Conserved grassland forage – is the composition of cow's milk influenced by feeding silage compared to hay?

This study aimed to investigate the impact of feeding either silage or hay (harvested from the same parent plant material) on cow's milk composition. Numerous milk constituents (e.g., protein fractions, free amino acids, amines, fatty acid profile, B-vitamins, vitamin E) were analyzed. Results showed that crude protein content was only numerically higher in hay milk compared to silage milk (3.11 and 2.92 %, respectively). Free amino acids showed hardly any differences with values for sum of free essential amino acids of 6.50 and 5.09 mg L⁻¹for hay milk and silage milk, respectively. For vitamin B1, B2and B6, no differences were found. Vitamin B12and vitamin E were significantly higher in silage milk (3.83 μg L⁻¹and 0.39 mg L⁻¹, respectively) compared to hay milk (2.50 μg L⁻¹and 0.26 mg L⁻¹, respectively). Fatty acid profile was comparable for both types of milk, and sensory analysis showed only minor differences.

Universität für Bodenkultur