Oat and barley based concentrate supplements for dairy cows

The study comprises two experiments with a total of 34 cows fed a basal diet of mainly grass silage and supplemented with barley-based versus oat-based concentrates (Expt 1) or oat-based concentrate containing, regular versus high fat oat (Expt 2). The cows were given net energy expressed as Feed Unit milk (FEm) based on requirements for maintenance and daily milk yield recorded the last week prior to the start of each experiment. Feeding of oat-based concentrates resulted in higher (P < 0.05) yields of milk and milk protein with lower (P < 0.05) milk fat and protein concentrations, increased (P < 0.05) content of C18:0, C18:1 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and decreased (P < 0.05) content of C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0 fatty acids in milk fat. Replacing regular oat with high fat oat (Expt 2) increased (P < 0.05) milk production, energy corrected milk (ECM), protein and lactose with increased (P < 0.05) proportion of C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2c9t11 (CLA) and decreased (P < 0.05) proportion of C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0 fatty acid in milk fat.