METHOD FOR INCREASED UTILIZATION OF PASTURE CROP FOR FEEDING DOMESTIC ANIMALS

Abstract: In connection with a method for the utilization of pasture crop for feeding domestic animals it is suggested that a part of the pasture crop is preserved as grass feed concentrate and is fed out in addition to the remaining pasture crop for thereby increasing the pasture crop share of the production forage. In a mixture of dried and/or ensilaged pasture crop as well as possibly feed concentrate it can then be used approx. 10-15% or more grass feed concentrate, i.e. young grass which is dried artificially. The grass feed concentrate can substitute a larger part of the feed concentrate and/or maintenance forage for one or more animals.

Description: Method for increased utilization of pasture crop for feeding domestic animals The present invention relates to a method for increasing the utilization of a pasture crop for feeding domestic animals. In this connection instructions are also given for a forage composition, especially for feeding domestic animals, comprising a mixture of dried and/or ensilaged pasture crop as well as possibly feed concentrate. The major part of the agriculture area in for example Norway is utilized as meadows, pasture and forage for domestic animals, especially ruminants. The growing time for grass in Norway varies from 3 to 5 months. The major part of the crop has to be conserved and utilized in the long period of indoor feeding. The conservation takes place by drying and ensilage. The value of the contents of nutriants in the conserved 'forage is therefore of decisive importance for the production and the profit of the agriculture. The forage must cover the animals' requirement for a series of chemical compositions for the building up of the body and the products of the animals. These necessary materials comprise proteins, minerals and vitamines. In addition, the forage must give the energy required for the life function. Provided the material requirement is covered, possibly by using additives in the forage, the food value corresponds to the energy in the forage which can be utilized by the animals. The food value of animal forage is measured and given in various units: ffe (fattening forage units), lfe (lactation forage units) and Mj (Mega joule), which all express energy. To compare the food value in different forage materials there is used the.energy contents per kg dry substance, in Norway ffe/kg dry substance. The food value of grass measured in ffe/kg dry substance is highest during the pasturing stage and is reduced as the crop grows. A favourable ensilage presupposes that the grass is harvested at the right time, preferably when budding com¬ mences. For hay-drying on rack the grass is harvested at a later growing stage. The conservation itself includes some losses. In a less favourable conservation, losses will also occur during storage and also during feeding, since the forage can be rejected by the animals. Whereas the pasture grass includes approx. 0,81 to 0,93 ffe/kg dry substance, the net crop of hay is calculated to approx. 300 ffe/da, which corresponds to approx. 0,46 ffe/kg, and for silage 400 ffe/da, corresponding to approx. 0,58 ffe/kg dry substance. Milk cows can absorbe 9 to 10 kg dry substance per day of hay and/or ensilage, depending on the digestibility of the forage. In practice the absorption per cow of hay and ensilage is calculated to 4-6 ffe/day, a mean value being presumably below 5 ffe/day. At high lactation the need of forage is approx. 14-16 ffe/day for one cow. In this period the absorption of pasture crop is only approx. 1/3 of the total demand for forage. The difference must be covered in other ways. Root fruits can for example cover 2 ffe/day. The main portion of the difference can, however, be covered by feed concentrate which primarily com¬ prises cereal products with the addition of especially protein- rich forage materials. The share of the feed concentrate of the total forage during a year constitutes at present from 40% to 70%. Due to this share and not at least the price, the feed concentrate consequently constitutes a major expense in the milk pro¬ duction. Besides, the dependency of the feed concentrate undermines the value of the preparedness of the agriculture, since feed concentrate is difficult to get hold of in states of crisis. The object of the present invention is to give in¬ structions for a method for increased utilization of pasture crop for feeding domestic animals, the instructions being OMPI given for an alternative combined conservation of pasture crop. Such an increased utilization of the pasture crop will > aside from giving the domestic animals an adequate forage h offer, render the milk and meat production less dependent on feed concentrate. The method according to the invention which is to the effect of increasing the pasture crop for feeding domestic animals, is characterized in that a part of the pasture crop is conserved as grass feed concentrate and is fed out in addition to the remaining pasture crop for thereby increasing the pasture crop share of the production forage. That part of the pasture crop which is preserved as grass feed concentrate, can appropriately correspond to the absorption of ensilage or hay for one or more animals. This involves that a part of the pasture crop which previously was used for hay and/or ensilage, can be preserved as grass feed concentrate, and this grass feed concentrate will even if it is given to a less number of cows than earlier, result in a larger total milk production at the same time as the feeding of feed concentrate can be reduced. According to the invention there is given instructions for a forage composition which is characterized in that the composition also comprises approx. 