Grazing behaviour of dairy cows fed differing levels of concentrates

In Australia, dairy farms are categorised into five varying farming systems (Dairy Australia 2011) and according to national farm survey results, 50% of Australian dairy farms are classified as system 2 (grazed pasture and other forages with > 1.0 tonne grain/concentrates fed in bail). Developing management strategies that optimise profit from concentrate feeding is a key requirement for the Australian dairy industry and furthermore, understanding how dairy cows adjust their grazing behaviour and associated pasture intakes in response to concentrate feeding will be vital to developing such strategies (Sheahan et al. 2011).