Alfalfa cobs: an alternative feedstuff for dairy cows on alpine organic farms?
Abstract
Besides legal regulations and recommendations of the organic farmers' associations, the use of concentrates in diets for organic dairy cows is limited by ecological and ethical aspects. Therefore, the effects of the substitution of alfalfa cobs for commercial concentrates were evaluated on five organic farms in Tyrol. On these farms, the dairy cows were allocated to one out of two dietary treatments, in which they were fed about 3 kg of either commercial concentrates or alfalfa cobs along with hay for about 6 months. Oveall group feed intake was measured twice at each farm for three days. Daily milk yield and nutrient content of milk were recorded individually once a month. For each farm, group pooled milk samples were analyzed for their nutrient, urea and fatty acid contents and pH-value. Characteristics of butter fat consistency (subjective evaluation, extruder pressure) were measured from milk samples, which had been pooled from the corresponding groups on all participating farms.
keywords milk performance milk quality cattle alfalfa cobs dairy cattle
Publikationen
Project staff
Werner Zollitsch
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Werner Zollitsch
werner.zollitsch@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-93211, 99101, 99111
Project Leader
01.10.1999 - 31.03.2001
Wilhelm Friedrich Knaus
Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Wilhelm Friedrich Knaus
wilhelm.knaus@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-93235
Project Staff
01.10.1999 - 31.03.2001
BOKU partners
External partners
Bundesanstalt für alpenländische Milchwirtschaft
none
partner
Landeslandwirtschaftskammer für Tirol
none
partner
ERNTE - für das Leben Tirol
Heinz Gstir
partner