COMPARISON OF TMR AND PMR FEEDING SYSTEMS

Abstract. The paper analyzes the effectiveness of TMR and PMR feeding systems. A single 65 cows herd was kept in a free-standing milk house and fed the TMR mix. The cows of daily yield above 20 kg received 2 kg of PMR feed per 5 kg of milk yield. The study was conducted over four months. The feed consisted of corn and hay silage. During September and October of 2009 (the fall period) the feed was augmented with fresh grass and during November and December (the winter period) with larger amounts of hay silage. The basic feeding ration was set for the milk yield of 20 kg. The average daily yield of the herd varied between 26 and 28.5 kg, while the individual yield – between 8 and 55 kg. Once a month each individual feeding ration was examined for sufficient energy and protein content. This analysis used milk urea and protein content as indicators. Twenty five percent of the herd had yield below 20 kg and this was the TMR group. It showed the balanced energy and protein levels in only 15 % cows during the fall and 40 % during winter. Insufficient protein level affected 50 % and only 8 % over the fall and winter periods, respectively. Energy deficiency was similar in fall and in winter and concerned 33 % of the group. The cows of high yield (over 20 kg, 75 % of the herd, the PMR group) showed balanced energy and protein levels among 30 % of the group in both feeding periods. Protein deficiency was observed in 35 % of the group during fall and in 14 % during winter. Energy deficiency showed among 15 % of the group in the fall and among 33 % during the winter period. Lower yield cows benefited more from the winter feeding. Higher yields, too, benefited more from the winter feeding, but only with respect to protein levels. Energy-wise the high yielding cows were better off in the fall. Key words: feeding systems, TMR, PMR