Milk production responses to different strategies for feeding supplements to grazing dairy cows

Milk production responses of grazing cows offered supplements in different ways were measured. Holstein-Friesian cows, averaging 45d in milk, were allocated into 8 groups of 24, with 2 groups randomly assigned to each of 4 feeding strategies. These were control: cows grazed a restricted allowance of perennial ryegrass pasture supplemented with milled wheat grain fed in the milking parlor and alfalfa hay offered in the paddock; FGM: same pasture and allowance as the control supplemented with a formulated grain mix containing wheat grain, corn grain, and canola meal fed in the parlor and alfalfa hay fed in the paddock; PMRL: same pasture and allowance as the control, supplemented with a PMR consisting of the same FGM but mixed with alfalfa hay and presented on a feed pad after each milking; and PMRH: same PMR fed in the same way as PMRL but with a higher pasture allowance. For all strategies, supplements provided the same metabolizable energy and grain:forage ratio [75:25, dry matter (DM) basis]. Each group of 24 cows was further allocated into 4 groups of 6, which were randomly assigned to receive 8, 12, 14, or 16kg of DM supplement/cow per d. Thus, 2 replicated groups per supplement amount per dietary strategy were used. The experiment had a 14-d adaptation period and a 14-d measurement period. Pasture allowance, measured to ground level, was approximately 14kg of DM/d for control, FGM, and PMRL cows, and 28kg of DM/d for the PMRH cows, and was offered in addition to the supplement. Positive linear responses to increasing amounts of supplement were observed for yield of milk, energy-corrected milk, fat, and protein for cows on all 4 supplement feeding strategies. Production of energy-corrected milk was greatest for PMRH cows, intermediate for FGM and PMRL cows, and lowest for control cows. Some of these differences in milk production related to differences in intake of pasture and supplement. Milk fat concentration decreased with increasing amount of supplement for all feeding strategies, but the decline was most marked for the control cows. Milk protein concentration increased for all groups as the amount of supplement increased, but was greater for FGM, PMRL, and PMRH cows than control cows. It is concluded that when supplements are fed to grazing dairy cows, inclusion of corn grain and canola meal can increase milk production even at similar metabolizable energy intakes, and that it does not matter whether these supplements are fed as a PMR or in the parlor and paddock.