Table 5.
Expected dry matter intakes, metabolizable energy (ME) allowable milk production, and feed energy balances throughout the calving interval for all parity cows in Genesisa herds calving in the early dry season (October 1) fed good quality harvested forage during lactation and harvested forage supplemented by sorghum grain during the cow’s dry period
| Item | Lactation | Dry period | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | Mid | Late | Early | Late | |
| Forage season | Early dry | Late dry | Early rains | Late rains | Early dry |
| Primiparous cows | |||||
| Dry matter intake (DMI), kg/day | |||||
| High quality harvested forageb | 4.4 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 8.5 | 5.7 |
| Supplementc | 3.9 | 3.1 | 4.8 | ||
| Sorghumd | 2.2 | ||||
| Total DMI, kg/day | 8.3 | 10.5 | 9.7 | 8.5 | 7.9 |
| ME allowable milk production, kg/daye | 12.2 | 9.9 | 7.0 | ||
| ME allowable growth, kg/dayf | 0.27 | 0.27 | |||
| Feed energy balance, Mcal ME/dayg | −1.7 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Second parity cows | |||||
| Dry matter intake (DMI), kg/day | |||||
| High quality harvested forageb | 4.4 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 7.7 | 7.8 |
| Supplementc | 4.2 | 3.3 | 5.0 | ||
| Sorghumd | 0.4 | 1.5 | |||
| Total DMI, kg/day | 9.1 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 8.1 | 9.3 |
| ME allowable milk production, kg/daye | 13.0 | 10.5 | 7.4 | ||
| ME allowable growth, kg/dayf | 0.78 | 0.36 | |||
| Feed energy balance, Mcal ME/dayg | −1.8 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Multiparous cows | |||||
| Dry matter intake (DMI), kg/day | |||||
| High quality harvested forageb | 4.4 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 7.9 | 8.8 |
| Supplementc | 4.4 | 3.5 | 5.2 | ||
| Sorghumd | 0.5 | ||||
| Total DMI, kg/day | 10.4 | 12.2 | 11.0 | 7.9 | 9.3 |
| ME allowable milk production, kg/daye | 15.1 | 12.4 | 9.2 | ||
| Feed energy balance, Mcal ME/dayg | −2.2 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
aThe Genesis farmer organization is part of a larger association called Grupo Ganadero para la Validación y Transferencia de Tecnología (Cattlemen’s Validation and Technology Transfer Group)
bHarvested forage was assumed to have the same chemical composition as Andropogon gayanus of season two; it could be fed as hay or silage.
cForage-based diets supplemented with poultry manure, molasses and commercial concentrate (amounts shown in Table 8 in Absalón-Medina 2008)
dSorghum chemical information is from CNCPS v. 6.0 Tropical feed library
ePredicted 270-day lactation milk production for first parity, second parity and mature cows was 2,614, 2,768 and 3,303 kg, respectively.
fGrowth was assumed to be enabled (could occur) after recovery of initial BW and BCS at calving
gFeed energy balance = feed energy supply (intake) minus total energy requirements for maintenance, lactation, pregnancy and growth (if enabled). A negative value during lactation represents the expected amount of ME supplied from catabolized body tissues to support milk synthesis. Positive feed energy balance signifies the amount of dietary ME available for tissue repletion (and growth). During late gestation (dry period), a negative value signifies a dietary energy deficit, which means diverting maternal tissue energy to the fetal unit