Dairy Cow Feed RATION

It is possible to complicate a dairy cow feed ration with the inclusion of too many commodities. Don’t forget the basics dairy cows require nutrients and not feed ingredients. For example:

cow requires

1. Amino acids not soybean meal
2. Calcium not limestone
3. Glucose not corns

Dairy cow needs to eat

Feed materials and values	DM % feed	ME Mcal/kg	NEL Mcal/kg	HP %DM	RUP %HP	HY %DM	HK %DM	NDF %DM	ADF %DM	Ca %DM	P %DM
Barley grain paste	91,00	2,92	1,76	12,40	18,10	2,20	2,90	20,80	7,20	0,06	0,39
Sun flower pulp, %32 HP	92,20	2,40	1,40	35,60	18,40	1,50	7,30	36,00	26,00	0,48	1,00
Bonkalite	88,00	3,47	1,85	17,60	17,70	3,80	2,70	20,00	6,00	0,16	1,02
Wheat bran	89,10	2,55	1,52	17,30	14,60	4,30	6,30	42,50	15,50	0,13	1,18
Wheat hay	92,70	1,44	0,76	4,80	76,40	1,60	7,60	73,00	49,40	0,31	0,10
Calf feed	90,00	3,28		18,00	35,00	3,00	5,00	12,80	11,60	0,70	0,45
Vetch dried grass	91,00	2,15	1,50	17,50	17,60	2,00	10,40	42,90	31,40	1,37	0,30
limestone	100,00						100,00			38,00	0,02
Melas, Sugar beet	77,90	2,88	1,73	8,50	14,70	0,20	11,40	0,10	0,10	0,15	0,03
Maize silage, %30-35 KM	32,00	2,33	1,38	8,80	33,30	3,20	4,30	45,00	28,10	0,28	0,26
Maize grain, broken, dry	88,10	2,98	1,80	9,40	37,00	4,20	1,50	9,50	3,40	0,04	0,30
Cottonseed pulp, %32 HP	90,50	2,50	1,40	35,40	40,00	5,00	7,10	36,00	26,00	0,20	1,00
CATTLE MILK FEED ,14HP, 2800 ME	88,35	3,01	1,69	15,90	31,85	2,49	7,30	21,29	9,10	1,19	0,56
CATTLE MILK FEED, 19 HP, 2700 ME	89,00	3,07	1,83	21,80	27,00	2,65	6,90	20,20	8,70	1,19	0,59
CATTLE MILK FEED, 21 HP, 2750 ME	89,00	3,09	1,88	23,66	30,00	3,18	6,29	20,20	9,00	1,18	0,52
Sodium Bikarbonat	100,00						100,00
Soy Pulp, %44 HP	89,10	3,31	2,02	49,90	30,80	1,60	6,60	14,90	10,00	0,35	0,70
Sugar beet pulp, wet	17,00	2,76	1,38	11,20	66,20	2,10	4,70	45,80	23,10	0,87	0,10
Oil, Vegetal	100,00	7,07	5,41			99,90
Alfalfa dried grass, end of flowering	91,00	1,88	1,20	17,00	18,80	2,10	8,00	53,00	33,40	1,19	0,24
Oat dried grass, with ears	91,90	1,83	1,03	9,10	37,10	2,20	8,50	58,00	36,40	0,37	0,22
Oat silage, ears	34,60	1,91	1,08	12,90	37,20	3,40	9,80	60,60	38,90	0,52	0,31
Oat seeds, paste	90,00	2,78	1,67	13,20	11,60	5,10	3,30	30,00	14,60	0,11	0,40

Dairy cattle are designed to eat forage

Therefore, forage should be considered the base of all dairy cow feed rations. In recent years, the forage base has been given more importance when considering the feed pyramid for dairy cows. The rumen is a fermentation vat and forage maintain a stable rumen environment for the rumen microbes. Forage also forms the rumen mat which contains effective fiber that stimulates rumination. Rumination leads to saliva production that provides sodium bicarbonate to buffer rumen acids, as well as a source of sodium, and provides urea which is used as a soluble nitrogen source by rumen microbes. Feeding forage leads to

• Better components
• Fewer metabolic disorders (e.g. acidosis)
• Fewer foot problems
• Less purchased grain
• Improved income over feed cost
• Better rumen microbial performance/production

If the focus is on forage for the base in dairy cow feed rations, then the forage produced should be high quality. Management is the key to producing quality forage which will be the most economical source of nutrients on the farm.

Important factors when making high-quality forage

• Harvest at the correct maturity. Forage increases in fiber/lignin and decreases in minerals and protein as it matures, thus reducing the quality. This is the number one factor affecting forage quality.
• Let the sun do its job. The sun allows the plant to make sugars so give the sun time during the day before cutting.
• Treat the forage adequately with Silo-King® for preservation and improved digestibility.
• Store the finished forage properly to reduce shrink and spoilage

FORAGE QALITY EFFECTS CHART

When diets are put together for dairy cows it is best to think of the physiology of the cow. In simple terms, this means to feed the rumen first and feed the dairy cow second. In reality, we are trying to feed a population of rumen microbes before we feed the cow.

The rumen microbes need

• Rumen degradable protein (provides amino acids for microbial protein synthesis)
• Soluble protein (provides ammonia nitrogen for microbial protein synthesis)
• Starch (provides glucose the microbes use for energy)
• Simple sugars (microbes use for energy)
• Minerals
• Fermentable fiber

All of these nutrients can be found in forage and become more available to the rumen environment with quality forage.

