms with similar management intensities within country. In Germany, the energy-corrected total milk yield tended to be lower in the local breed Original Angler Cattle (AAZ, 5193 kg) compared to the modern German Holstein Friesian breed (HO, 5620 kg), but AAZ showed higher milk fat and protein contents (AAZ v. HO: 5.09% v. 4.18% and 3.61% v. 3.31%, respectively). In Sweden, the widely used modern Swedish Holstein (SH) breed had the highest milk yield (9209 kg, fat: 4.10%, protein: 3.31%), while the local Swedish Polled (SKB) showed highest milk fat and protein contents (6169 kg, 4.47%, 3.50%, respectively), followed by the local breed Swedish Red (SRB, 8283 kg, 4.33%, 3.46%, respectively). With regard to fertility characteristics, the German breeds showed no differences, but AAZ tended to have less days open compared to HO (-17 days). In Sweden, breeds did not differ with regard to calving interval, but both local breeds showed a lower number of days open (-10.4 in SRB and -24.1 in SKB compared to SH), and SKB needed fewer inseminations until conception (-0.5 inseminations) compared to SH. Proportion of test day records with a somatic cell count content of ≥100 000 cells per ml milk did not reveal breed differences in any of the two countries. German breeds did not differ regarding the proportion of cows with veterinary treatments. In Sweden, SRB showed the lowest proportion of cows with general veterinary treatment as well as specific treatment due to udder problems (22.8 ± 6.42 and 8.05 ± 2.18, respectively), but the local breed SKB did not differ from SH in either of the two traits. In Sweden, we found no breed differences regarding veterinary treatments due to fertility problems or diagnosis of claw or leg problems during claw trimming. Our results indicate a stronger expression of the antagonism between production and functional traits with increasing production intensity. Future breed comparisons, therefore, need to consider different production intensities within organic farming in order to derive practical recommendations as to how to implement European organic regulations with regard to a suitable choice of breeds.
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Bieber A, Wallenbeck A, Leiber F, Fuerst-Waltl B, Winckler C, Gullstrand P, Walczak J, Wójcik P, Neff AS. Production level, fertility, health traits, and longevity in local and commercial dairy breeds under organic production conditions in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and Sweden. J Dairy Sci 2019; 102:5330-5341. [PMID: 30954255 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2018-16147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 02/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Our aim was to map the performance of local (native) dairy cattle breeds in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and Sweden with regard to production, fertility, longevity, and health-associated traits and to compare them with commercial (modern) breeds. For this purpose, we analyzed test-day records (July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014) and treatment records (Austria, Sweden) of cows managed on organic farms. We performed country-wise comparisons of 123,415 lactations from Original Braunvieh (OB) and Grey Cattle (AL) with Braunvieh (BV; Brown Swiss blood >60%) in Switzerland; AL with BV (Brown Swiss blood >50%) in Austria; Polish Black and White (ZB), Polish Red and White (ZR), and Polish Red (RP) with Polish Holstein Friesian (PHF) in Poland; and Swedish Red (SRB) with Swedish Holstein (SH) in Sweden. Average milk yields were substantially lower for local compared with commercial breeds in all countries; differences ranged from 750 kg (Sweden) to 1,822 kg (Austria), albeit on very different average levels. Local breeds showed a longer productive lifetime by 0.64, 0.83, 1.42, and 0.20 lactations in Switzerland, Austria, Poland, and Sweden, respectively, again on very different levels in each country. Regarding fertility traits, calving interval was shorter in local than in commercial breeds by 13 (Sweden), 14 (Switzerland), and 20 d (Austria, Poland). Insemination index was lower in certain local breeds by 0.15 (Switzerland), 0.14 (Austria), 0.21 (Poland), and 0.13 (Sweden). Several local breeds showed a lower proportion of cows with >100,000 somatic cells/mL. This was the case in Switzerland (OB 24.2%; BV 35.8%), Austria (AL 25.3%; BV 36.9%), and Sweden (SRB 42.4%; SH 43.4%). In contrast, the respective proportion in Poland exceeded 82% in all breeds except the commercial PHF (76.1%). In Sweden, lactations with veterinary treatments were considerably less prevalent in SRB (15.6%) than in SH (21.7%). In Austria, breeds differed only in treatments for udder disorders, which favored AL. In conclusion, the markedly lower milk yields of local breeds are partly counterbalanced by (somewhat inconsistent) advantages in longevity, fertility, and health traits across 4 European countries. This indicates that the robustness of local breeds can contribute to improved sustainability of organic dairy systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Bieber
- Department of Livestock Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 5070 Frick, Switzerland.
