The effects of different conserved forages on fatty acid profile and terpene composition of cow milk in Alpine dairy production

Farming systems in mountainous areas are generally based on local forage resources and the milk produced is transformed to high quality cheeses. Most of the milk is produced when animal diets are based on conserved forages, locally produced or purchased from lowlands. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of different winter cow diets based on local and non-local forage resources on the fatty acid (FA) profile and terpene composition of milk in a mountainous area. Forty-five Aosta Red Pied cows were fairly allocated into three groups and fed different diets based on local hay (H), local haylage (S), and hay purchased from the lowlands (LoH), respectively. Diets were supplemented with concentrate to balance the requirements of energy, protein and minerals. The high proportion of forage in diets allowed the obtaining of milk with relatively good contents of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and unsaturated FA. Furthermore, the S-based diet did not lead to any change of the milk FA profile compared to H, thus allowing a better self-sufficiency of mountainous dairy farms