https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4706 Effects of replacing rye silage with mixed rye-vetch-straw silage on feed intake, milk production, digestion processes, and blood metabolites in dairy cows Terler, G. G. Terler Gruber, Theresa Theresa Gruber Hartinger, Thomas Dieter Said Thomas Dieter Said Hartinger 0000-0001-5709-0500 Zebeli, Quendrim Quendrim Zebeli 0000-0001-5188-9004 Elsevier journal article open access eng The high temperatures and extensive droughts during the last few years in Europe have jeopardized the production and quality of forages for ruminants. Estimates suggest that the yearly mean temperature in Europe's alpine regions may rise by up to 4°C until the end of the 21st century compared with the period from 1981 to 2010 (Kotlarski et al., 2023). The summer months seem to be particularly affected in terms of both increased temperature and decreased precipitation (Kotlarski et al., 2023). In Austria, forages from permanent grassland represent most of the forage resources in dairy cattle feeding (62%–84%; Ledinek et al., 2019). Permanent grassland is very sensitive to drought events, as recently indicated by a simulation study. Accordingly, a 3°C increase in air temperature and 0.3 mL/L greater atmospheric CO2 concentration combined with long dry periods led to a 50% decreased grassland yield (Schaumberger et al., 2022). For dairy cattle, forages are an essential part of their diet, supplying energy, protein, minerals, and most importantly physically effective NDF to maintain rumen health. Therefore, forage shortages cannot be compensated for by grains or nonforage fiber sources. Alternative Forage Catch Crop Digestibility Feed Efficiency Performance http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4706/download 10.3168/jds.2024-26060 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf Journal of Dairy Science issn:0022-0302 VoR Journal of Dairy Science 108 6 5942 5953 524.82 kB 2025