Effect of Feeding Improved Grass Hays and <i>Eragrostis tef</i> Straw Silage on Milk Yield, Nitrogen Utilization, and Methane Emission of Lactating Fogera Dairy Cows in Ethiopia
Shigdaf Mekuriaw,
Atsushi Tsunekawa,
Toshiyoshi Ichinohe,
Firew Tegegne,
Nigussie Haregeweyn,
Nobuyuki Kobayashi,
Asaminew Tassew,
Yeshambel Mekuriaw,
Misganaw Walie,
Mitsuru Tsubo,
Toshiya Okuro,
Derege Tsegaye Meshesha,
Mulugeta Meseret,
Laiju Sam,
Veerle Fievez
Affiliations
Shigdaf Mekuriaw
United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences (UGSAS), 4-101 Koyama-Minami Tottori-shi, Tottori University, Tottori 680-8553, Japan
Atsushi Tsunekawa
Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan
Toshiyoshi Ichinohe
Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, Matsue, Shimane 690-8504, Japan
Firew Tegegne
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Nigussie Haregeweyn
International Platform for Dry Land Research and Education, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan
Nobuyuki Kobayashi
Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan
Asaminew Tassew
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Yeshambel Mekuriaw
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Misganaw Walie
Amhara Region Agricultural Research Institute, Andassa Livestock Research Center, P.O. Box 27, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Mitsuru Tsubo
Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, 1390 Hamasaka, Tottori 680-0001, Japan
Toshiya Okuro
Laboratory of Landscape Ecology and Planning, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Derege Tsegaye Meshesha
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Mulugeta Meseret
Amhara Region Agricultural Research Institute, Andassa Livestock Research Center, P.O. Box 27, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Laiju Sam
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 5501, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Veerle Fievez
Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium
The nutritionally imbalanced poor-quality diet feeding is the major constraint of dairy production in tropical regions. Hence, alternative high-quality roughage-based diets are required to improve milk yield and reduce methane emission (CH4). Thus, we tested the effects of feeding natural pasture hay, improved forage grass hays (Napier and Brachiaria Hybrid), and treated crop residues (Eragrostis tef straw) on nutrient digestibility, milk yield, nitrogen balance, and methane emission. The eight lactating Fogera cows selected for the experiment were assigned randomly to a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Cows were housed in well-ventilated individual pens and fed a total mixed ration (TMR) comprising 70% roughage and 30% concentrate. The four roughage-based basal dietary treatments supplemented with formulated concentrate were: Control (natural pasture hay (NPH)); treated teff straw silage (TTS); Napier grass hay (NGH); and Brachiaria hybrid grass hay (BhH). Compared with the control diet, the daily milk yield increased (p p = 0.01) than that of NPH (6.21 kg/d). Nitrogen digestibility increased (p ) from the NPH diet to TTS (by 27.7%), NGH (21.7%), and BhH (39.5%). The concentration of ruminal ammonia nitrogen was higher for cows fed NGH than other diets (p = 0.01) and positively correlated with plasma urea nitrogen concentration (R² = 0.45). Feeding TTS, NGH, and BhH hay as a basal diet changed the nitrogen excretion pathway from urine to feces, which can help protect against environmental pollution. Estimated methane yields per dry matter intake and milk yield were decreased in dairy cows fed BhH, NGH, and TTS diets when compared to cows fed an NPH diet (p < 0.05). In conclusion, feeding of TTS, NGH, and BhH roughages as a basal diet to lactating dairy cows in tropical regions improved nutrient intake and digestibility, milk yield, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and reduced enteric methane emission.
