OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF LUCERNE-BASED FEEDING TO MAXIMIZE MILK YIELD AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY - FAHIMA NABI; HAMIDA SADJI-AIT KACI; Dahbia Kechad; Mohamed Zadi; Lamia Boudella; ASSIA CHAKER HADDADJ; MERIEM CHEBAANI (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2026)
The quality of forage, a key factor in livestock feed selection, is now a major development objective to ensure food security, nutrition, and human health. It also represents a sustainable intensification of livestock farming systems. Two experiments were conducted to assess the effects of forage type and lucerne growth stage on milk yield and physicochemical composition. In the first experiment, 25 cows were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments (n = 5 cows per treatment) including: (i) green barley + oat hay as the control, reflecting standard farm practice; green lucerne + oat hay; pasture + oat hay; green sorghum + lucerne hay; and green sorghum + oat hay. The second experiment involved a separate group of 10 cows randomly assigned to two treatments (n = 5 cows per treatment) to evaluate the influence of lucerne growth stage on milk production and composition. The treatments consisted of fresh lucerne used at either the budding stage or the flowering stage. The data were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA with feed treatment as a fixed factor. The fresh lucerne–oat hay resulted in the highest milk yield (16.93 kg day⁻¹) compared with sorghum–lucerne hay and the control diet. Milk production decreased by about 50% when cows were fed pasture–oat hay or green sorghum–oat hay. Moreover, feeding fresh lucerne increased milk yield by over 31% compared with lucerne hay. Fresh lucerne improved milk quality indicated by a higher protein (3.66%) and fat (4.19%), lactose and mineral content but it exhibited the lowest Dornic acidity (16°D), compared with lucerne hay and other diets. Markedly, fresh lucerne at the budding stage significantly improved milk yield (+30.8%) compared with the flowering stage which induced a higher crude fiber (25.23%), that may reduce digestibility. In contrast, budding stage lucerne increased the milk quality by enhancing the crude protein (+24.20%), digestible crude protein (+25.34%), mineral content (+45.01%), and feed units for lactation (+22.58%). The findings of this investigation highlighted that an incorporation of the fresh lucerne, particularly at budding stage into ruminant diets could represent a promising strategy to improve forage quality and supports optimal lactation performance due to its high nutritional richness in protein and mineral components.
Keywords: journal article; Lucerne forage; Dairy cattle; Milk composition; Milk yield; Forage quality