Buchweizen: eine Futterpflanze für Milchkühe?

Summary

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) has a high ecological value due to the long and
intensive flowering as well as its favorable impact on soil fertility. However, in Europe
demand for buckwheat kernels as food is low. Therefore, the question arises whether
cultivation of this plant could be promoted by using it as animal feed. In the current
preliminary experiment, the extent to which buckwheat, offered in different forms, is
consumed by dairy cows was tested in conjunction with potential effects on milk yield.
Three groups of lactating cows were fed a silage-concentrate mixture, which either
contained 3 kg DM/d buckwheat kernel flour (n=4), or 2.5 kg DM/d buckwheat total
plant silage (n=3) or no buckwheat compound (control; n=4). After 4 days of adaptation,
the experiment lasted for 10 days. During this relatively short period, neither feed
intake nor milk yield or body condition were affected. However, the nutrient density of
buckwheat silage was low. By contrast, the buckwheat kernel flour proved satisfactory
as an energy concentrate.