Including ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud) in the diet of dairy cows: effects on production performance, milk composition, rumen fermentation, and nutrient digestion

Figures & data

Table 1. Compositions and nutrient levels of the experimental diets (DM).

Items	Diet^a
	CON	MS1	MS2
Ingredient (% of total DM)
Corn silage	45.0	37.0	29.0
Alfalfa hay	4.0	2.0	0
Mixed silage	0	10.0	20.0
Oat hay	1.0	1.0	1.0
Sugar beet meal	5.0	5.0	5.0
Corn grain	16.4	16.4	16.4
Soybean meal	18.8	18.8	18.8
Wheat meal	4.50	4.50	4.50
DDGS^b	2.0	2.0	2.0
Cottonseed meal	1.0	1.0	1.0
NaHCO3	0.3	0.3	0.3
CaCO3	0.7	0.7	0.7
NaCl	0.3	0.3	0.3
Premix^c	1.0	1.0	1.0
Total	100	100	100
Nutrient levels
DM (%)	58.1	58.3	58.0
CP (% of DM)	16.7	16.5	16.4
NDF (% of DM)	36.2	36.4	36.4
ADF (% of DM)	21.3	21.5	21.9

^aCON: control diet; MS1: diet in which 10% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage; MS2: diet in which 20% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage.

^bDDGS: distillers dried grains with soluble.

^cThe premix contained the following per kg: 9000 mg of CuSO₄, 4300 mg of FeSO₄·H₂O, 31,000 mg of ZnSO₄·H₂O, 90 mg of CoCl, 130 mg of Na₂SeO₃, 900,000 U VA, 180,000 U VD, 25,000 mg VE, 22,000 mg nicotinic acid.

DM: dry matter; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre.

Table 2. Effects of mixed silage diets on DMI, milk yield, and milk composition.

Items	CON	MS1	MS2	SEM	p Value
					Linear	Quadratic
DMI (kg/day)	23.61	22.28	22.80	1.35	.56	.44
Milk yield (kg/day)	23.05^a	20.70^ab	19.00^b	1.05	.01	.80
3.5% FCM yield (kg/day)	19.61	18.18	21.03	0.99	.32	.09
Milk protein percentage (%)	3.15	3.20	3.16	0.11	.93	.76
Milk fat percentage (%)	2.58^b	2.75^b	4.16^a	0.27	<.01	.08
Milk lactose percentage (%)	5.14^a	4.98^a	4.47^b	0.15	.01	.34
MUN (mg/dL)	14.43	13.25	14.23	0.64	.85	.20
Milk somatic cell count (10^3 mL^−1)	84.50	39.13	44.00	18.63	.17	.30
Total solids (%)	11.29^b	11.41^b	12.35^a	0.29	.03	.28

^a,bWithin a row, means with different superscripts are different (p < .05).

CON: control diet; MS1: diet in which 10% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage; MS2: diet in which 20% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage.

DMI: dry matter intake; FCM: fat-corrected milk; MUN: milk urea nitrogen.

Table 3. Effects of mixed silage diets on rumen fermentation parameters.

Items	CON	MS1	MS2	SEM	p Value
					Linear	Quadratic
pH	5.77^b	6.13^a	6.33^a	0.11	.01	.58
NH3-N (mg/100 mL)	15.52	15.42	15.80	2.13	.98	.90
Total VFA (μmol/mL)	102.00	90.73	96.80	6.25	.27	.96
Molar (%)
Acetate	63.79	64.73	65.00	1.44	.68	.69
Propionate	23.53	22.22	21.16	2.20	.71	.55
Butyrate	11.14	11.36	12.19	1.04	.90	.50
Valerate	1.53	1.70	1.66	0.14	.46	.82
Acetate: propionate	2.83	3.01	3.16	0.36	.75	.62

^a,bWithin a row, means with different superscripts are different (p < .05).

CON: control diet; MS1: diet in which 10% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage; MS2: diet in which 20% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage.

Table 4. Effects of mixed silage diets on apparent total-tract digestibility of nutrients.

Items	CON	MS1	MS2	SEM	p Value
					Linear	Quadratic
DM (%)	70.21^b	79.45^a	76.21^a	1.74	.04	.02
CP (%)	81.42^a	78.49^ab	77.83^b	1.09	.05	.42
EE (%)	87.61	85.73	88.76	3.15	.80	.54
NDF (%)	55.18	56.73	57.19	1.94	.48	.82
ADF (%)	52.70	55.30	53.46	2.10	.80	.41

^a,bWithin a row, means with different superscripts are different (p < .05).

CON: control diet; MS1: diet in which 10% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage; MS2: diet in which 20% of total alfalfa and corn silage was replaced by mixed silage.

DM: dry matter; CP: crude protein; EE: ether extract; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre.