Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

and soybeans) used to manufacture concentrates that are usually beyond
their reach.
Fresh C. argentea, with 3 months regrowth, presents, on average,
19.9% CP and 53.4% IVDMD (Table 3). This last value agrees with that
reported by Lascano (1995), but differs from those found by Perdomo (1991)
and Xavier and Carvalho (1995). In ensiled C. argentea, the average values
of CP (14.7%) and IVDMD (40.6%) were slightly lower than those of fresh
Cratylia; this level of PC, however, fulfills the requirements of the animals
used in the trial.
Table 3. Nutritional composition of fresh and ensiled Cratylia argentea
(ECAG, Costa Rica).
Evaluation periods Fresh Cratylia argentea Ensiled Cratylia argentea
CP IVDMD CP IVDMD
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
I 19.2 56.0 15.3 40.4
II 19.1 50.2 15.2 40.3
III 21.4 54.1 13.6 41.1
Average 19.9 53.4 14.7 40.6
Production Costs
Costs were calculated based on the costs appearing in Table 4. The
biomass production of Cratylia at 3 months regrowth when plants reach
their best leaf:stem ratio and produce larger amounts of edible material,
thus reducing labor costs.
Table 4. Feeding costs and milk components in cows fed concentrate and
two forms of Cratylia argentea at 3 months regrowth (ECAG, Costa
Rica).
Treatment Cost
Milk components
($/kg)
(%)
Fat Protein Lactose TSa NFSb Concentrate 0.21 5.85 6.15 4.30 1.67 2.33
Fresh Cratylia 0.17 4.56 5.19 3.48 1.35 1.92
Ensiled Cratylia
a. TS = Total solids.
b. NSF = Non-fat solids.
0.18 4.63 5.48 3.71 1.41 2.03
Calculations considered the following costs per kg product on offer:
concentrate (processed at the ECAG plant), semolina, sugarcane, fresh C.
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