To increase the production of milk from forage (MF), a previous experiment with alfalfa silage showed the importance of a complementary combination of concentrates and forages offered.
Nevertheless, the application of animal-inspired models to plant foraging offers a useful way forward, particularly given the difficulty in studying individual root systems in the first place, let alone the more realistic case when these have evolved to grow in a complex plant community.
At a landscape scale, we inspected the spatial co-variation of seasonally varying forage offer and ewes' movement speeds.
Ewes were preferentially distributed in areas with high forage offer during periods of low forage availability and the reverse occurred during the season of high forage availability.
The shape (kurtosis) parameter of the model of movement cycles, one which is unlikely under ewes' control, co-varied significantly with spatial forage offer but did not differ among ewes.
Parameters of the model of activity cycles amenable to control by ewes (duration of speed phases, time elapsed between speed cycles) did not covariate with forage offer, but varied significantly among ewes.
Diets containing either alfalfa (AL) or orchardgrass (OG) silages as the sole forage were offered to ruminally and duodenally cannulated lactating Holstein cows in crossover design experiments.
Diets containing alfalfa (trial 1) or orchardgrass (trial 2) silages, chopped to either 19 mm (long cut, LC) or 10 mm (short cut, SC) theoretical particle length, as the sole forage were offered to ruminally and duodenally cannulated lactating Holstein cows in crossover design experiments.
On a recent steamy Saturday afternoon, an attentive and diverse group, ranging from 20-somethings in Birkenstocks to families with young children to retirees, took part in a foraging class offered by the center and taught by Steven Brill, who is known as Wildman.
The forages were offered ad-libitum.
