A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 28, 1999
DHIA Scrticc Center,
QUESTION: For the past few
years we have seen MUN values
increase when we started to feed
new crop com silage. What should
we expect with drought-stricken
com that we will be feeding
shortly?
ANSWER: The trend that you
have seen in your MUN values
over the years is a reflection of
corn silage changes that occur dur
ing fermentation.
This year with dry conditions
and some less than optimal com to
be chopped for silage, we can
expect to see more dramatic MUN
changes.
Hie first part of the question is
an observation about MUN levels
in cows and how feed changes can
affect them.
A TMR that is put together with
the same target amounts of feed
docs not necessarily generate the
same efficiency or productivity.
We have thought in the past that
there is little difference in a crop
such as com silage now that
thinking is different.
We see documentation about
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variety selection being very impor
tant to the performance of the
cattle using it. While this is valu
able in planning next year’s crop,
some thought needs to be given to
what we have now.
Feeding new cut com silage pre
sents new challenges daily for a
considerable length of time.
Com from the same field can
vaty quite a bit in feed value to the
cows.
Each day until full fermentation,
we feed something different than
the day before. Going from green
chop to com silage is what occurs
cm most farms.
Protein content, protein type,
and carbohydrate levels in the diet
influence MUN values. Looking at
how much ureau shows up in milk
samples shows relationships
between rumen available protein
and carbohydrates.
A feed such as com silage that is
used primarily for energy in the
diet can change MUN values
significantly.
The fermentation process of
com silage not only allows us to
store it for long periods, but it also
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starts the digestive process that
will continue in the rumen.
Looking at com silage during
the fermentation process, we sec
that carbohydrate levels increase
and fiber levels decrease around 30
to 60 days into ensiling.
Matching this up with what we
know about MUN trends, new sil
age increases MUN output of a
cow due to lower carbohydrate
levels in her diet.
The way to offset this effect is to
increase other sources of carbohy
drates to levels that will not dimin
ish rumen health, but will better
balance the protein in the diet
We also have the option of
slightly lower protein levels to
maintain a correct balance.
Excellent
condition!
The drought-stressed com that
many have this year will have the
same effects during the fermenta
tion period but to a greater degree.
We will see higher MUN values
than we did in the past due to the
added fact that there are less car
bohydrates in the beginning. I
would expect that the time
between green chop and full fer
mentation would increase, because
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fewer carbohydrates ate available
to enhance fermentation.
Lastly, I would expect the MUN
levels to be higher for the whole
feeding season if we do not adjust
for the lower energy com silage
that is currently going into some
silos right now.
What strategies should we adopt
to avoid high MUN?
I would expect to see mote grain
feeding than has been necessary in
the past. At least grain pices ate
favorable to this approach.
We could lower protein feeding
to stay in balance with the avail
able carbohydrates. This may not
be best when trying to maintain
high levels of production.
Feeding a higher ratio of com
silage to hay cJop forage could
help and may be a good choice if
your com crop has low grain yields
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Any combination of these will
probably work in most situations.
Plans might include additional
storage to reduce the drastic feed
change that accompanies green
chop com.
One last though for today:
Ruman health should always be
our top priority.
For the time period when we
know that MUN will increase,
maybe we should anticipate what
to do to minimize this rise and
make some adjustments.
Be proactive in management
based on trends of the past and esti
mates of what our feeding program
is doing. Be reactive to what our
cows tell us when they are tested
and fine-tune further when neces
sary. When cows tell us the true
story we cannot ignore them.
MILK