Why Free Grazing Is Important in Dairy Production

Grazing is one of the important activities for the cows. It provides good nutrition and benefits to the cows and results in better productive forage growth. Many studies have been conducted on this concern by different countries.  

Many experiments were done by dividing two groups of cows. The first group of cows was housed, and the second group was allowed to graze free. It was noted that the first group of cows spent more time idling, walking, drinking, and self-grooming.

While on the other hand, the second group of cows showed greater purpose to eat and socially interact.  They have a higher influence on milk quality as they revealed slightly higher reactive oxygen metabolites and similar biological antioxidant potential concentrations.

However free grazing did not increase the quantity of the milk but enhanced the milk quality by reducing urea content, somatic cell count, and total microbial count.

It was found that the second group of cows were rich in saturated and healthy fatty acids, one is conjugated linoleic acid, which has ample health benefits. Free grazing also helps in increasing the immune response in the cows.