Effects of concentrate level on milk production and traffic of grazing cows milked by a mobile automatic milking system on pasture

Cows milked by an automatic milking system in pastures were assigned in 2 groups receiving different amounts of concentrates (2.1 kg vs 4.1 kg). The effect of concentrates’ level on milk yield (MY) and returns to the robot was assessed. Concentrates’ level had a positive influence on daily milk production over the grazing period as cows of low concentrates group produced 21.43 ± 0.62 kg compared with 24.33 ± 0.62 kg in high concentrates group. However this effect was modulated subsequently to grass quality and availability. Regarding daily voluntary returns to the robot, high concentrates group showed higher frequency (3.66 ± 0.05, compared with 3.22 ± 0.04 in low concentrates group) demonstrating positive impact of complement distribution on cows’ traffic.