Beheersgraskuil als voeder voor melkgevende koeien = Grassilage form nature conservation areas as forage for lactating dairy cows

The response of lactating dairy cows on diets with varying ratio’s of common grass silage (approx. 6.2 MJ NEL/kg DM) and grass silage from nature conservation areas (approx. 4.8 MJ NEL/kg DM) was studied in a feeding trial with 36 HF dairy cows. If grass silage from nature conservation areas is harvested under good conditions and well conserved, a “nature grass silage” / “common grass silage” ratio of 25/75 (on DM basis) does not reduce feed intake compared to 100% common grass silage. Intake of “nature grass silage” in the experiment was higher than expectations based on the satiety value of the forage. Total intake of NEL decreases, when common grass silage is replaced by nature grass silage. As a consequence, milk yield is reduced. However, negative milk performance effects of feeding nature grass silage are overestimated in common practice, because of the compensating effect of nature grass silage on feed intake