Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T02:42:16.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of the legume Leucaena leucocephala and formal-casein on the production and composition of milk from grazing cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. F. Flores ,
T. H. Stobbs  and
D. J. Minson
J. F. Flores
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
T. H. Stobbs
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
D. J. Minson
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Twenty-four lactating Jersey cows, grazing a 3-week regrowth of nitrogen-fertilized Chloris gayana cv. Pioneer pastures selected a diet containing 18% crude protein and were given 0, 2 or 4 kg/day of fresh Leucaena leucocephala or 250 g/day of formal-casein. The effect of the treatments on milk production was measured in a 4 × 4 latin-square design experiment with experimental periods of 14 days.

Mean milk yield of unsupplemented cows was 9·6 kg/day, 10·1 kg/day when cows were supplemented with formal-casein and 10·3 kg/day when fed 2 or 4 kg Leucaena/day. Yields of solids-not-fat, protein, casein, butterfat and short and medium-chain (C4–C16) fatty acids in milk fat were higher when cows were fed supplements (P < 0·01). Intake of digestible organic matter was lowest on the unsupplemented diets although feed in excess of 40 kg D.M./cow/day was offered and cows had little difficulty harvesting feed with a mean bite size of 350 mg organic matter/bite and mean grazing time of 507 min/24 h.

It was concluded that a tropical grass diet containing 18% crude protein was deficient in protein for lactating cows and that small quantities of the legume Leucaena can alleviate such a deficiency.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , April 1979 , pp. 351 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (1965). Official Methods of Analysis, 10th Edition. Washington, D.C.: Association of Official Agricultural Chemists.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council (1965). The nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock, No. 2, Ruminants. London: Agricultural Research Council.Google Scholar
Burroughs, W., Frank, N. A., Gerlaugh, P. & Bethke, R. M. (1950). Preliminary observation upon factors influencing cellulose digestion by rumen micro-organisms. Journal of Nutrition 40, 9–15.Google Scholar
Campling, R. C., Freer, M. & Balch, C. C. (1962). Factors affecting the voluntary intake of food by cows. 3. The effect of urea on the voluntary intake of straw. British Journal of Nutrition 16, 115–124.Google Scholar
Chacon, E., Stobbs, T. H. & Haydock, P. J. (1977). Technique to estimate leaf and stem contents of oesophageal extrusa samples from cattle. Journal of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science 43, 73–75.Google Scholar
Chacon, E., Stobbs, T. H. & Sandland, R. L. (1976). Estimation of herbage consumption by grazing cattle using measurements of eating behaviour. Journal of the British Grassland Society 31, 81–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, R. T., Davison, T. M. & O'Grady, P. (1977). Influence of level of concentrate feeding on milk production and pasture utilization by Friesian cows grazing tropical grass-legume pasture. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 17, 373–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cribeiro, T. & Ruiz, T. (1976). Utilizacion de la glicine (Glycine wightii) para la produccion de leche. Instituto Ciencia Animal, Cuba, Bulletin, No. 2.Google Scholar
Dubois, M., Gilles, K. A., Hamilton, J. K., Rebers, P. A. & Smith, F. (1956). Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Analytical Chemistry 28, 350–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, K. A., Hemsley, J. A. & Reis, P. J. (1967). Nutrition and wool growth. The effect of protecting dietary protein from microbial degradation in the rumen. Australian Journal of Science and Technology 30, 215–217.Google Scholar
French, M. H. (1957). Nutritional value of tropical grasses and fodders. Herbage Abstracts 27, 1–9.Google Scholar
Glover, J. & Dougall, H. W. (1961). Milk production from pasture. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 56, 261–269.Google Scholar
Hamilton, R. I., Donaldson, L. E. & Lambourne, L. J. (1971). Leucaena leucocephala as a feed for dairy cows: direct effeot on reproduction and residual effect on the calf and lactation. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 22, 681–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardison, W. A. (1966). Chemical composition, nutrient content and potential milk producing capacity of fresh tropical herbage. Dairy Training and Research Institute, University of Phillipines, Research Bulletin, No. 1.Google Scholar
Hegarty, M. P., Court, R. D., Christie, G. S. & Lee, C. P. (1976). Mimosine in Leucaena leucocephala is metabolised to a goitrogen in ruminants. Australian Veterinary Journal 52, 490.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. & Jones, J. G. W. (1964). The efficiency of utilization of fresh grass. Journal of the British Grassland Society 19. 119–129.Google Scholar
Hutton, E. M. & Beattie, W. M. (1976). Yield characteristics in three bred lines of the Leucaena leucocephala. Tropical Grasslands 10, 187–194.Google Scholar
Lancaster, R. J. (1947). The nutritional status of some N.Z. pastures. Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, pp. 125–126.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1976). Nutritional significance of protein in temperate and tropical pastures. In Reviews in Rural Science. II. From Plant to Animal Protein (ed. Sutherland, T. M., McWilliam, J. R. and Leng, R. A.). Armidale N.S.W.: University of New England Printing Unit.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. & McLeod, M. N. (1972). The in vitro technique: Its modifications for estimating digestibility of large numbers of tropical pasture samples. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Division of Tropical Agronomy, Technical Paper, No. 8.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. & Milford, R. (1967). The voluntary intake and digestibility of diets containing different proportions of legume and mature Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens). Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 7, 546–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Northcote, K. H. (1971). A Factual Key for the Recognition of Australian Soils, 3rd edition. Glenside, South Australia: Rellim Technical Publications.Google Scholar
Pomeroy, R. W. (1955). Liveweight growth. In Progress in the Physiology of Farm Animals, vol. 2 (ed. Hammond, J.), pp. 417–418.Google Scholar
Siebert, B. D., Hunter, R. A. & Jones, P. N. (1976). The utilization by beef cattle of sugarcane supplemented with animal protein, plant protein or nonprotein nitrogen and sulphur. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 16, 789–794.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. (1970). Automatic measurement of grazing time by dairy cows on tropical grass and legume pastures. Tropical Grasslands 4, 237–244.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. (1973). The effect of plant structure on the intake of tropical pastures. I. Variation in the bite size of grazing cattle. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 809–819.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. (1976). Milk production per cow and per hectare from tropical pastures. Seminario Int. de Granederia Trop.; F.I.R.A. Acapulco, Mexico, pp. 129–146.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. & Brett, D. J. (1974). Milk yield and the composition of milk and blood as indicators of energy intake by Jersey cows. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 25, 657–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. & Cowper, J. L. (1972). Automatic measurement of the jaw movements of dairy cows during grazing and rumination. Tropical Grasslands 6, 107–112.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H., Minson, D. J. & McLeod, M. N. (1977). The response of dairy cows grazing nitrogen fertilized grass pastures to a supplement of protected casein. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 137–142.Google Scholar
Thomas, J. W. (1971). Protein requirements of milking cows. Journal of Dairy Science 54, 1629–1636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, P. C. (1973). Microbial protein synthesis. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 32, 85–91.Google Scholar
Thornton, R. F. & Minson, D. J. (1973). The relationship between apparent retention time in the rumen voluntary intake and apparent digestibility of legume and grass diets in sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 889–898.Google Scholar
Wohlt, J. E., Sniffen, C. J. & Hoover, W. H. (1973). Measurement of protein solubility in common feed stuffs. Journal of Dairy Science 56, 1052–1057.Google Scholar