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School nf Veterinary Medicine
UNIVKRSH Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
Today's dairy farmer must
be a superb livestock and
business manager, an
agronomist, economist, soil,
water, ' and waste
management expert.
Awareness of the long-term
impact of agricultural run-off
on streams, rivers, and
ground water has led to
legislation governing the
number of animals a farmer
can keep on a given piece of
land and how the disposal of
animal waste is handled.
The farmer has the
formidable task of
maintaining a profitable dairy
herd with minimal impact on
the land.
This complex task can be
accomplished with the aid of
computer
Researchers at University of
Pennsylvania's Center for
Animal Health and
Productivity (CAHP) at the
New Bolton Center campus,
who earlier developed a
feeding strategy model for
dairy herds, are now looking
to create a more complex
model to integrate not only
feeding strategies but also
cropping and manuring
strategies to keep the
production and health of a
herd at maximum while
reducing its environmental
impact.
"We are looking at the entire
dairy farm, its soil
management, and the feed
crops that can economically
utilize animal wastes," said
Dr. James Ferguson,
associate professor of
nutrition. "At first we
looked mainly at feeding
strategies for production and
health, and we didn't worry
too much about the waste
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products and their
composition. However,
manure and urine nitrogen
can contribute to pollution of
soil arid water, so we began
to develop feeding formulas
to reduce the level of
nitrogen in dairy cow
wastes."
"We’re looking at the whole
cycle of nitrogen utilization
on the farm...to use manure
nutrients to grow the right
crops to feed the cow to get
the right balance of nutrients
to get the best efficiency of
utilization by the cow," said
Dr. Charles Ramberg,
professor of nutrition and
director of the CAHP. "It’s
an integrated approach."
Pennsylvania produces
twenty-five million tons of
manure per year. The major
component of manure is
residue from animal feed
stuffs, undigested feeds and
metabolic waste products. A
smaller portion of manure is
bedding and waste water.
Therefore feed formulation
can have a significant impact
on manure composition.
Feed formulation is an
important component of a
nutrient management plan.
By optimizing the utilization
of nutrients in a ration by
altering feed sources, both
the amounts and types, it is
possible to maximize the
production of milk or meat
while minimizing the amount
of nitrogen produced by the
animal, thus reducing
manure volume and manure
nutrient content.
models.
Of particular interest is
research strategies which
exam feeding practices
which can lower the protein
content of the ration yet
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maintain milk production. A
particularly useful strategy is
to improve the amino acid
supply of the diet through
use of supplemental amino
acids while reducing total
protein content. By
optimizing feed formulation
and achieving the right
amino acid "profile," a dairy
cow requires less nutrients to
produce the same amount or
more milk, research at New
Bolton Center's experimental
farm has shown. Dr.
Ramberg said, "... nitrogen
in the wastes can be reduced
by 25% or more."
Achieving that may require
an unusual mix of
ingredients, some of which
are grown on the farm,
others from commodity
purchases available through
traditional means. "Some of
these are not conventional
things that cows would
normally eat," j Ramberg
said. "Things like fish meal
and other ingredients that
have specific
characteristics."
Most dairy farmers grow a
portion of the feed for their
animals. So it is important
that the manure produced is
managed and utilized
effectively to grow crops
appropriate to feed back to
the animals while minimizing
run-off and leaching loss.
Cows have a complex
digestion system where food
is broken down with the aid
of bacteria and the bacterial
products are absorbed by the
cow. When feeding a cow,
the bacteria must be kept in
mind, in essence cow and
bacteria must be fed. "We
must look at what happens to
the feed in cow's rumen,"
said Dr. Ferguson. "The
rumen bacteria need protein
to support and grow
fermentation. That process
breaks down the cellulose
and starch into volatile fatty
acids which provide energy
to the cow. Bacteria break
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down feed protein into
ammonia which is then
converted to microbial
protein that is later absorbed
in the cow's intestine. But if
there is too much rumen
degradation of feed protein,
excess ammonia is produced
in the rumen. The excess
ammonia is absorbed,
converted to urea
excreted in urine, mixing
with fecal waste to form
manure. Urea in manure is
subject to various losses
such as volatilization,
leaching and runoff."
The issue is further
complicated by the fact that
microbial protein alone is not
enough to keep a cow in
good health and high milk
production. The feed must
be balanced in such a way to
provide carbohydrates that
supply energy, just enough
feed protein to be utilized by
the bacteria, and additional
feed protein that can be
absorbed by the cow in the
intestines. To add to the
complexity, it must be taken
into account what type of
feed crops can be raised
economically by the farmer.
"We look at soil productivity
level and management
history," said Dr. Ferguson.
"Then we build a feeding
and cropping program. The
cropping program considers
the needs to feed the animals
and to utilize the manure.
For example, the land may
be ideal for alfalfa, but
alfalfa fixes nitrogen from
the air and when fed as
silage, contains too much
rumen degradable protein.
Therefore, to improve the
farm utilization of nitrogen.
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alfalfa may need to be fed as
hay in addition to haylage
and combined with com
silage at amounts which
improve feed efficiency and
manure utilization. In
addition, we may
recommend that a rye cover
crop follow com to take up
the residual nitrogen in the
soil."
The New Bolton Center
researchers have developed a
reduced protein feeding
program that increased milk
production and decreased
nitrogen waste. It also
reduced the feed cost. This
is just the first step. By
developing a computer
model that encompasses the
entire cycle from growing
feed crops to milk
production to fertilizing
croplands to planting, the
New Bolton Center
researchers hope to develop
a strategy that will enable the
farmer to have maximum
milk production with
minimal adverse
environmental consequences
while making a-profit. The
work at University of
Pennsylvania is supported
by USDA/CSRS moneys,
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau,
Friends of Pennsylvania
Agriculture, Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture,
the Center for Animal Health
and Productivity at New
Bolton Center, and a number
of corporations.
For more information on
nutrient management visit the
Center for Animal Health
and Productivity Web site at
cahp.www.nbc.upenn.edu
or call (610)-444-5800.
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