The cow needs

• Rumen microbial protein (provides amino acids from digested rumen microbes)
• Rumen bypass amino acids (typically lysine, methionine and histidine at higher milk production to supplement protein sources)
• Minerals

By focusing on the rumen first we dedicate dietary ingredients to optimizing rumen function. This means we feed to optimize rumen microbial growth which leads to improved feed digestion in the rumen and optimal microbial protein flow to the intestine. We need to remember that microbial protein can supply 50 to 80% of the cow’s daily protein requirement which contains the most adequate amino acid profile available to the cow. If we optimize rumen function additional ingredients needed to feed the cow can be minimized (a simpler diet).

“Make your primary sources of fermentable carbohydrates high-quality forages and fine ground or steam-flaked cereal grains. This will maximize microbial protein production as microbial protein has a superior amino acid profile to rumen un-degradable protein (RUP).” “Dr. Chuck Schwab (Hoard’s Dairyman, September 25, 2006)”

Based on forage nutrient content and digestibility it can be determined what products may need to be purchased to supplement the forage and balance the nutrition for the rumen. When this is complete determine what ingredients may be needed to balance the nutrition for the cow. The needs for the cow will be less if we optimize the rumen microbial population and allow them to grow, extract nutrients from the feed and produce the desired products of rumen fermentation.

The need for purchased commodities will be dependent on the desired milk production, quality of homegrown dairy cow feed and rumen function. Keep it simple and don’t add so many ingredients that you are purchasing extra milk with added commodities. For example, there is no need for more than one type of rumen bypass soy protein. Also, we don’t need to consider ingredients like rumen bypass amino acids if the basic need for the rumen has not been met. This will add cost without the desired performance. Maximum profit and not maximum milk should be the goal. When we start to complicate diets we often push commodities, especially for rumen bypass nutrients, which will lower effective fiber and risk milk components and possible cow health. This can have a net loss in profit when the cost of commodities, lost revenue in components and the cost of health issues are factored against an increase in milk production

Feed loss is an important issue concerning this article. Some feed loss occurs during mixer loading and is made worse by the wind. The more commodities we try to put in a ration the more feed loss there may be which costs money and takes away from the overall efficiency of the operation. Ingredient placement relative to the TMR mixer loading area is an important consideration to minimize shrink (lost feed on transport to the mixer) and fuel consumption (another economic impact). Increasing the number of commodities used can increase the number of trips between feed storage and the mixer which will increase feed lost and fuel consumption.

Forage is key to quality, simple diets. It takes work and some investment of time and money to make quality forage, but that investment can pay off with a properly balanced Agri-King ration. Commodity storage space, feed loss and fuel consumption are other factors that give a reason for us to keep diets simple. A properly balanced diet around your homegrown feeds can benefit your operation by simplifying your rations and improving farm efficiency.

Animal weight kg	440 kg	550 kg	660 kg	770 kg	880 kg
Milk yield kg	% of dry mater X body weight
11	2.7%	2.4%	2.2%	2.0%	1.9%
16	3.2%	3.0%	2.6%	2.3%	2.2%
22	3.6%	3.2%	2.9%	2.6%	2.4%
27	4.0%	3.5%	3.2%	2.9%	2.7%
33	4.4%	3.6%	3.5%	3.2%	2.9%
38	5.0%	4.2%	3.7%	3.4%	3.1%
44	5.5%	4.6%	4.0%	3.6%	3.3%
49	–	5.0%	4.3%	3.8%	3.5%

Cow feeding in Kenya

First of all most Kenyan silage is harvested to early, so it hardly has 25% dry matter. 30 kg silage is than 8 kg dry matter, which is not enough roughage. When the silage has 9.5 Mj energy/kg dry matter it is 76 Mj. This is enough for maintenance (55 Mj) and 4 liters of milk. (22Mj)n has a higher energy content. Rest of the milk must come from dairy meal with a high cp % because the silage has only 8% cp

Secondly: 3 % of body weight is an average. With perfect delicious and digestible feeds it can almost be 4%. To get 30 liters or more the cow must eat close to 4% dry matter. The pure 600 kg Holstein Friesians from the picture can give an high average production from maize silage mixed with dairy meal so that every kg dry matte will have 11 Mj and 150 gram protein / kg dry matter. When they eat 21 kg dry matter That is an intake of 231 Mj and 3150 gr protein. Good for maintenance (55 Mj) and 32liter of milk (one liter= 5,5 mj)

New milk cows will eat more so they can peak much higher, old milk cows eat less.

Depends of the roughage (the basic feed!) which is available. If that is common Rhodes hay which has a low digestibility and feed value, the cow might eat 9 kg dm of hay (9 x 6,5=58,5Mj.) Which just covers maintenance energy for a 550 kg cow. So for the milk is 14 kg dairy meal needed, because generally one kg dairy meal is good for 2 liters of milk.

If the cow can eat perfect maize silage of 10,5 Mj-8%cp. That cow can eat 12 kg dm of silage (36 kg silage) which is 12 x 10,5 Mj = 126 Mj. Good for maintenance (55 mj) and 13 liter of milk (13x 5,5) So for the remaining 15 liter is 7,5 kg is needed. I would give the cow 10 kg, when she is in her first 3 months to get her on 33 liter of above.

We calculate feeds in dry matter and estimate the dry matter intake of a cow (DMI) So the kg´s depends on the dm%. If the dm % of the TMR is 45% than the outcome is different than when the dm% is 32%.

When we feed fresh grass, the cows sometimes eat already 70-80 kg of grass.