FEED FLAVOURS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 34, 28 May 1947, Page 2

FEED FLAVOURS

PROBLEMS WITH MILK (From Massey Agricultural College) Certain weeds are known to impart undesirable flavours to milk; but there also appears to be something associated with the rapid growth'of pasture itself which has a similar effect. On the farm there are two methods of attack on this problem of pasture taints in milk: (1) By reducing those pasture plants which give most trouble in the sward, by, for example, control and reduction of an excess of clover in cases where it is not considered essential for the building up of soil fertiliey, and (2) by controlled grazing, the principle there being that cows, if not given tainting foods close to milking time, can eliminate the worst of the offflavours from their milk. The feeding of winter-saved pasture, whereby the grass in a spelled paddock is allowed to grow to from six ti eight inches or even higher before being fed off in breaks, helps to make a padock more grassy. All taint-pro-ducing feed should be given to the herd soon after milking, so that the cows have time to eliminate the worst of the off-flavours by the following milking. In the case of night padocks it is useful to remember that cows do not eat much after midnight, therefore the flavour at the morning milking is usually less than at the evening, though if a pasture is inclined to produce bloat it is often not convenient to use it for night feeding. Of the weeds, land cress and pennyroyal (to control which a tight sward of good grasses and clovers is necessary) are the main ones productive of troublesome taints in New Zealand. In root crops turnips and swedes cause the most tainting trouble; in green crops chou moellier (marrow-stemmed kale), rape, kale and green lucerne; in supplementary silage; and, in pasture, clover and sometimes even grasses. I