Milking the Cow’s Rumen Most dairymen are very famil r with milking and recognize the snefits of doing the job well, fliat they may not fully appreci e nor understand is that ita order i get good milk production, they lust also become skillful at nilking” the cow’s rumen. What ) I mean by this? Systems Spraying Accessories Daily Pipeline By Glenn A. Shirk Extension Dairy Agent In addition to breaking down feed and releasing nutrients for absorption into the blood stream, one of the main functions of the rumen is to produce large, active populations of microbes for digesting feed. As these microbes move out of the rumen, along with the feed, they become a very valu able source of protein for the cow. Atom We’re Doing Our Part... Knapsack Sprayers S'WVVm Hose To Help You Find Yours Manufacturers of: GVM Foam Markers GVM Hydra Sprayer GVM Hydra Spreader GVM DD Spreader GVM Boom Systems For more information unite or call: 1800 345 3546 (717)677-6197 cm GVM Incorporated P.O. Box 358 • 374 Heidlersburg Road Bigjerville, PA 17307 Microbial protein is a very high quality protein, and a major source of protein for the cow. You might say that it is a form of by-pass pro tein which is digested after it leaves the rumen. To “milk” the maximum amount of microbial protein from the rumen, the rumen must be functioning at full capacity -- con tinually. Throughput or dry matter intake is also important. The grea ter the amount of feed and the fas ter it moves through the rumen, the greater is the number of mi crobes that become available for the cow to digest. When microbes move out of the rumen the rumen produces more microbes in an effort to maintain a high level of rumen activity. As a result of this, total microbial protein yield increases. It’s similar to milking cows’ udders; the more you milk a cow the more room - and incen tive - you give the cow for mak ing milk and the more you dis courage her from drying off. How do we get maximum microbial population in the ] Poly Valves Flomax Pumps Distributors of: Melroe Spra-Coupe Layco Blenders & Conveyors Mobility Spreaders & Loaders Flat Milk Production Couplers ASM Pumps Gauges Lancaatar Farming Saturday, January 13,1M0-Dl9 Lancaster Co. DHIA Amos W Breneman 134 GrH Alvin Z Zeiset 92 GrH Ess-Creek Farm Sandy Neil Good Gem RH John J Speicher 60 GrH Ivan K Horst rumen, good feed throughput and maximum microbial yield? Pro vide the microbes the nutrients and the environment they need, and provide the right amount of digestibility to move a lot of feed through the rumen while being careful it doesn’t escape digestion by moving too rapidly. This is hard to accomplish by feeding forages of inferior quality, and by feeding insufficient quanti ties of good quality forage. Need less to say, this is a big problem on (Continued from Page D 18) 305 3-9 5-9 305 RH 4-7 305 3-6 305 6-7 301 GrH 2-5 305 many dairy farms this winter. Consequently, production is flat. As long as cows lack good quality forage in the ration they’ll never be able to attain and sustain high levels of milk production, feeding more grain can help recover some of this lost production, but don’t expect it to fully make up for the loss of good quality forage. Rumen microbes, like animals and people, need nutrients to grow and work well. They need a solu ble or rumen degradable supply of protein or non-protein nitrogen (NPN), PLUS a readily available supply of energy, vitamins and minerals to match up with the pro tein and NPN - in proper amounts and at the right time. Without an adequate supply plus a proper balance and proper matchup of nutrients, microbial activity will decline. Digestion will be incomplete, more long fibrous particles and whole ker nels may start appearing in the manure, dry matter intake will be lower and milk production will suffer. Excesses and imbalances of nutrients available to rumen can create other prob lems too. If sufficient energy is not available to match up with the soluble protein or NPN, the solu ble protein or NPN will not be ful ly utilized. It’ll be absorbed into the blood stream and excreted, which is poor use of the protein you fed. Or if the levels are exces sive, toxic situations may develop; blood urea nitrogen levels may rise and reproductive problems may develop. On the other hand, excessive levels of readily avail able energy may cause acidosis, which reduces dry matter intakes, depresses fat tests, predisposes cows to displaced abomasums, foot problems, etc. Soluble vs. Insoluble- This Year In recent years much focus has been placed on increasing the amount of insoluble, by-pass, or rumen undegradable nutrients in the ration in an effort to support higher levels of milk production. This is good as long as we do not overlook the cow’s need for solu ble or rumen degradable nutrients to keep the rumen functioning at a high plane of activity. This may be particularly important on many farms this year. Many of this year’s forage crops were wealhered excessively, and a lot of the very valuable solu ble nutrients were leached out. Because of this, some fanners may need to include more soluble protein in the ration. This could be in the form of soybean oil meal, NPN, etc. Then, be sure you have enough readily available energy, vitamins and minerals to match up with the protein. That may require feeding more barley or com, more oil seeds, more fats and oils - and feeding it close to the lime the sol uble protein is fed. Feeding more of these energy feeds may also increase the need for buffers. In many cases, poor weather conditions delayed harvests. Crops were more mature and more 21,104 854 22,539 852 22,117 851 21,665 851 21,428 851 18,429 850
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