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Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics

The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the effect of large herd size (and land areas) on walking distances and milking interval (MI), and their impact on milk yield and economic penalties when 50% of the total diets were provided from home grown feed either as pasture or grazeable comple...

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Autores principales: Islam, M. R., Clark, C. E. F., Garcia, S. C., Kerrisk, K. L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST) 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4478497/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26104411
http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.14.0387
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author Islam, M. R.
Clark, C. E. F.
Garcia, S. C.
Kerrisk, K. L.
author_facet Islam, M. R.
Clark, C. E. F.
Garcia, S. C.
Kerrisk, K. L.
author_sort Islam, M. R.
collection PubMed
description The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the effect of large herd size (and land areas) on walking distances and milking interval (MI), and their impact on milk yield and economic penalties when 50% of the total diets were provided from home grown feed either as pasture or grazeable complementary forage rotation (CFR) in an automatic milking system (AMS). Twelve scenarios consisting of 3 AMS herds (400, 600, 800 cows), 2 levels of pasture utilisation (current AMS utilisation of 15.0 t dry matter [DM]/ha, termed as ‘moderate’; optimum pasture utilisation of 19.7 t DM/ha, termed as ‘high’) and 2 rates of incorporation of grazeable complementary forage system (CFS: 0, 30%; CFS = 65% farm is CFR and 35% of farm is pasture) were investigated. Walking distances, energy loss due to walking, MI, reduction in milk yield and income loss were calculated for each treatment based on information available in the literature. With moderate pasture utilisation and 0% CFR, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in an increase in total walking distances between the parlour and the paddock from 3.5 to 6.3 km. Consequently, MI increased from 15.2 to 16.4 h with increased herd size from 400 to 800 cows. High pasture utilisation (allowing for an increased stocking density) reduced the total walking distances up to 1 km, thus reduced the MI by up to 0.5 h compared to the moderate pasture, 800 cow herd combination. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm reduced the total walking distances by up to 1.7 km and MI by up to 0.8 h compared to the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd combination. For moderate pasture utilisation, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in more dramatic milk yield penalty as yield increasing from c.f. 2.6 and 5.1 kg/cow/d respectively, which incurred a loss of up to $AU 1.9/cow/d. Milk yield losses of 0.61 kg and 0.25 kg for every km increase in total walking distance (voluntary return trip from parlour to paddock) and every one hour increase in MI, respectively. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm increased milk yield by up to 1.5 kg/cow/d, thereby reducing loss by up to $0.5/cow/d (c.f. the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd scenario). Thus, it was concluded that the successful integration of grazeable CFS with pasture has the potential to improve financial performance compared to the pasture only, large herd, AMS.
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spelling pubmed-44784972015-07-01 Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics Islam, M. R. Clark, C. E. F. Garcia, S. C. Kerrisk, K. L. Asian-Australas J Anim Sci Article The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the effect of large herd size (and land areas) on walking distances and milking interval (MI), and their impact on milk yield and economic penalties when 50% of the total diets were provided from home grown feed either as pasture or grazeable complementary forage rotation (CFR) in an automatic milking system (AMS). Twelve scenarios consisting of 3 AMS herds (400, 600, 800 cows), 2 levels of pasture utilisation (current AMS utilisation of 15.0 t dry matter [DM]/ha, termed as ‘moderate’; optimum pasture utilisation of 19.7 t DM/ha, termed as ‘high’) and 2 rates of incorporation of grazeable complementary forage system (CFS: 0, 30%; CFS = 65% farm is CFR and 35% of farm is pasture) were investigated. Walking distances, energy loss due to walking, MI, reduction in milk yield and income loss were calculated for each treatment based on information available in the literature. With moderate pasture utilisation and 0% CFR, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in an increase in total walking distances between the parlour and the paddock from 3.5 to 6.3 km. Consequently, MI increased from 15.2 to 16.4 h with increased herd size from 400 to 800 cows. High pasture utilisation (allowing for an increased stocking density) reduced the total walking distances up to 1 km, thus reduced the MI by up to 0.5 h compared to the moderate pasture, 800 cow herd combination. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm reduced the total walking distances by up to 1.7 km and MI by up to 0.8 h compared to the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd combination. For moderate pasture utilisation, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in more dramatic milk yield penalty as yield increasing from c.f. 2.6 and 5.1 kg/cow/d respectively, which incurred a loss of up to $AU 1.9/cow/d. Milk yield losses of 0.61 kg and 0.25 kg for every km increase in total walking distance (voluntary return trip from parlour to paddock) and every one hour increase in MI, respectively. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm increased milk yield by up to 1.5 kg/cow/d, thereby reducing loss by up to $0.5/cow/d (c.f. the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd scenario). Thus, it was concluded that the successful integration of grazeable CFS with pasture has the potential to improve financial performance compared to the pasture only, large herd, AMS. Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST) 2015-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4478497/ /pubmed/26104411 http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.14.0387 Text en Copyright © 2015 by Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
spellingShingle Article
Islam, M. R.
Clark, C. E. F.
Garcia, S. C.
Kerrisk, K. L.
Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title_full Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title_fullStr Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title_full_unstemmed Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title_short Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: The Impact of Large Herd on Milk Yield and Economics
title_sort modelling pasture-based automatic milking system herds: the impact of large herd on milk yield and economics
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4478497/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26104411
http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.14.0387
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