September 12, 2025Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia0 citationsOpen Access

Supplemented grazing in Jersey-Holstein cows on two farms in the middle tropics of Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

CBCristian Camilo Solarte Bacca SGSanín Ortiz Grisales FVFernando Morales Vallecilla

Key Points

Cows produced an average milk yield of 16.90 kg cow.day-¹ across two farms, indicating a moderate performance level.
Dry matter intake averaged 14.60 kg cow.day-¹, reflecting the reliance on forage in supplementation strategies.
Cows spent 35.10% of their day grazing, showing significant engagement with grazing behavior over other activities.
With low relative forage values of 85 and 82 for two farms, there's a potential need for better forage management.

Abstract

In Colombia, dairy production systems in the mid-altitude tropics rely on grazing and minimal concentrate supplementation. This approach is primarily driven by cost considerations and the need to avoid forage substitution with concentrates. Using rotational grazing on star grass pastures (Cynodon plectostachyus) and supplementation with commercial concentrates, animal performance was monitored based on milk yield (liters-cow.day-¹) and daily dry matter intake (DMI.day-¹) in Jersey-Holstein (Jer-Hol) cows. The study involved 15 cows per farm, with an average parity of 4 ± 2, at Finca Canadá (FC) (1,500 MASL) and Finca Chiquique (FCH) (980 MASL) in the Valle del Cauca region. Over nine weeks, the grazing behavior of the cows was observed every eight days for 24 hours. On average, across the two environments, cows spent 35.10% of the day grazing (CG), 31.10% ruminating (CR), 22.60% neither grazing nor ruminating (CNGNR), 1.75% drinking (CD), and 9.45% in milking (CM). Bite rate (BR) and chews per bolus (ChB) averaged 23 and 48 per minute, respectively, across both environments. The relative forage value (RFV) was low, at 85 and 82 for FC and FCH, respectively. Milk yield per cow was estimated at 18.00 and 14.80 kg cow.day-¹, with DMI at 15.50 and 13.70 kg cow.day-¹. These values reflect a biological efficiency of 1.16 and 1.08 liters of milk per kilogram of DMI for FC and FCH, respectively.

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