Citation2007), high yield, and low fertility requirements (Pino and Heinrichs Citation2017) and it is resistant to several pests (Chamarthi et al. Indeed, this crop has a low water requirement, an excellent drought tolerance (Pistoia et al.

Compared to other cereals, Sorghum is particularly resistant to stressful environmental conditions (such as very dry, saline, and hot areas). It is an annual cereal belonging to the Poaceae family, originated from Ethiopia, primally grown for its grain. Moench) is the fifth most produced cereal in the world after wheat, maize, rice and barley (FAOSTAT, 2020). Therefore, scientific research is moving towards a more rational use of natural resources, especially soil and water to help agriculture in satisfy these requests. In recent years, climate change is increasing the demand for more sustainable animal products. Utilising sorghum meal could increase the amount of crop produced in the geographical area of the farm, contributing to increase its economic sustainability. Replacement of corn meal with sorghum meal in the dairy cows’ ration permit to decrease the soy content of the ration, thus improving sustainability and costs of feeding. Sorghum meal can be used as a substitute of corn without negative effect on herd productivity, milk quality and cheese yield. In this study the complete replacement of corn with finely ground sorghum meal in dairy cow diets in the Parmigiano Reggiano region did not result in negative effects on cows’ productivity, cheese making properties and production. Milk urea content was higher in SOR (27.38 vs. 31.34 kg, for SOR and COR, respectively p<.0001) however, bulk milk and cheese yield did not show differences. Individual milk production increase in SOR (32.43 vs. Data were analysed by a linear mixed model procedure with diet, herd, days in milk, parity and their interactions as fixed effects and cow as random effect. Fibre digestibility was evaluated on faecal samples collected in 15 cows randomly selected in each subgroup. In addition, within each herd, a random subgroup of 50 cows was selected for individual milk production, composition and cheesemaking properties analysis.

Total milk production and composition, cheesemaking properties, fatty acid content and cheese yield were measured. Each herd was fed alternatively SOR or COR TMR for 4 periods of 3 weeks: two weeks of adaptation and one week of data collection. The study involved two dairy herds located in the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO area, for a total of 1,400 cows (30% primiparous and 70% pluriparous). The aim of this research was to evaluate of the productive responses of cows fed a dry hay based total mixed ration (TMR) in which sorghum (SOR) or corn (COR) meal (8 kg/h/d) were the main source of starch.

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