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Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
REVIEW

Limitations and potential for individualised feeding of concentrate supplements to grazing dairy cows

J. L. Hills A D , S. C. García B , B. Dela Rue C and C. E. F. Clark B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, Dairy Centre, University of Tasmania, Burnie, Tas. 7320, Australia.

B Dairy Science Group, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.

C DairyNZ, Private Bag 3221, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.

D Corresponding author. Email: james.hills@utas.edu.au

Animal Production Science 55(7) 922-930 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN14855
Submitted: 6 October 2014  Accepted: 11 March 2015   Published: 4 June 2015

Abstract

The increasing availability and installation of computerised feeding and milk-monitoring technology in Australia and New Zealand has led to an increased interest in feeding individual cows different amounts and types of supplements over lactation. However, there is confusion about the potential benefits of individualised feeding strategies compared with feeding the same amount of supplement to all cows in the herd on any given day. The majority of bail feeding research conducted over the past 30 years has identified little difference in cow response between flat-rate feeding and more complicated approaches of split feeding or feeding to individual cow milk yield. However, it must be noted that many of these experiments involved animals with ad libitum access to a forage supply. This is an important distinction as individual cows receiving high-quality forage ad libitum would be able to compensate, at least partially, for any shortage in concentrate. Large variability in response to supplements among individual cows within the herd implies that there should be a benefit from individualised bail feeding practices. This review examines the potential for individualised bail feeding in pasture-based dairy systems, considering both system (pasture allowance and type) and cow-level parameters (e.g. dry matter intake, milk yield, genotype, bodyweight, stage of lactation) that could affect the individual cow response to a particular supplement, and discusses the current limitations and future challenges for implementing this technology on farm. Recommendations for future research are made to address any knowledge gaps.

Additional keywords: flat-rate feeding, milk response, pasture intake, substitution, variability.


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