Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

EM = Cost of feeding/cow period
Results
Milk production (kg)
Consumption of supplementary forage. Average consumption of DM
at milking was 0.87, 0.96, and 0.90 kg/cow per day for T1, T2, and T3
respectively, in addition to the voluntary consumption of Brachiaria during
grazing and king grass supplied in closed pens during the day and in the
afternoon. A trend to consume more grass + legume mixture was observed
so it can be inferred that the inclusion of the legume increases consumption
by 23% in T2 and 11% in T3.
Milk production. The higher milk production was reached in cows
supplemented exclusively with Centrosema (6.65 kg/cow per day), differing
significantly (P < 0.05) with the treatment supplemented with Centrosema +
king grass (5.56 kg/cow per day) and the treatment of only king grass (4.11
kg/cow per day). Therefore supplementation with Centrosema had a positive
impact on milk production.
Effect of number of parturitions. No differences were observed in
milk production between cows of two and three parturitions (4.66 kg/day)
and cows of four and five parturitions (4.40 kg/day). Significant differences
were observed, however, between these groups and first-calf cows (3.02
kg/day).
Effect of season on milk production. The average milk production of
cows during the period of maximum precipitation was 5.13 kg/day, while it
was 5.72 kg/day during the period of minimum precipitation, the difference
being significant (P < 0.001). This indicates the importance of the legume as
a nutritional supplement of cows during the dry season.
Economic merit. The cost/kg DM for each alternative was taken into
account, which included the depreciation in a 6-year period of the
establishment costs of Centrosema and king grass, maintenance costs, and
harvest costs.
In the case of Centrosema, an establishment cost of US$380/ha was
used, together with an annual maintenance costs of US$40/ha, and a
harvest cost equivalent to 0.6 man-days per each 50 kg of fresh biomass.
Annual productivity was estimated at 15 t in 5 cuttings. Thus, the total cost
per kilogram of DM was estimated at US$0.105.
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