GEORGE F.W. HAENLEIN Extension Dairy Specialist University of Delaware NEWARK. Del. Many dairy farmers made com silage this fall from poor, drought damaged, low ear-yielding com fields. They had no choice: it's better than nothing stall. After fearing the worst and test ing this silage for nitrates, most farmers did not find high nitrate levels. (Some did, however, so test!) Those fanners who found their com silage relatively clean assumed they could proceed with feeding this com silage as in other years. Wrong. The low ear content makes most of this silage energy deficient. In this situation, what can you feed your cows so that they milk as they should or as their genetics allows them? In recent years, especially for fresh and peak-yielding cows, the direction has been to seek higher energy density in die cow’s feed ing ration. After all, she has only so much stomach capacity and digestion time, which will deter mine how much of her ration meets her requirements. It is basic nutrition that most cows in early lactation produce milk first, and then look to how they meet such requirements from the feed ration or, when the ration is deficient, from their body reserves. After losing body condition for a while, cows adjust their milk production down, usually irrever sibly. This upsets dairy farmers, who know from previous lacta —Warm up to our cool weather specials! Si Shenandoah specials: ——| SPACE HEATERS ll'— * i installation kit with gas cock, regulator and hose y ~' / GBUV 6qq BROODERS 909 ... 5-7-9 Watt 13 Watt OTHER SPECIALS: • Fans & Shutters • Thermostats & Controls • Kane Heat Mats • Damaged & Odd Size Shutters - $25 each as is * Get rid of pit gases -10” & 8” pit manure Ventilation systems on special. • Woven Wire • Kraft Paper -36”x1500’, 3 rolls for $69 All Prices F. 0.8. Lltltz, Limited Quantities Northeastl , Ph: (717)569-2702 Feed Alternative To Poor Com Silage dons that their cows have better genetic potential. . This could be the scenerio this fall and winter on many dairy farms if farmers depend on silage made from drought-damaged com. How can we increase the needed energy density of the dairy cow radons? Add fat This is not an easy solution because the microbes in a cow’s rumen have trouble with fit sup plementation, except within very narrow limits. Fat increases ener gy density of a ration because fat has 2.25 times as much energy as any other feed nutrient. But what kind of fat supplement? Fat comes in many different types plant fat, animal fat, liq uid. solid, saturated, unsaturated, oilseeds, homogenized, etc. Much-needed research has focused on the question of fat, but more clear-cut answers are needed. Some commercial fat sup plements have met with success while many others have resulted in lower milk production. It is known that fat supplemen tation can reduce feed consump tion, milk fat contents and milk yield. It also will affect rumen digestion of fiber, which is crucial for healthy cows and normal fat levels in the milk. So what are safe levels of fat supplementation? Forages nor mally contain little fat and mixed grain or commercial concentrate rations contain no more than abso lutely requested, simply because it costs money. 170,000-200,000 or 228,000 BTU’s with deflector: Galvanized Cabinet-Pilot ignition $329 Galvanized Cabinet-Electronic ignition $359 Stainless Steel Cabinet-Pilot Ignition $379 Stainless Steel Cabinet-Electronic Ignition $409 Ag Space Heaters 40,000/60,000 BTU’s: Stainless Steel Cabinet-Pilot ignition $ r Stainless Steel Cabinet-Electronic Ignition.... Portable thermostat SHENANDOAH INCINERATORS; Round $999 Oval $1,359 The BRUTE $1,999 Save electricity with screw-in FLUORESCENT LIGHTS New Sealed Center Mount! Northeast Agri Systems, Inc. Flyway Business Park 139 A West Airport Road Lititz, PA 17543 Recent research in Wisconsin roasted soybeans, to which the (Journal of Dairy Science, Sep- experimental tallow levels were tember 1993) with high-yielding added. Thus, the high supplcmen cows sheds some light on this tation group of cows received a question. Tallow was studied as a total of 6 percent fat from the supplement at the levels of 0,1,2 roasted beans and the tallow of 3 percent per dry matter of the combined, total dairy ration, which was fed Although this feed was without twice daily free as a total detrimental effects, there was also mixed radon. 1)0 b°° st , d> milk production. The All cows continued their usual J***® ra . t * on w j t * l roa . s *s < * so feed intake, milk production and* bMn .» * lone satisfied tee milk composition regardless of the nudicnt requirements of these level of fat supplementation. high-producing cows. This proves that these 3 levels . Th ® lesson is this: With were not detrimental. It also drought-damaged com silage and proves that the cows were already if* PP° r “ r contents, the energy so well fed that the additional fat density of the ration must be made no difference in production. mcreased in cider to have high- Now these were no ordinary genencscows produce high milk cows. These were 16 Impound Tin « especially true now^ Holsteins beyond their first lacta- ® most cows should be lion, averaging 47 days in lacta- J? th ®! r b ®B in nlng lactation, tion (between 21 and 105 days) Routed soybeans are one of the and milking on average 100 moBt effective ways nutritionally pounds per day. » accomplish this energy density To cover their nutrient require- . ... ments. their ration on a dry-matter Mob £« ma * e *“ basis consisted of one-third alfalfa 8,1 effbrdablcalternatiye to fat silage. one-third ground com. 12 supplements. The nice thing about percent com silage, 9 percent soy- RrnrlfnrH Fvtpnsinn Tn Mppf bean oil meal. 14 percent roasted UraOlOra extension 10 IVICCI soybeans, 1.2 percent dicalcium TOWANDA (Bradford Co.) — Hunter also photographs and phosphate and limestone half and Penn State Cooperative Extension sketches underwater. In addition, half, 0.2 percent magnesium of Bradford County will hold its he also mixes paint underwater to oxide, 0.5 percent salt, 20 percent eightieth annual meeting on assure accurate color. protein with an 8. percent unde- Thursday, November 4. gradable protein portion, 22 per- The meeting will be held at the cent neutral detergent fiber, plus Wysox Presbyterian Church. It the 4 experimental supplement will begin with a dinner served at levels of 0,1, 2, or 3 percent tal- 7:45 p.m. The cost for dinner is low fat. $6.75 per person. 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