2023/11/07 by Xavier Coquil, Coquil, Xavier, Fiorelli, Jean-Louis +8
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems #Alimentation hivernale #Associations céréales/protéagineux #Botanical Research and Chemistry #Complémentation #Foins #Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology #Vaches laitières
paper · pdf · doi:10.17180/zny5-9143
openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2023/11/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
We compared the use of three farm grown cereal/protein mixes (oat/fava bean, barley/lupin, triticale/pea), that were used to complement lactating dairy cow diets based on hay consisting of alfalfa/orchard grass and perennial grassland. The trial took place in 2007 at the INRA experimental station of Mirecourt, where an organic mixed-crop dairy system is being prototyped. The experiment was carried out in a Latin square with three groups of eight cows (50% Holstein, 50% Montbéliarde). The cows were fed 4 kg/cow/day of one of the three cereal/protein mixes, 8 kg DM/cow/day of alfalfa/orchard grass hay, and permanent grassland hay ad libitum. The three diets were indicative of the animals’ needs. Diets had no significant effect on milk production (20.3 kg/cow/d) and milk fat content (41.3 g/kg). However, dairy cows fed with the oat/fava bean mix had a significantly lower protein content in their milk. This is the result of: (i) a nitrogen surplus in relation to energy, and (ii) a lower starch content compared to the two other diets. Therefore, in organic mixed-crop dairy systems with forages that are rich in nitrogen, the choice to cultivate mixtures of cereal/pulses and the composition of these mixtures must be primarily based on their agronomic interest and not on their zootechnical one since they are not essential to a balanced animal diet.