# Simulation and Optimization of Available Local Feed Resources for Dairy Cattle in Burkina Faso
###### Abstract  
The poor quality of natural gestures in the dry season does not make it possible to meet dairy cows' requirements for milk production in Burkina Faso and in most West African countries. Therefore, it is urgent to find an alternative by developing a full diet from locally available ingredients. The objective was to determine a diet for dairy cattle based on locally available ingredients in the periurban area of Ouagadougou. A progressive methodology was used. Thus, a survey was conducted ontoonton 30 dairy farms. This survey was followed by chemical analysis, for which the most dominant forage and concentrate ingredients were selected. Secondly, the recording of milk and on-farm ingredient use was also carried out using Op-Ration software (Op-Ration version V3.4.5.0) in order to compare and determine the most suitable diets. The data from the survey were subjected to descriptive statistics using SPSS version 20. Those from chemical analysis, milk recording, and ingredient assessment on the farm were subjected to a statistical method using the software Minitab version.18.1.0.0 setup. The results showed two dominant forage species, Sorghum (84.85%) and _Pemisetum pediellatum_ (90.91%), and two dominant concentrates, corn bran (32%) and cottonseed meal (26%), used by dairy farmers. From these ingredients and simulating the requirements of 400 kgPV0.75 of lactating cows, a diet assessment was carried out at early, middle, and end lactation. The results showed that at the beginning of lactation, the diet consisted of 6.73 kg of forage and 6.59 kg of concentrate for 13.5 L as the main objective of milk production. The diet for mid-lactation was 8 kg of forage and 6.5 kg of concentrate for 15.5 L per day and 5.7 kg of forage and 3.8 kg of concentrate for the end of lactation. The results of this study show that it is possible to manufacture a complete ration for dairy cows at different stages of lactation from locally available forages and concentrates in the peri-urban area of Ouagadougou. This type of method could be applied to other regions from local forages and concentrates for milk production. survey; ingredients; diet calculation; cow; milk Article Simulation and Optimization of Available Local Feed Resources for Dairy Cattle in Burkina Faso for Dairy Cattle in Burkina Faso Rayinwende I  
limits production. Indeed, livestock feeding relies essentially on the exploitation of natural pastures [4]. Thus, to feed dairy cows well, farmers should have constant access to pasture, forage, and feed in sufficient quantities and of good quality [5]. Furthermore, in the dry season, the poor quality of grazed resources, whether crop residues left in the field or spontaneous rangeland vegetation, leads to a drop in production performance and a notable fall in milk production [6; 7; 8]. To overcome animal feed constraints, peri-urban livestock farmers adopt several strategies to feed their dairy herds, including exploiting the rangelands still available at the periphery of towns, supplementing what is available on the farm, and growing fodder crops. Despite the interest shown by livestock farmers in agro-industrial by-products (AIBP), their large-scale use is hampered by their low availability and high cost, due to the remoteness of the areas where these products are produced and speculative practices of traders [9]. In this context, to help farmers achieve their milk production objectives, testing options for improving feed by making the most of locally available resources is an appropriate option. However, how can a rationing technique based on these ingredients be successfully implemented? In fact, rationing consists of establishing stations by calculating the quantities of feed with known nutritional values (extracted from feed tables) that will meet the animals' needs for a given production [10]. However, depending on the types of feed used daily by producers, it is possible to group them into batches corresponding to nations.