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Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

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Table 3. Actual and predicted milk yield using the CNCPS model for the<br />

different trials at Quilichao, Colombia.<br />

Trial Predicted milk Actual milk yield<br />

yield Energy Protein<br />

Intermediate s<strong>to</strong>cking rate (3 AU/ha)<br />

+ Sugarcane 6.0 4.9 1.4<br />

+ 75% sugarcane + 25% legume 6.5 6.5 7.4<br />

+ 50% sugarcane + 50% legume 6.4 4.5 5.1<br />

+ 25% sugarcane + 75% legume 6.6 1.9 3.1<br />

Low s<strong>to</strong>cking rate (2 AU/ha)<br />

+ Sugarcane 7.9 7.3 7.9<br />

+ Sugarcane + legume 8.2 8.1 8.1<br />

High s<strong>to</strong>cking rate (4 AU/ha)<br />

+ Sugarcane 6.1 6.4 6.3<br />

+ Sugarcane + legume 7.0 7.5 8.0<br />

Based on the Quilichao results, several hypotheses can be drawn:<br />

• Cows were selecting B. decumbens <strong>with</strong> a higher CP content than actual<br />

lab results.<br />

• Digestion rates for carbohydrate and protein fractions used were wrong.<br />

• Information about the pool sizes is inadequate.<br />

In addition, Table 4 presents the level of urea nitrogen found in milk<br />

(MUN) as well as the level predicted by the model. The difference could be<br />

due <strong>to</strong> the soluble protein level in the diet, which was higher than the<br />

CNCPS prediction.<br />

Because of the slow digestion rates associated <strong>with</strong> the B3 protein<br />

fraction, the CNCPS predicts that the neutral detergent insoluble protein<br />

(NDIP) makes little contribution <strong>to</strong> the rumen N pool. However, the NDIP<br />

contribution of tropical grasses <strong>to</strong> rumen N balance may be higher than that<br />

predicted by the CNCPS model. Thus, hypotheses (2) and (3) are probably<br />

valid.<br />

Increasing the CP content in the diet does not increase the protein<br />

available for milk yields in the same proportion because both the B.<br />

decumbens and the Cratylia diets are energy-deficient. However, the model<br />

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