Browsing by Author "Navarrete S"

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    Dairy Cows Grazing Plantain-Based Pastures Have Increased Urine Patches and Reduced Urine N Concentration That Potentially Decreases N Leaching from a Pastoral System
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-02-02) Nguyen TT; Navarrete S; Horne D; Donaghy D; Bryant RH; Kemp P; De La Fuente G
    The objective of this study was to determine the effect of grazing plantain-based pastures on urine volume, urination frequency, and urinary nitrogen (UN) concentration of dairy cows under a typical pastoral dairy practice offering approximately 25% supplemented feeds. The experiment was a completely randomised design with three pasture treatments (perennial ryegrass-white clover (RGWC); RGWC + low plantain rate (PLL); and RGWC + high plantain rate (PLH)), five replicate plots, and repeated in two sequential grazing periods. Forty-five lactating Friesian × Jersey cows were randomly assigned into three groups of 15 animals each to graze over six days in adaptation paddocks and three days in experimental plots. Urine flow sensors were used to measure urine volume and urinary frequency, while spot urine sampling was conducted to determine nitrogen (N) concentration in cow urine. The results showed that including 25% plantain in the diet (PLH) increased daily urine volume by 44% and the daily number of urinations by 28%, compared to grazing the RGWC pasture. In addition, N concentration in cow urine was decreased by 18 and 29% when the diet contained 18% and 25% plantain, respectively. In conclusion, under a typical dairy farm practice, incorporating plantain into the RGWC pasture with the proportion of 25% plantain in the diet can increase the number of urine patches and reduce the concentration of N in the urine, thereby providing the opportunity to decrease N leaching from pastoral systems.
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    Forage plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.): Meta-analysis quantifying the decrease in nitrogen excretion, the increase in milk production, and the changes in milk composition of dairy cows grazing pastures containing plantain
    (Elsevier B.V., 2022-03-01) Nguyen TT; Navarrete S; Horne DJ; Donaghy DJ; Kemp PD
    Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L) has been increasingly used as a forage component in dairy grazing systems due to its capacity to reduce nitrogen (N) losses, while improving or maintaining milk production. A meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the effect of plantain on milk production and urinary nitrogen (UN) excretion by dairy cows. The main outcomes of this analysis included the yield, solids (fat + protein), protein and fat components of milk, and N concentration in urine, daily urine volume, and total UN excretion by dairy cows. Overall, grazing pastures containing plantain significantly increased milk yield (weighted mean difference (WMD) = 1.02 kg/cow/day, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.55–1.46), milk solids yield (WMD = 0.07 kg/cow/day, 95% CI = 0.02–0.12), and milk protein yield (WMD = 23.4 g/cow/day, 95% CI = 11.3–35.5), maintained milk protein concentration and milk fat yield, but reduced milk fat concentration (WMD = −0.24%, 95% CI = −0.31 to −0.17). Feeding pastures containing plantain reduced total UN excretion by 22% (95% CI = 15–28), which was associated with a decrease of 30% in UN concentration (95% CI = 20–38) and an increase of 17% in daily urine volume (95% CI = 7–29). Subgroup analysis showed that cows grazing pastures containing plantain had a significantly higher milk yield in late lactation (WMD = 1.4 kg/cow/day, 95% CI = 0.8–1.9), but a similar milk yield in early lactation, compared to grazing control pastures. In addition, meta-regression analysis found statistical associations between the content of plantain in the diet and N concentration in urine (P < 0.001), daily urine volume (P < 0.001), and total UN excretion (P = 0.036). The results suggest that incorporating plantain into grazing pastures is a potential strategy for improving farm productivity, while reducing the environmental impact of dairy farms.
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    Incorporating Plantain with Perennial Ryegrass-White Clover in a Dairy Grazing System: Dry Matter Yield, Botanical Composition, and Nutritive Value Response to Sowing Rate, Plantain Content and Season
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-11-09) Nguyen TT; Navarrete S; Horne DJ; Donaghy DJ; Kemp PD
    Incorporating plantain with perennial ryegrass and white clover (RGWC) can improve the quality and quantity of grazing pastures; however, the sowing rate could affect the persistence of plantain, pasture yield, and nutritive value in different seasons. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing sowing rates of plantain when established with RGWC on the dry matter (DM) yield, botanical composition, nutritive value, and bioactive compounds of the pasture over the first two years after sowing; and to determine the relationship between plantain content and nutritive characteristics in different seasons. The pasture treatments were RGWC, RGWC + low plantain rate (PLL), RGWC + medium plantain rate (PLM), and RGWC + high plantain rate (PLH). The results showed that annual DM yield was similar between treatments. The average plantain content (including leaves and reproductive stem) was 32, 44, and 48% in PLL, PLM, and PLH, respectively. The plantain composition increased in the first 15 months, then declined rapidly to about 20–30% at day 705 after sowing. Compared with RGWC, the plantain-RGWC pastures (PLL, PLM, PLH) had a higher content of organic matter digestibility (OMD), ash, starch, non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), P, S, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, Zn, B, Co, aucubin, acteoside, and catalpol, while they contained a lower composition of DM%, acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), crude fat (CF), Fe, and Mn. These differences were linearly associated with the content of plantain leaves in the pasture and were higher in summer and autumn than in spring. In conclusion, incorporating plantain into the RGWC pasture can improve herbage nutritive quality, thus potentially increasing farm productivity and environmental benefits. However, further work is required to investigate management interventions to sustain plantain content beyond two years from sowing.
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    Nitrogen Excretion by Dairy Cows Grazing Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Based Pastures during the Lactating Season
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-02-14) Navarrete S; Rodriguez M; Horne D; Hanly J; Hedley M; Kemp P
    The use of plantain pasture in dairy systems can potentially reduce nitrogen (N) leaching losses via the lower N concentration in the urine (UNc) of cows. Reducing the urinary N load while cows graze pastures can reduce the risk of N leaching losses from urine patches. Research needs to demonstrate that these environmental benefits are not at the expense of milk production and farm profit. Three groups of 20 cows grazed in the following three pasture treatments: (i) plantain, (ii) plantain-clover mix (plantain, red [Trifolium pratense] and white clover), or (iii) ryegrass-white clover (wc) pastures, from spring to autumn for two years. Each year, pasture intake, diet quality, milk production and animal N (milk and urine) excretion were evaluated in spring, summer, and autumn. The cows grazing the plantain and plantain-clover mix pastures produced similar milk solids as cows grazing ryegrass-wc pasture but reduced their UNc during summer and autumn, when compared to those grazing the plantain-clover mix and ryegrass-wc pastures. Plantain reduced urinary N loads onto pastures by a greater number of urine patches with lower urinary N loading rates. The results demonstrate that plantain pastures do not diminish milk solids production from cows, and the lower UNc from summer to autumn could reduce N being lost to the environment.