DHIA Sen ice Center, Orel GENERATOR SYSTEMS ' 1-800-779-8809 New & Used 5 to 2500 KW I • P G D ! Tractor Driven yn I. Generators 10-150 KW 1800 RPM Brushless ■lsft New & Used DYNA-TECH INDUSTRIES 602 E. Evergreen Rd., Lebanon, PA 17042 717-274-8899 FAX 274-8934 Visit us on The Web Site: http://www.dynagen.com Ask About Our Lightning & Surge Protection Units Panel Mount • Plug-In • Electric Fence Protection Imversily Leasini QUESTION: Is there a place to use molasses in our TMR (totally mixed ration)? ANSWER: Molasses seems to have been one of the old-time fced stuffs that got lost in the attempt to push cows to higher levels of production. £Z® M Mind. gies Available Our new Celebrity makes you grin from ear to ear. W Simplify your life with new Celebrity® herbicide. It combines Accent® herbicide and an active ingredient found in Clarity? Banvel® and Marksman® lerbicides So you get broad-spectrum control in one early post application Celebrity controls tough grasses and broadleaf weeds, including foxtails, woolly cupgrass, cocklebur, lambsquarters, waterhemp, Canada thistle and many more You’ve known the performance of these active ingredients for years. Now they’re together at a very competitive price, and that's another reason to smile. Ask for new Celebrity Always read and follow label directions Celebrity is a registered trademark and Banvel Clarity and Marksman are registered trade marks of BASF Corporation Accent is a registered trademark of EI duPont da Nemours & Company All rights reserved Marksman is a restricted - use pesticide 01996 BASF Corporation NVA-96-1-64-0006 Feeding styles of yesterday where grains were fed to supple ment forages, but not mixed with them used molasses as a dust control measure. Palatability was increased in grains by adding approximately 5 percent of the grain weight in molasses. Molasses consumption with this scheme was usually limited to 1.5-pounds per cow per day, or roughly 3 percent of the diet to the cows giving the most milk, and eating the most grain. This limitation was due largely to increased handling problems when we put more in the grain mix. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 1, 1999-A2l Dairies today that have gone to TMR-typc feeding, should prob ably rekindle thoughts about using molasses. The reasons behind this are the same as when we used molasses in our grains. Certainly, dust in not a problem in most TMRs fed in Pennsylvani a. What about feeding dry hay and grain as the sole ingredients in our TMR? This is quite common in places like Colorado and Arizona. We could use molasses under these conditions to increase palalability while decreasing dust. The most common reason to use molasses that I have come across in Pennsylvania in separation. It is said that many different diets are pre sent on the farm. One is the diet that your nutri tionist formulates. Molasses will not do much good for his computer. The second diet is one that is mixed. Molasses can help here. The third diet is the one that you present to your cows. Molasses will certainly help here, and your cows may thank you fear it. The fourth, and only diet that matters, is the one that the cow con sumes. Molasses helps make this the same diet as the three previously mentioned, and often cows repay us with more consistent and profitable production. When we examine production parameters and component tests throughout the cows in the herd, we sometimes see vast differences from one cow to another. Aflricuhural PrMlucti BASF We often contribute this to differences between individuals, it is more likely to be the difference in the treat ment of individuals. Dairy management and feeding practices are geared to uniformity in the output of indivi duals in the herd. Even genetics are geared tow ard cows that have less difference in capabilities. In addition to these influences, the dairy manager uses culling as a toll that leads to more uniformity as well as greater performance. Why do we see large ranges in MUN values across a group of cows that are supposedly eat ing the same diet? Have you ever con sidered the separation effect? Back to the molasses question. Molasses is energy feed and com pares with ear com as an energy source. This is a secondary benefit. Molasses can be util ized in TMRs at a rate near 10 percent of the diet, with no ill effects. I have personal experi ence with up to 6 pounds per cow per day, or 11 percent of the diet The best surprise came when we saw the real benefit of molasses.