10-15% or more grass feed concentrate, i.e. young grass which is artificially dried. During special conditions, for example during high lactation, the grass feed concentrate can constitute up to approx. 2/3 of the total composition. With the expression grass feed concentrate it is to be understood forage of the quality which results from the i artificial drying of young grass, preferably as disclosed in Norwegian patent specification No. 131 402. Compared with the above stated values for pasture grass, hay or ensilage, the grass feed concentrate which is preserved by artificial drying of young grass as disclosed in Norwegian patent specification 133 402, includes approx. 0,9 ffe/kg dry substance and renders a substantial greater crop in ffe/da, in spite of the fact that the dry substance content is less than compared with hay and ensilage. By preserving pasture crop as grass feed concentrate rather than hay and/or ensilage, the crop is increased in ffe/da. In practice the crop may vary very much from field to field and also from year to year. This also applies to grass preserved at other growing stages and by means of other preserving methods. The preserving of grass to hay is strongly dependent on the harvesting con¬ ditions. With reservations of large variations " in the specific actual conditions the mean value is calcuated as: ffe grass feed concentrate/da = 1,35 ffe ensilage/da, ffe grass feed concentrate/da = 1,8 ffe ha /da. In many ways the grass feed concentrate differs from usual coarse forage as hay and ensilage. Young grass has a high content of protein with a favourable composition of amino acids. By letting the artificial " drying take place at low temperatures (the air is heated to maximum 12-15 C) the properties of the proteins and the vitamines are sub¬ stantially maintained. The grass feed concentrate is rich in leaves, soft green coloured and has a fresh and pleasant odour. The grass feed concentrate seems to have a remarkably favourable influence on the vitality and well-being of the animals. The contents of fibres are low. The forage is apparently very tasty, and the forage absorption is high. The grass feed concentrate is absorbed in addition to the voluntary absorption of hay and/or ensilage, and the grass feed concentrate can therefore be a supplement and substitute the feed concentrate as an additional forage to "coarse forage" during high lactation or large growth. Experiments have shown that 1,3 kg grass feed concentrate substitutes 1 kg feed concentrate A. This corresponds to the fact that grass feed concentrate has 1,17:1,3=0,9 ffe/kg dry substance. This is hardly the optimum value. The grass feed concentrate has some surplus of digestible protein per ffe in relation to feed concentrate A. If usual content of humidity is assumed, 1,3 kg grass feed concentrate substitutes 1 kg feed concentrate A as regards energy, and this corresponds to: NOK/kg grass feed concentrate = NOK/kg feed concentrate A:1,3. If the contents of protein/ffe are taken into con¬ sideration, the value of the grass feed concentrate will be larger. By thus, according to the invention, utilizing a part of the pasture crop as grass feed concentrate and feeding the domestic animals with grass feed concentrate in addition to hay and/or ensilage, the absorption and utili¬ zation of ffe pasture crop can be increased and feed concen¬ trate saved. In a suitable forage composition the quantity of the grass feed concentrate can correspond to the maintenance forage for one or more milk cows. In other words, in the increased utilization of the pasture crop as grass feed concentrate it is possible not only to achieve an increased milk production with fewer milk cows, but also achieve a better profit of the produced milk. This is due to, on the one side, that the same pasture crop is utilized, according to the invention in a manner which renders a larger production forage share which can be converted to milk, and on the other hand that the part of the grass feed concentrate which is used substitutes more costly and more preparedness sensitive feed concentrate. In the following the invention will be disclosed further, reference being had to the following description of an example illustrated with figures in table form. According to Norwegian standard for feeding milk cows the forage demand is: ffe/cow/day = maintenance forage 4 ffe/day + 0,4 ffe/kg milk. In other words, what one tries to obtain is that the larger the part of the total forage which is utilized as IJU EAT OMPI production forage is, the better becomes the utilization of the forage. On a farm having a herd of 10 milk cows the coarse forage absorption, i.e. the absorption of hay and