The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein
Less than 30% of dairy cattle’s nitrogen ingested is retained in milk. Therefore, large amounts of nitrogen can be excreted in manure and urine with a potential environmental impact. In addition, some legume forages can be more susceptible to proteolysis during the silage process than grasses, and d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/10/2812 |
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| author | Fernando Vicente Douâa Elouadaf Alejandra Sánchez-Vera Ana Soldado Senén De La Torre-Santos Adela Martínez-Fernández |
| author_facet | Fernando Vicente Douâa Elouadaf Alejandra Sánchez-Vera Ana Soldado Senén De La Torre-Santos Adela Martínez-Fernández |
| author_sort | Fernando Vicente |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Less than 30% of dairy cattle’s nitrogen ingested is retained in milk. Therefore, large amounts of nitrogen can be excreted in manure and urine with a potential environmental impact. In addition, some legume forages can be more susceptible to proteolysis during the silage process than grasses, and dairy cows fed these legume silages would excrete a larger quantity of nitrogen in slurry. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the amount of nitrogen excretion in dairy cows fed different protein levels and legume silages with a view to improve the slurry quality as a co-product that can be used as fertilizer. Two double 3 × 3 Latin square trials were carried out in order to study three different protein levels (high, medium, and low) and three different silages (grass, faba bean, and field pea). Dry matter intake, milk production, and composition were not affected by treatments. The excretion of ammonia-N in the urine was almost four times lower in the diet with the lowest protein level. The ammonia-N in the urine was twice as high with the pea silage than faba bean and grass silages. In conclusion, the diet containing 13% of protein meets the protein requirement for lactating cows producing 31 kg daily, with low nitrogen excretion in the urine, and the main pathway for the excretion of surplus nitrogen from legume silages is through urine and the metabolization of pea silage protein goes toward ammonia-N. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:47:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ef3026aca674ac59fda4f1c943fec6f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:47:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ef3026aca674ac59fda4f1c943fec6f2023-11-22T17:09:30ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-09-011110281210.3390/ani11102812The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary ProteinFernando Vicente0Douâa Elouadaf1Alejandra Sánchez-Vera2Ana Soldado3Senén De La Torre-Santos4Adela Martínez-Fernández5Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainServicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainServicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainServicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainServicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainServicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Carretera AS-267, PK. 19, 33300 Villaviciosa, SpainLess than 30% of dairy cattle’s nitrogen ingested is retained in milk. Therefore, large amounts of nitrogen can be excreted in manure and urine with a potential environmental impact. In addition, some legume forages can be more susceptible to proteolysis during the silage process than grasses, and dairy cows fed these legume silages would excrete a larger quantity of nitrogen in slurry. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the amount of nitrogen excretion in dairy cows fed different protein levels and legume silages with a view to improve the slurry quality as a co-product that can be used as fertilizer. Two double 3 × 3 Latin square trials were carried out in order to study three different protein levels (high, medium, and low) and three different silages (grass, faba bean, and field pea). Dry matter intake, milk production, and composition were not affected by treatments. The excretion of ammonia-N in the urine was almost four times lower in the diet with the lowest protein level. The ammonia-N in the urine was twice as high with the pea silage than faba bean and grass silages. In conclusion, the diet containing 13% of protein meets the protein requirement for lactating cows producing 31 kg daily, with low nitrogen excretion in the urine, and the main pathway for the excretion of surplus nitrogen from legume silages is through urine and the metabolization of pea silage protein goes toward ammonia-N.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/10/2812protein levellegume silagesnitrogen excretionammonia-Ndairy cow |
| spellingShingle | Fernando Vicente Douâa Elouadaf Alejandra Sánchez-Vera Ana Soldado Senén De La Torre-Santos Adela Martínez-Fernández The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein Animals protein level legume silages nitrogen excretion ammonia-N dairy cow |
| title | The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein |
| title_full | The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein |
| title_fullStr | The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein |
| title_short | The Dairy Cow Slurry Composition Used as Organic Fertilizer Is Influenced by the Level and Origin of the Dietary Protein |
| title_sort | dairy cow slurry composition used as organic fertilizer is influenced by the level and origin of the dietary protein |
| topic | protein level legume silages nitrogen excretion ammonia-N dairy cow |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/10/2812 |
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