dairy cattle Archives - Resilient Landscapes (RL)

Farmer information brief on the fodder value chain: Transformation of livelihoods and ecosystems through nature-based enterprises in Eastern Province, Rwanda

Key highlights

Planting improved fodder varieties (Napier, Brachiaria, Chloris gayana, fodder trees, legumes) can boost nutrition and milk yields.
Mixing grasses, trees and crop residues (maize, beans, rice straw) can provide year-round feed, especially in dry seasons.
Applying good management practices means proper land preparation, timely planting, manure use, regular weeding, and harvesting at the right stage.
Investing in improved fodder is important: one hectare can feed 15 dairy cows, raise milk output and deliver strong profits.
Climate resilience and livelihoods can be strengthened by reducing feed gaps, improving animal health, increasing manure for crops, creating jobs, and using tree-based systems to adapt to climate change.

A meta-analysis of feeding strategies for dairy cattle performance and greenhouse gas mitigation across the world

Studies on the effects of cattle feeding strategies on greenhouse gas emissions are fragmented and cannot provide a global comparison of the feeding management practices that lead to optimal production while substantially reducing methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) emissions. The present study explains variability in enteric CH4, NH3 mitigations and cattle milk performance due to several diet composition and structure, feed management, breeding, animal experimental designs and CH4 measurement tools. Effects from 80 treatments were meta-analyzed from an initial 4394 screened papers and we retained 31 articles distributed across 15 countries on four continents. Minerals in feed additive types increased milk yield the most (90 %) and, concomitantly, reduced CH4 production by 33 %. Feed additive dosage ranging between 1 and 4 % also contributed to increasing milk yield by 47 % while reducing CH4 by 58 %. Meanwhile the impact of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) feed additive on health safety is still controversial. Although a partial mixed ration system highly contributed to milk yield (102 %), it did not contribute to CH4 reduction as much as a total mixed ration system (39 %). The highest CH4 reduction levels were recorded with GreenFeed (80 %) and a rotating experimental design (37 %). The Holstein cattle breed was more productive with an increase of 46 % of milk production while reducing CH4 by 34 %. Grass forage increased NH3 by 5 % while crop forage reduced it by 21 %. Agriculture can effectively reduce its emissions and contribute to climate-neutral goals as part of a coordinated, global effort involving multiple sectors.

The effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid on growth performance, diarrhoea, ruminal fermentation, and antioxidant capacity in pre-weaned calves

The pre-weaning phase is critical for calf development, with long-term implications for health and productivity. This study evaluated the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) supplementation on growth, ruminal fermentation, diarrhoea, and antioxidant capacity in pre-weaned Holstein calves. Ninety male calves were assigned to five GABA dosage groups (0–200 mg/day) from 11 to 75 days of age. Supplementation at 100 mg/day significantly improved average daily gain and body height without affecting diarrhoea incidence. GABA reduced total volatile fatty acids and acetate levels in the rumen, while butyrate showed a dose-dependent response. These findings suggest that 100 mg/day of GABA optimally enhances growth and regulates rumen fermentation, offering a promising strategy for improving calf performance before weaning.

The Indonesian Forestry Laws as Basis for a REDD Regime?

During COP 13 in Bali, the Government of Indonesia officially showed interest in REDD (Reduced Emission from Deforestation in Developing Countries) schemes, which offer financial rewards for activities that reduce CO2 emissions from clearing, converting, or degrading forests. If current emissions are multiplied with current prices for emission reduction credits, a very high value (about US$1.8 billion/year) can be calculated as an upper limit. The dollar signs in the eyes of stakeholders, however, are not necessarily beneficial in helping to see what it will take to make it work. Lack of performance rather than lack of funds may well be the primary constraint. The mechanisms will have to be realistic (dealing with the real causes and drivers), conditional (performance based), and voluntary (providing sustainable benefits along the value chain of involved stakeholders). Current forestry laws and institutions in Indonesia were not designed to deal with a benefit distribution mechanism from REDD incentives, but they will form the background for discussions on who has a right to benefit, and who has the resources and power to obstruct others from benefiting.

Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal as supplement to diet of grazing dairy cattle in semiarid Western Tanzania

The effect of supplementation with three levels of Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal (LLM) added to a diet composed of cotton seed hulls (CSH) and maize bran (MB) on milk yield, milk composition and body weight changes of grazing lactating cows was studied in a completely randomised design. Marginal product analysis for the different levels of LLM as a substitute to cotton seed cake (CSC) was also calculated. The following treatment diets were used in the experiment: Diet 1, (control) composed of 1.8 kg DM CSH and 1.8 kg DM MB. Diet 2, 3 and 4 had an addition of 1.2, 2.0 and 2.6 kg DM of LLM respectively. Diet 5 was composed of 1.8 kg DM of CSC and 1.8 kg DM of MB. Treatments, number of lactations, farm and initial milk yields significantly (P 0.05). Cows on treatment 1 achieved no significant (P 0.05) difference in net milk produced by cows on treatment 2, 3 and 5 compared to treatment 1. LLM supplementation significantly (P 0.05) influence on milk crude protein (CP), butter fat (BF), solids not fat (SNF) and ash in all the diets. Body weight was significantly (P < 0.05) increased by LLM supplementation. Degradation coefficients of the treatment diets were high and varied significantly (P < 0.01) and had an influence on the metabolizable energy value of the treatment diets. Cows on diet 2 to 4 had a weight gain of 190.9, 101.8 and 80.9 g/cow/day respectively and cows on diet 5 attained the highest weight gain (234.5 g/cow/day). Diet 4 had the highest marginal productivity of 4.3 followed by diets 2, 3 and 1 with marginal productivities of 2.8, 0.6 and 0 respectively. It was therefore, concluded that the optimal supplementation level using LLM as a substitute for the more expensive CSC was diet 4.

Estimation of between-cow variability in nutrient digestion of lactating dairy cows fed corn-based diets

The objective of this study was to estimate cow variability that can be used to determine the optimal sample size for digestibility trials using lactating dairy cows. Experimental design was randomized complete block design having three blocks and three dietary treatments. Three similarly managed nearby intensive farms were considered as blocks, and three diets were formulated to have 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 neutral detergent fiber (NDF): starch ratio. In each farm, 18 cows were assigned for each dietary treatment and five sample sizes per each treatment group were simulated by simple random sampling of data from18,15, 12, 9 and 6 cows respectively. Intake was not affected by diet or sample size (p > 0.05). Estimated cow variability (as standard deviation) for digestibility of dry matter, NDF and starch were 3.8 g/kg, 5.1 g/kg and 3.3 g/kg, respectively. A major implication of this study is that cow variability is greatest for NDF digestibility and the use of a minimum of 12 cows per dietary treatment is adequate to reliably detect treatment effects on the digestibility of NDF, starch and dry matter using cows fed in groups with randomized block design under these experimental conditions. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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