A study of the phase feeding of organic dairy cattle with maize meal at the beginning of lactation revealed that a favourable energy balance could be achieved, although with disappointing milk production. Concentrate administered via dynamic feeding resulted in lower concentrate rations and a higher feed utilisation.
An experiment carried out by Wageningen UR Livestock Research examined the provision of maize meal with cows at the beginning of lactation as a means of providing extra energy as compared to a ration containing maize silage. This feeding strategy is also referred to as “phase feeding”, whereby the lactation period is divided into a number of phases and a ration is supplied that is tailored to the nutrient need during each phase. The study also examined phase feeding in combination with dynamic feeding, in which the optimum concentrate ration for each cow is calculated on the basis of the forecast daily milk yield and the forecasted feed utilisation.
Crop rich in starch
Feeding dairy cows with a crop rich in starch – if possible, cultivated on the farm or in the region – is desirable at organic dairy farms, since a large proportion of the ration is often comprised of grass/clover (silage). Maize is an energy-rich feed that can be supplied during lactation, when cows require a great deal of energy. Maize silage is a frequently-used form of roughage which is rich in starch: grain maize is a concentrate replacer that can be cultivated by the farmer.
The study compared phase feeding to a ration containing maize silage. Both variants were supplemented with a dynamic feeding variant to examine how an optimum use of the available feeds, high utilisation and appropriate animal health can be achieved.
Opportunities offered by phase feeding
Cows fed in accordance with phase feeding with maize starch achieved a more favourable energy balance than cows fed with a maize silage ration, since the cows exhibited a relatively higher feed intake and a lower milk yield. Consequently, a major objective of phase feeding was achieved - but, unfortunately, with a fairly low milk yield. As a result, the feed utilisation of these cows was lower than the cows that received maize silage. The assessment of the manure revealed that the manure from cows receiving maize meal was more frequently assessed as runny, whilst the manure of cows receiving maize silage was, in general, digested to a lesser degree.
Dynamic feeding was found to increase the feed utilisation.
Free download
Report 302, Fasevoeding met maïsmeel bij biologisch melkvee (Phase feeding with maize meal in organic dairy cattle), A. Klop et al., can be downloaded free here.