Location: Dairy Forage Research
Project Number: 5090-31000-025-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Aug 31, 2017
End Date: Aug 2, 2022
Objective:
Objective 1: Develop and evaluate strategies that optimize growth and development; maximize feed nutrient use efficiency; increase milk production potential; and increase the lifetime productivity, health, and well-being of dairy heifers.
Objective 2: Develop and evaluate dietary feed formulation strategies that increase the utilization of conventional feeds/forages and alternative feeds/forages that reduce competition with human food consumption, enhance nutrient use efficiency, and increase milk production.
• Sub-objective 2.A. Evaluate effects of forage type, amount, and quality on animal performance, nutrient digestibility, and feed conversion efficiency.
• Sub-objective 2.B. Evaluate effects of alternative/byproduct feeds that replace or reduce grain in the diet on animal performance, nutrient digestibility, and feed conversion efficiency.
Objective 3: Develop and evaluate dairy diets that enhance milk production and quality, reduce manure nutrient excretions, and reduce environmental impacts of dairy farms.
Approach:
Objective 1. Dry matter intake, body weight, and growth measurements at prepubertal (6 months of age) and postpubertal (12 months of age) stages of dairy heifers growth will be determined as part of a study that will help us determine whether efficiency of growth changes during the lifetime of the dairy animal. Growth measurements for prepubertal and postpubertal dairy heifers will be combined with calfhood and mature cow measurements to evaluate if growth efficiency is correlated through the lifespan of a dairy animal.
Objective 2. A series of lactating dairy cow studies will be conducted to evaluate the effect of forage type, forage amount, and forage quality on animal performance, nutrient digestibility, and feed conversion efficiency. In addition, alternative forages and byproduct feedstuffs will be evaluated as replacements for traditional feedstuffs used in dairy cow diets. We will collect production measurements, gaseous emissions, digesta, and feces to determine the effects of altering fiber digestibility on ruminal fermentation, lactation performance, and environmental output.
Objective 3. Several studies will be conducted to evaluate dairy diets that enhance milk production, reduce nutrient excretion, and reduce the environmental impacts of dairy production systems. Cows will be fed diets with differing ratios of alfalfa silage and corn silage at high and low forage inclusions and at different dietary crude protein concentrations to evaluate the effect of diet formulation on production measures, gas emissions, and nutrient excretion. Manure collected from these experiments will further studied in laboratory emission chambers to determine effect of manure chemistry on gaseous emission during storage. Stored manure will then be applied to a field to determine plant nutrient uptake during a growing season. Gas measurements will be taken to evaluate the impact of manure application on carbon dioxide, ammonia, and nitrous oxide emissions.