ensilage, corre¬ sponds to 5 ffe/cow/day. The 10 cows cannot utilize more than the 5 ffe/coarse forage/day corresponding to voluntary absorption. The yearly absorption of pasture crop is 5 x 365 x 10 = 18.250 ffe/year, see the table. If the maintenance forage: 4 x 365 x 10 = 14.600 ffe/year, is deducted, the production forage becomes 3.650 ffe/year, which in turn corre¬ sponds to 3.650 x (1:0,4) = 9.100 kg milk/year. According to the invention the number of cows can be reduced, for example with 1 to 9 cows, and the grass from the corresponding area can be preserved as grass feed concen¬ trate. This is fed to the remaining 9 cows which can absorbe the grass feed concentrate in addition to the usual pasture crop ration. The total absorption of pasture crop for the 9 cows increases from 18.250 ffe to 18.889 ffe. At the same time the maintenance forage for 1 cow can be removed and the production forage or the lactation forage be increased with 2.099 ffe from 3.650 ffe to 5.749 ffe. Due to the forage composition which is now given to the cows and which is related to the same pasture area as earlier, the milk quantity will increase with 2,5 kg/ffe production forage. If the number of cows is reduced with 2 animals, both the grass feed concentrate and the production forage is increased to the double, still with an outspring in the same pasture area. The reduction in the number of cows is limited in that the milk production of the remaining cows is increased until what is a safe maximum for the animals, -BUREA O PI U. W1P0 Table: Utilization of pasture crop for feeding milk cows when using grass feed concentrate: 10 cows 9 cows 8 .cows Pasture crop (5 ffe/day) ffe/year 18.250 16. .425 14 .600 Grass feed concentrate (5 ffe 1,35) ffe/year 0 2. .464 4 .928 Sum ffe/year pasture crop ffe/year 18.250 18. ,889 19, .528 - maintenance (4 ffe/cow) ffe/year 14.600 13. ,140 11, .680 Production forage ffe/year 3 3..665500-- 5 5.. ,774499 7 7., .884488 Increase lactation forage ffe/year 0 0 2 2..0 09999 4 4.. .119988 Milk kg/year 9 9..110000 1 144..2 25500 1 199.. .550000 Production forage ffe/pasture crop ffe % 20 30,5 40 By using pasture crop for feeding young animals and for the production of meat, the possibility for increased utilization of one and the same pasture area is the same. The voluntary absorption of hay or silage is limited and must otherwise be supplemented by feed concentrate for thereby achieving a profitable production. Calves, for example 5 to 6 months of age, have a forage demand of approx. 2,8 ffe/day, from which approx. 50% is covered by feed concentrate. Towards the slaughtering season the forage demand of the ox becomes 5-6,5 ffe/day, from which approx. 40-50% is covered by feed concentrate. Calves can start absorbing grass feed concentrate before they are one week old. The faculty of chewing the cud is rapidly developed and therewith the function of the belly and the absorption of forage. By preserving a part of the pasture crop as grass feed concentrate this can be absorbed in addition to the usual absorption of pasture crop, and feed concentrate can be saved. The increased additional crop can be utilized for shorter period of forage and/or increased slaughtering weight. In both cases the maintenance forage share of the pasture crop is reduced, whereas the production forage share of the pasture crop is increased.

Claims: P a t e n t C l a i m s 1. Method for increasing the utilization of pasture crop for feeding domestic animals, especially milk cows, in which a part of the crop is utilized as pasture, hay or ensilage, and in which a part of the crop is preserved as grass feed concentrate, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the part of the pasture crop which is utilized as pasture, hay or ensilage is fed substantially as maintenance forage for the animals, and that the remaining part, i.e. the grass feed concentrate part, is fed substantially as production forage (lactation forage) . 2. Method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the part of the pasture crop which substantially constitutes the maintenance forage for one or more animals, is preserved as grass feed concentrate and is fed as production forage to the remaining animals, so that the production on the basis of the same pasture area is increased but with a reduced number of animals. 3. Method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e ¬ r i z e d i n that there is used grass feed concentrate of the quality which appears from artificial drying of young grass, preferably as disclosed in Norwegian patent specifi¬ cation 131 402. 4. Forage quantity for animals, comprising a mixture of pasture, hay and/or ensilage from pasture crop as well as grass feed concentrate and possibly feed concentrate, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that a part of the compo¬ sition which comprises pasture, hay and/or ensilage from pasture crop, constitutes substantially the maintenance forage for the number of animals to be fed, and that the remaining part of the mixture is lactation forage.

Inventors: INGVALDSEN BERNT, INGVALDSEN, BERNT
Applicants: INDUSTRIFINANS AS, A/S INDUSTRIFINANS
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A23K3
IPC codes: A23K1, A23K3