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Browsing by Author "Teets, Christy L."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Dairy Pipeline. June 2017
    Enger, Kellie; Ferreira, Gonzalo; Petersson-Wolfe, Christina S.; Teets, Christy L. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2017-06-22)
    This issue includes an article about the use of antibiotics in the dairy industry, and an article about preventing silage-related injuries and fatalities.
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    Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Affecting Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) Digestibility of Vegetative Tissues in Corn for Silage
    Ferreira, Gonzalo; Thomas, Sarah E.; Teets, Christy L.; Corl, Benjamin A. (MDPI, 2023-07-26)
    Dairy farming requires forages with high neutral detergent fiber (NDF) to maximize milk production, sustain cows’ health, and ensure the economic and environmental sustainability of the dairy farm. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of the brown midrib (BMR) genotype, agronomic environment, and maturity at harvest on the NDF digestibility (NDFD) and the composition of the cell wall of corn plant tissues. In this plot study, one conventional and one BMR corn hybrid were planted and subjected to an abundant (60,000 seeds/ha and 225 kg N/ha) and a limited (90,000 seeds/ha and 180 kg N/ha) environment. The ruminal NDFD was determined in vitro in leaf blades, leaf sheaths, and stem internodes. Cell walls from BMR corn had greater NDFD than cell walls from conventional corn on most tissues. Relative to the abundant environment, the limited environment had minimal effects on NDFD. As maturity advanced, NDFD decreased for various but not all tissues. In conclusion, under the conditions of this study, intrinsic characteristics of corn, such as genotype and maturity at harvest, had a greater effect on NDFD than environment or agronomic management.
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    Performance and income over feed costs when feeding alfalfa or grass hays and corn or wheat grains to high-producing dairy cows
    Ferreira, Gonzalo; Teets, Christy L. (2020-10)
    Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the production performance, nutrient digestibility, and income over feed cost (IOFC) of high-producing dairy cows consuming diets containing alfalfa or grass hays with either corn or wheat grain. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four Holstein cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 diets in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square design with a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments (hay and grain types) and 21-d periods. Diets were formulated using a least-cost approach. To determine revenues from milk produced, the amount of ECM (kg-d(-1)) was multiplied by $0.303-kg(-1) (i.e., class III milk price; US Federal Milk Marketing Order 5). The cost of the ration provided by the formulation software ($-cow(-1).d(-1)) was divided by the predicted DMI (kg-cow(-1)-d(-1)) to obtain the cost of feed ($-kg(-1)), which was then multiplied by DMI (kg-cow(-1).d(-1)) to provide the actual daily feed cost ($.cow(-1).d(-1)). Results and Discussion: Cows consuming diets containing alfalfa hay consumed more DM than cows consuming diets with grass hay (27.1 vs. 24.4 kg-d(-1)). Cows consuming diets containing alfalfa hay produced more milk than cows consuming diets containing grass hay (47.5 vs. 44.7 kg-d(-1)). Milk from cows consuming diets containing grass hay had greater fat concentrations than milk from cows consuming diets containing alfalfa hay (4.22 vs. 3.89%). Using hay prices of $418 and $154-t(-1) respectively, for alfalfa and grass hays, diets containing grass hay resulted in greater IOFC than diets containing alfalfa hay ($8.39-d(-1) vs. $7.68-d(-1), respectively). Implications and Applications: Results of this study showed that IOFC can be supported when feeding grass hay using a least-cost ration formulation approach.
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    Previniendo Accidentes De Trabajadores Rurales Ligados Al Manejo Silajes
    Ferreira, Gonzalo; Teets, Christy L. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2017-07-24)
    This Spanish language version of Preventing Silage-related Injuries and Fatalities Among Farm Workers (DASC-103), discusses safety precautions that workers can take when working at silos.
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    Ruminal Fiber Degradation Kinetics within and among Warm-Season Annual Grasses as Affected by the Brown Midrib Mutation
    Ferreira, Gonzalo; Galyon, Hailey; Silva-Reis, Ayelen I.; Pereyra, Agustin A.; Richardson, Emily S.; Teets, Christy L.; Blevins, Phil; Cockrum, Rebecca R.; Aguerre, Matías J. (MDPI, 2022-09-22)
    The objective of this study was to compare the nutritional composition and the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) degradation kinetics of brown midrib (BMR) and non-BMR genotypes within and across warm-season annual grasses. Four commercial varieties (two non-BMR and two BMR) of corn, sorghum, and pearl millet were planted in plots. Forage samples were incubated in the rumen of three rumen-cannulated cows for 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, and 240 h. On an NDF basis, all forage types showed lower acid detergent lignin (ADL) concentrations for BMR genotypes, but the magnitude of the difference differed among forage types. The concentration of undegraded NDF (uNDF; NDF basis) differed among forage types and between genotypes. Corn had the least, pearl millet had the intermediate, and sorghum had the greatest concentration of uNDF. Non-BMR genotypes had greater concentrations of uNDF than BMR genotypes. No interaction existed between forage type and genotype for the concentration of uNDF. In conclusion, although BMR forages may show lower ADL concentrations in the cell wall and greater NDF degradability than non-BMR forages of the same forage type, BMR forages do not always have the least ADL concentration or the greatest NDF degradability when comparing different forage types.