Table 1.
Mean number of lactating cows, parity, replacement rate and ration composition of studied dairy farms (n = 25) in northwestern Spain according to type of forage used for feeding dairy cattle.
| PB Farms | GR-TMR | C-TMR | GR/C-TMR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cows | 57.8 | 52.3 | 137.2 | 93.6 |
| Parity number | 4.4 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
| Replacement rate | 24.8 | 28.3 | 37.7 | 32.2 |
| Daily ration composition (kg/cow) | ||||
| Fresh forage | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grass silage | 3.6 | 9.6 | 2.4 | 5.1 |
| Corn silage | 2.9 | 3.0 | 11.0 | 8.5 |
| Hay | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| Concentrate | 5.1 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.1 |
PB: pasture-based farms; GR-TMR: grass silage-based total mixed ration; C-TMR: corn silage-based total mixed ration; GR/C-TMR: grass/corn silage-based total mixed ration.