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
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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.
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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.
The remarkable thing about this Guest speaker will be Ken
ration was that it already con- Hunter, a wildlife artist, writer,
tained 3 percent fat from the photographer, and lecturer. Hunt-
As a certified scuba diver.
55.49 each
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llihcnfer Ffrftitob, SrfhlrdiV, o<MBa WI99S-t&
roasted beans is that a cow’s
rumen microbes seem to like them
better than, for instance, tallow or
oil. And toasted soybeans have a
considerable protein content,
especially undegradable protein,
which helps ration balancing
considerably.
Here in this region we don’t
have at much alfalfa silage as in
the Wisconsin study cited above.
However, many of our dairy tu
rners have excellent alfalfa hayl
age in uprights cr in (dastic bags
or wraps; some have early-season
rye with vetch or clover haylage;
and some have canola or rye graz
ing as alternatives.
Instead of assuming com silage
is fine this year, even from short
stands, the low ear content should
warn dairy farmers that it is short
on energy. Given this, we must do
something about increasing the
energy content of the ration.
Roasted soybeans, or some fat, are
ideal to assist our cows in produc
ing at their genetic capability,
which, in turn, will help us pay our
bills.
The evening’s program will
also include the presentation of
the Bradford County Extensioh
Cooperator Award to two county
residents, and two new members
will be elected to the extension
executive committee.
Contact the extension office for
mote information.
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