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Multi-species pastures for grazing dairy cows in small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of Mexico

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Abstract

Grazing in small-scale dairy systems reduces costs and enhances sustainability. However, binary pastures (BP) have low persistency, which may be increased by including more species given their flexibility to withstand different agroecological and management situations. The objective was to assess a multi-species (MS) pasture of perennial ryegrass (RG), tall fescue (TF), bromegrass (BG), red clover (RC) and white clover (WC) in comparison to a BP of perennial ryegrass (RG) – WC grazed by six Holstein dairy cows during the dry season in an on-farm double cross-over experiment, with three 14-day each experimental periods for animal variables, and a split-plot design for pasture variables at 3 cow/ha. There were differences (P < 0.05) between pastures for sward height (MS 5.0 vs. BP 4.0 ± 0.10 cm, both MS and BP) and net herbage accumulation (MS 902 vs BP 228 ± 172.4 kg DM/ha, both MS and BP) and differences (P < 0.05) for chemical composition among periods. There were differences (P < 0.01) among periods for estimated DM intake, but no differences (P > 0.05) for milk yield (mean 16.8 kg/cow/day), milk fat or protein content (mean 31.8 and 28.8 g/kg). Multi-species pastures are a viable alternative for SSDS in the highlands of central Mexico, being more resistant to harsh environment and to weed and kikuyu grass invasion.

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Acknowledgements

Authors express gratitude to the farmer and his family who participated in this experiment, whose privacy is respected by not disclosing their names. This work was undertaken thanks to funding the by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) through grant UAEM 4487/2018/CI and the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT – Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología) for the postgraduate grant for Mónica Muciño-Álvarez. Our appreciation also to Ms. Laura Edith Martínez-Contreras for her assistance in laboratory analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Rurales (ICAR), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Campus UAEM El Cerrillo, El Cerrillo Piedras Blancas, 50090, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico

    Mónica Muciño-Álvarez, Felipe López-González & Carlos M. Arriaga-Jordán

  2. Centro Universitario UAEM Temascaltepec, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Carretera Toluca-Tejupilco Km.67.5, C.P. 52300, Temascaltepec, Mexico

    Benito Albarrán-Portillo

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  1. Mónica Muciño-Álvarez
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  2. Benito Albarrán-Portillo
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  3. Felipe López-González
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  4. Carlos M. Arriaga-Jordán
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Correspondence to Carlos M. Arriaga-Jordán.

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The paper reports an on-farm experiment undertaken with the active participation of a collaborating farmer who had knowledge of the objectives of the work and was duly informed at all times, and his privacy and that of his family is respected by not disclosing their names. On-farm research with collaborating farmers and experimental methods with dairy cows followed accepted research procedures by Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

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Muciño-Álvarez, M., Albarrán-Portillo, B., López-González, F. et al. Multi-species pastures for grazing dairy cows in small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of Mexico. Trop Anim Health Prod 53, 113 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-021-02564-y

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