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Feeding birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) reduces the environmental impacts of dairy farming
Woodward SL, Waghorn GC, Watkins KA, Bryant MA
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 69, pp 179-183, Jun 2009
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 69, pp 179-183, Jun 2009
Article class: Conference Presentation
Animal Type: Cattle
Subject Terms: Diet/rations/food, Environment, Minerals/elememts, Pasture/crop
Publisher: New Zealand Society of Animal ProductionAbstract
An indoor feeding experiment using 16 late lactation Friesian dairy cows measured effects of increased proportions of birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus; Lotus) in the diet on the partitioning of nitrogen (N) between milk, faeces and urine. Cows were housed in metabolism stalls for 12 days and fed diets containing 0%, 15%, 29% or 45% Lotus (% Lotus dry matter (DM) per DM intake (DMI)) with the remainder perennial ryegrass pasture. Increasing the proportion of Lotus in the diet did not affect DMI but increased milk (P <0.001) and milksolids yields (P <0.01). The percentage of N intake partitioned to milk increased from 16% (0% Lotus) to 21% (45% Lotus) (P <0.01) with an increasing proportion of Lotus in the diet. The percentage of N intake excreted as faecal N also increased from 29% (0% Lotus) to 38% (45% Lotus) (P <0.001) while the percentage excreted as urinary N was reduced from 49% (0% Lotus) to 34% (45% Lotus) (P <0.01). Partitioning of N towards faeces has a favourable environmental impact since faecal N is largely retained in soils whereas urinary N is subject to volatilisation as ammonia, losses as nitrous oxides (a greenhouse gas) and leaching into groundwater.The whole of the literary matter of the Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production is copyright New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Downloading this article signifies agreement with the terms and conditions of electronic access.
