E2-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 17,1993 COWS HAVE TO WATCH WHAT THEY EAT, TOO! Gabriella A. Varga Associate Professor Animal Science More than ever, people are watching what they eat count ing calories, limiting fat and ;holesterol, and trying to make healthful food choices. Nutrition, however, isn’t just for people. To lead healthy, highly productive lives, cows also need the right amount of nutrients in their diets. But determining exact ly what an animal should eat can be a complex undertaking. It’s hard enough to estimate nutritional requirements for humans, domestic animals, or any mammal with just a simple sto mach. Imagine how difficult it must be to balance a diet for an ani mal with four compartments! AUTO TURN CARTS Without Brakes $695.00 Carts Now Have 3x3 Steel Tubing Tongue With Brakes V Sprocket Level For Fine Adjustm SPRING HARROWS s6oo s6Bo s7lo sBls For Information On Delivery • Write Little Britain 9’ 10’ 12’ Welding Shop 455 Nottingham Rd., Nottingham, PA 19362 or call Art Bunholtzer 717-284-4745 Dairy cattle require nutrients for maintenance, growth, reproduc tion, and milk production. If a dairy cow does not get the nutri ents she needs, it affects the quality and yield of her m ilk, as well as her health. As an animal nutritionist, I am looking for ways to help producers give their animals what they need for maximum health and produc tivity. And that includes watching their calories so they don’t get 100 fat. Ruminant nutritionists face spe cial challenges, because ruminant stomachs contain billions of bac teria and protozoa, which help cows digest feeds that simple stomached animals cannot. A sym biotic relationship exists between the cow and her digestive system, enabling her to convert forages and high-fiber plants into meal and milk. $450.00 .00 .00 .00 .00 Before we can give the cow what she requires, we must make sure the microbes also receive their required nutrients. A better under standing of these microbes can help producers control what goes into milk and reduce feed costs. As part of our ongoing research program, my graduate students and I are trying to better match the availability of carbohydrates and proteins to the rumen micro organisms. The microbes that grow and multiply during the fer mentation process become a very important part of the nutritional requirement for dairy cows. These AVOID RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC REDUCE EGG ACCIDENTS y~ > \ \’v, DRAG AUGER \ FEEDING SCHEDULE? TT€RSH€V EQUIPMENT CO. 255 PLANE TREE DRIVE LANCASTER, PA 17603 „ . , . (717) 393-5807 Customer Satisfaction (Personalty f Gabrielis A. Varga i/l' % 1 \ BIG DUK CHAIN FI FEEDING SCHEDULE! microbes contain 40 percent to 60 percent protein. A Holstein cow synthesizes up to 5.5 pounds of microbial protein each day, which could account for 40 percent to 60 percent of the total protein needed for daily milk pro tein production of a high producing cow. So where does the cow receive the rest of her daily protein needs? Some of the protein escapes diges tion by the rumen microorganisms and is absorbed in the small intes tine. The amino acid profile of this protein has to exist in the right quantities and be of excellent qual ity to meet the demands for high levels of milk protein production. Another area of our research involves using strategies that get essential nutrients past the rumen without being used by the bacteria for their growth and survival. This research may help farmers produce milk with a higher economic value if protein content is increased. In some cases it may also increase milk production. When the present federal order pricing system began in the late 19405, butterfat was the valued component in milk. Today, because consumers want lower-fat dairy products, butterfat is less important. More emphasis is being placed on protein. Some cheese I this competition is damaged eggs from feet, toes and collisions Big Dutchman chain feeders can feed your flock by running as few as three or four times a day, with little competition for feed, a calmer flock and fewer cracks and checks IF YOU ARE... FORCED TO FEED more than four times a day or during peak laying periods, call 911 for your egg casualties or . call (717) 393-5807 (or information on how our chain feeder pampers your product from cage to carton Dutchman. plants in western Pennsylvania also offer a bonus based on protein percentage, because the more pro tein in fluid milk, the higher the resulting cheese yield. For a Jersey herd with a 3.8 percent average protein, this could mean an extra 5 .90 to $2.40 per 100 pounds ol milk, if 15 to 20 cents per 100 pounds of milk is paid for each .1 percent protein above the 3.2 per cent average. Today’s producers commonly add supplemental fat to a dairy cow’s ration to increase milk pro duction. But adding fat also causes the percentage of protein in the milk to drop about a tenth of a per cent. The biological mechanism that causes this is not clearly understood. However, there appears to be a link between ammo acids and milk protein synthesis So, in markets where milk is priced on protein, dairy farmers may still wind up without a greater dollar return, despite the higher milk yield. Wc at Penn Slate have been studying the use of ruminally pro tected amino acids since 1986 Larry Muller and I have demon strated that milk protein percen tage can be increased on certain diets. We were also interested in finding out whether feeding rumi- (Turn to Page E 3)
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