Effects of replacing Brachiaria hay with either Desmodium intortum or dairy concentrate on animal performance and enteric methane emissions of low-yielding dairy cows

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Melbourneen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationAgroscopeen_US
cg.contributor.crpLivestocken_US
cg.contributor.donorFederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germanyen_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.contributor.donorAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Researchen_US
cg.contributor.donorIrish Aiden_US
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Unionen_US
cg.contributor.donorInternational Fund for Agricultural Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.initiativeLow-Emission Food Systemsen_US
cg.contributor.initiativeLivestock and Climateen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.creator.identifierDaniel Korir Sitienei: 0000-0002-1356-8039en_US
cg.creator.identifierJohn Goopy: 0000-0001-7177-1310en_US
cg.creator.identifierClaudia Arndt: 0000-0002-6276-1097en_US
cg.creator.identifierLutz Merbold: 0000-0003-4974-170Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierSvenja Marquardt: 0000-0003-2193-442Xen_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2022.963323en_US
cg.issn2673-6225en_US
cg.journalFrontiers in Animal Scienceen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.actionAreaSystems Transformationen_US
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systemsen_US
cg.subject.ilriANIMAL FEEDINGen_US
cg.subject.ilriCROP-LIVESTOCKen_US
cg.subject.ilriDAIRYINGen_US
cg.subject.ilriFORAGESen_US
cg.subject.ilriLIVESTOCKen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaClimate adaptation and mitigationen_US
cg.volume3en_US
dc.contributor.authorKorir, Danielen_US
dc.contributor.authorEckard, Richarden_US
dc.contributor.authorGoopy, John P.en_US
dc.contributor.authorArndt, Claudiaen_US
dc.contributor.authorMerbold, Lutzen_US
dc.contributor.authorMarquardt, Svenjaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-22T08:22:28Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-08-22T08:22:28Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/120583en_US
dc.titleEffects of replacing Brachiaria hay with either Desmodium intortum or dairy concentrate on animal performance and enteric methane emissions of low-yielding dairy cowsen_US
dcterms.abstractIn Africa, cattle are often fed low quality tropical roughages resulting in low-yielding animals with high methane (CH4) emission intensity (EI, g CH4/per unit of product). Supplementation with protein is known to improve the nutritive value of the otherwise low-quality diets. However, animal nutrition studies in East Africa that are accompanied by CH4 emission measurements are lacking. Thus, an animal experiment was conducted to quantify the effect of supplementing cattle fed mainly on low-quality Urochloa brizantha hay (control diet; CON; crude protein (CP) = 7.4%) or supplemented with either a tannin-rich leguminous fodder, Desmodium intortum hay (DES) or a commercial dairy concentrate (CUBES) on voluntary dry matter intake (DMI), nutrient apparent total tract digestibility, nitrogen (N) retention, enteric CH4 production and animal performance (milk and average daily gain). Twelve mid-lactating crossbred (Friesian × Boran) cows (initial liveweight = 335 kg) were used in a 3×3 (Period × Diet) Latin square design with each period running for four weeks. Compared to CON, DES decreased nutrient (DM, OM, CP) intake, apparent total tract digestibility and daily milk yield. In contrast, CUBES increased nutrient intake and animal performance compared to CON, while nutrients’ apparent total tract digestibility was not different, except for CP digestibility that increased. Compared to CON, DES and CUBES improved overall N retention by the animals as a proportion of N intake. The DES diet compared with CON and CUBES, shifted the proportion of N excretion via urine to the fecal route, likely because of its tannin content. Both DES and CUBES, compared to CON, reduced methane yield (MY, g CH4/kg DMI) by 15% and 9%, respectively. The DES diet reduced absolute enteric CH4 emissions by 26% while CUBES increased emissions by 11% compared to CON. Based on the present findings, high supplementation levels (>50%) of Desmodium intortum hay is not recommended especially when the basal diet is low in CP content. Supplementation with lower levels of better managed Desmodium intortum forage however, need to be investigated to establish optimal inclusion levels that will improve animal productivity and reduce environmental impact of livestock in smallholder tropical contexts.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2022-08-17en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationKorir, D., Eckard, R., Goopy, J., Arndt, C., Merbold, L. and Marquardt, S. 2022. Effects of replacing Brachiaria hay with either Desmodium intortum or dairy concentrate on animal performance and enteric methane emissions of low-yielding dairy cows. Frontiers in Animal Science 3:963323.en_US
dcterms.issued2022-08-17en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dcterms.subjectanimal feedingen_US
dcterms.subjectforageen_US
dcterms.subjectmilk productionen_US
dcterms.subjecttanninsen_US
dcterms.subjectbrachiariaen_US
dcterms.subjectdairy cowsen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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