A comparison of two pasture-based dairy production systems for a wetland drumlin soil in the Border Midlands West Region of Ireland

摘要

The objective of Irish production systems in the absence of milk quotas will be to increase milk solids (MS; fat plus protein) production by maximising grass utilisation and milk productivity per unit of available feed (McCarthy et al., 2007). Recentstudies have reported significant milk productivity gains when both stocking rate (SR) and supplementation rate are increased simultaneously within the grazing farm system (Coleman et al. 2010). Such a strategy may be particularly useful on dairy farms with fragmented land holdings with limited capacity for expansion from grazing alone or where grazing efficiency is reduced due to a shorter grass-growing season or impeded land drainage. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the impact of two pasture based systems differing in overall stocking rate and feed supplementation level on grass production and utilisation on a wetland drumlin soil in the Border Midlands West region of Ireland.