🌿 Grass
Also known as: forage
The main summer feed. Feed shapes the taste and composition of milk.
Grass is the main food of cows in summer. A cow grazes on it in the pasture or gets it freshly cut in the barn. Grass contains a lot of water, fibre (tough plant fibres) and protein. Grasses and legumes are especially valuable as feed: ryegrass, timothy, fescue, clover and alfalfa.
Grass affects not only how much milk there is, but also what is in it. Scientists have compared milk from cows on pasture with milk from cows on a mixed diet in the barn. “Pasture” milk has more healthy omega-3 fats and conjugated linoleic acid (a special fatty acid). It also has more beta-carotene — a yellow plant pigment. That is why butter from this milk comes out more yellow and softer. The milk itself can have a slight “grassy” taste.
Grass that the cows did not eat in summer is stored for winter: it is dried into hay or fermented into silage. This way the herd has similar feed all year round. Still, milk composition changes: it depends on the season, the breed and how much of the diet is fresh grass.
How it connects to milk
🌿 Grass → feed for → 🔄 Grazing → feeds → 🐄 Cow → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Feed for
- 🔄 Grazing
- Wine and milk
- 🐝 Cover crops
Frequently asked questions
Why is summer butter more yellow?
Fresh grass is rich in beta-carotene, a yellow plant pigment. It passes into the milk fat, and butter from the milk of grazing cows comes out noticeably more yellow.
How is milk from grass-fed cows different from regular milk?
It has more omega-3 fats, conjugated linoleic acid and beta-carotene, and less saturated fat. The difference depends on how much fresh grass is in the diet.