| | - Anna Wallenbeck
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 532 31 Skara, Sweden
| | - Florian Leiber
- Department of Livestock Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 5070 Frick, Switzerland
| | - Birgit Fuerst-Waltl
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph Winckler
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - Patricia Gullstrand
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jacek Walczak
- National Research Institute of Animal Production, 32-083 Balice, Poland
| | - Piotr Wójcik
- National Research Institute of Animal Production, 32-083 Balice, Poland
| | - Anet Spengler Neff
- Department of Livestock Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 5070 Frick, Switzerland
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Zuliani A, Mair M, Kraševec M, Lora I, Brscic M, Cozzi G, Leeb C, Zupan M, Winckler C, Bovolenta S. A survey of selected animal-based measures of dairy cattle welfare in the Eastern Alps: Toward context-based thresholds. J Dairy Sci 2017; 101:1428-1436. [PMID: 29224861 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-13257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In the Alps, traditional dairy farms are small-scale operations where vertical transhumance from valley indoor housing systems to highland pasture-based systems is still practiced in summer. Vertical transhumance implies a substantial change of environment, available resources, and management practices from one season to another. In such systems, animal-based welfare measures need to be monitored throughout the year to capture the variation of welfare outcomes, based on which targeted welfare management plans can be implemented. Because the Welfare Quality assessment approach has been tailored to indoor housing and intensive farming systems, the European Food Safety Authority recently developed a welfare assessment protocol for small-scale dairy cattle farms adapted after the Welfare Quality framework. The aim of this study was to assess nonbehavioral animal-based measures as defined by this protocol at different time points for transhumant systems in the Alps. In total, 18 animal-based measures were assessed before, during, and after the mountain pasture period in a sample of 67 small-scale dairy cattle farms practicing vertical transhumance in neighboring provinces of Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. Significant differences between assessments were identified for dirtiness of legs and teats, hairless patches, lesions and swellings, claw condition, ocular discharge, and diarrhea whereas BCS, lameness/severe lameness, vulvar discharge, nasal discharge, and hampered respiration were unchanged between seasons. In addition, a benchmarking exercise was carried out to identify relative boundaries (worst quartile thresholds) for each animal-based measure and to contribute to the discussion about achievable welfare outcomes for the 2 husbandry conditions that characterize a transhumant system. Worst quartile thresholds indicated a high prevalence of dirtiness (>80%) when cows were kept indoors, high prevalence of hairless patches (65%) before pasture turnout, and high prevalence of very lean cows (>13%) throughout the assessments. On the other hand, the best quartile thresholds for most clinical conditions suggested that high welfare standards (zero prevalence) are widely achievable in mountain farms practicing vertical transhumance during all assessments. The thresholds identified through benchmarking should serve as the basis for an effective context-based welfare management strategy promoting continuous welfare improvement on-farm.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Zuliani
- Department of Food, Agricultural, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy.
| | - M Mair
- Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - M Kraševec
- Department of Animal Science, University of Ljubljana, 1230 Domžale, Slovenia
| | - I Lora
- Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
| | - M Brscic
- Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
| | - G Cozzi
- Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
| | - C Leeb
- Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - M Zupan
- Department of Animal Science, University of Ljubljana, 1230 Domžale, Slovenia
| | - C Winckler
- Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - S Bovolenta
- Department of Food, Agricultural, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy
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Frey HJ, Gross JJ, Petermann R, Probst S, Bruckmaier RM, Hofstetter P. Performance, body fat reserves and plasma metabolites in Brown Swiss dairy cows: Indoor feeding versus pasture-based feeding. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl) 2017; 102:e746-e757. [DOI: 10.1111/jpn.12829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H.-J. Frey
- Vocational Education and Training Centre for Nature and Nutrition (BBZN); Hohenrain/Schüpfheim Switzerland
| | - J. J. Gross
- Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty; University of Bern; Bern Switzerland
| | - R. Petermann
- Vocational Education and Training Centre for Nature and Nutrition (BBZN); Hohenrain/Schüpfheim Switzerland
| | - S. Probst
- School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL); Bern University of Applied Sciences; Zollikofen Switzerland
| | - R. M. Bruckmaier
- Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty; University of Bern; Bern Switzerland
| | - P. Hofstetter
- Vocational Education and Training Centre for Nature and Nutrition (BBZN); Hohenrain/Schüpfheim Switzerland
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Klaffenböck M, Steinwidder A, Fasching C, Terler G, Gruber L, Mészáros G, Sölkner J. The use of mid-infrared spectrometry to estimate the ration composition of lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 2017; 100:5411-5421. [DOI: 10.3168/jds.2016-12189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Implications of feed concentrate reduction in organic grassland-based dairy systems: a long-term on-farm study. Animal 2017; 11:2051-2060. [DOI: 10.1017/s1751731117000830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
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11
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Physiological adaptations and ovarian cyclicity of Holstein and Montbéliarde cows under two low-input production systems. Animal 2015; 9:1986-95. [DOI: 10.1017/s1751731115001317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
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12
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Do different cow types respond differently to a reduction of concentrate supplementation in an Alpine low-input dairy system? Livest Sci 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2014.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Horn M, Steinwidder A, Starz W, Pfister R, Zollitsch W. Interactions between calving season and cattle breed in a seasonal Alpine organic and low-input dairy system. Livest Sci 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2013.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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