—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 25, 1977 16 •••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••«•••••••••••••••••••••••••• MEDICINE AND Facts It is at the same time easy and difficult to define a protein. It is easy to give a fairly dear idea generally what we mean. It is difficult in being absolutely precise about our definition. Hie word protein is most familiar when used in connection with food or feed. Protein is the body building constituent of the diet which is essential for growth and life itself. It is a component of the structures of all cells and amounts to about 13 per cent of the body weight It is not a single substance but a very large class of sub stances. They are fun damentally similar in many ways. Proteins are built from chemical units called amino acids. They, like car bohydrates, contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen elements. They also contain the element nitrogen, and this is the most important factor which distinguishes them from other food sub stances. Approximately 16 per cent of the protein compound is composed of nitrogen. Protein can be a source of energy and is figured into the TDN (total digestible nutrients, or TDE (total digestible energy) along with carbohydrates and fats. But when protein has to provide some of the energy it is a very inefficient con version. Some of its nutrient value is lost when protein, which is a body building and structural substance, has to be converted into an energy source due to inadequate energy supply. The im portance of balancing protein and energy cannot be stressed too much. Dietary protein should be able to be -r , CORN HERBICIDES FAIL? > ' Don’t let that happen to your soybeans. ’Qlban Use Tolban™ 4E plus Sencor™ SOW. Preplant incorporated into the soil within 4 hours of grrjrrr a PPl' ca^on means weather resistant herbicide protection. Read the label BEFORE using any pesticide. 4/ KERR-tWEE CHEMICAL CORPORATION Located at Rt. 322 & Reservoir Roads Honey Brook, Pa. Phone (215) 273-3546 to know about protein used directly for body protein, for the development and maintenance of tissues and vital organs and for normal fermentation in the rumen. A lack of dietary protein will greatly alter the rate of growth, maturation, and milk production of dairy cattle. Since protein is not toxic, large excesses can be fed without danger, and while usually not detrimental to the health of the animal, it is a very uneconomical practice. Although usually not fed to great excess, more profit is usually lost from over feeding than underfeeding protein. Rations that are deficient in portein are poorly utilized in respect to the other nutrients also, and thus are associated with unthriftiness and poor growth. Good nutrition has an important role in preventing infections. Antibodies, for example, are primarily protein, and dietary protein is vital for their manufacture. Undernourished cattle do not exhibit many well defined signs. The resultant appetite usually is poor - which may lead the owner to conclude that an inadequate ration is not the cause of the problem. The demand of the animal must be taken into consideration also, as the requirements are higher during late gestation and peak lactation. The rumen of the cow and other ruminants makes them unique in the animal kingdom regarding protein metabolism. Rumen micro organisms (bacteria and protozoa) can degrade (break down) protein and non-protein nitrogen com- ADDED SPECIAL 20% Discount Sale on all Golden Harvest seed corn will continue until June 30. Stock up for next year!!! By CARL TROOP, VMD pounds of the feed (urea and biuret). Ammonia is the major nitrogen compound produced' and is used by the bacteria and protozoa to make protein for their .own use. This protein is even tually digested in the small intestine. Urea is not ef fectively used by non ruminant animals or small calves where the rumen is not yet developed, but in older cattle urea in the ration to a limited degree is a beneficial as high quality true proteins. In former years when there was a larger price difference between urea (non protein nitrogen) and vegetable protein, urea played a much larger role in providing nitrogen for some of the dietary protein. Urea should be limited and latest recommendations indicate it should not make up more than