The effect of two herbage allowances (25 and 40 kg dry matter/cow.day) were assessed on the herbage intake and milk yield of dairy cows grazing Italian ryegrass. A rotational grazing system was used, according to a Change Over procedure with three 12-day periods and ten Holstein cows in mid-lactation. Individual herbage intake was estimated from fecal output and the digestibility of the selected herbage and the milk yield was measured daily. Pre-grazing sward height and herbage mass at ground level did not differ between treatments. Post-grazing sward height was higher 40 kg dry matter/cow.day and the pasture disappearance rate from the initial sward was 49.0% and 69.0%, respectively. The individual dry matter intake of the herbage was 11.9 and 16.6 kg kg/day and the milk yield was 18.4 and. 21.1 kg/day at the allowances 25 and 40 kg dry matter/cow.day, respectively. Dairy cows grazing Italian ryegrass pasture, with a high forage allowance, can eat more than 16.0 kg DM/day and produce more than 20 kg milk/day. The milk yield decreased around 0.2 kg per kg of reduction in DM offer.
chromium oxide; Lolium multiflorum; rotational grazing
