https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:5232 Conserved grassland forage – is the composition of cow's milk influenced by feeding silage compared to hay? Van den Oever, Sabrina P. Sabrina P. Van den Oever Bauer, Katrin Katrin Bauer Haselmann, Andreas Andreas Haselmann Schreiner, Matthias Matthias Schreiner Fuerst-Waltl, Birgit Birgit Fuerst-Waltl Zollitsch, Werner Werner Zollitsch Zebeli, Qendrim Qendrim Zebeli 0000-0001-5188-9004 University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Mayer, Helmut K. Helmut K. Mayer Knaus, Wilhelm Wilhelm Knaus Elsevier journal article open access eng This study aimed to investigate the impact of feeding either silage or hay (harvested from the same parent plant material) on cow's milk composition. Numerous milk constituents (e.g., protein fractions, free amino acids, amines, fatty acid profile, B-vitamins, vitamin E) were analyzed. Results showed that crude protein content was only numerically higher in hay milk compared to silage milk (3.11 and 2.92 %, respectively). Free amino acids showed hardly any differences with values for sum of free essential amino acids of 6.50 and 5.09 mg L−1 for hay milk and silage milk, respectively. For vitamin B1, B2 and B6, no differences were found. Vitamin B12 and vitamin E were significantly higher in silage milk (3.83 μg L−1 and 0.39 mg L−1, respectively) compared to hay milk (2.50 μg L−1 and 0.26 mg L−1, respectively). Fatty acid profile was comparable for both types of milk, and sensory analysis showed only minor differences. Forage Conservation Hay Milk Silage Milk Protein Fractions Vitamins Fatty Acids Sensory Evaluation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:5232/download 10.1016/j.idairyj.2025.106475 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf International Dairy Journal issn:0958-6946 VoR International Dairy Journal 173 1014.39 kB 2026