This is a follow on from Advantages of Bull Over AI on Dairy Herd? Pt1.

Question

Thank you very much for answering Re Advantages of Bull over AI on Dairy herd. I do appreciate it very much, huge amount of detail in it. I will print it out so that I can refer to it at any time later on, I think I will need it. Diet and Nutrition during the breeding season would be something I will have to improve on post calving.

Coming from a grass base system, what ingredients should the cow meal include with this system?.

Thank you agan for your time

Reply

Cow meal is made up of many different constituents from year to year depending on the cost of raw materials. The milling companies pick and choose and come up with a final mix that fulfils their required values for crude protein, energy, fibre and ash. These constituent values remain relatively constant from year to year. In relation to your question about what ingredients a cow meal should include for a grass-based feeding system, the answer is that basically it doesn’t really matter once the final balance is correct among the basic ingredients. We must trust to the millers to fulfil this function unless you intend to make up your own ration. If this is the case, it is worh consulting a nutritionist who can guide you in terms of coming up with a balanced ration, from quality ingredients at a good price, containing standard levels of energy,protein and fibre.

The exact levels of energy,protein and fibre required are entirely dependent on the level of production of the cows in question – i.e. there must be enough to cover maintenance requirements as well as requirements for producing milk, growth in the case of heifers and young cows, and requirements for reproduction. There are a number of nutrition-based software packages that facilitate this process of decision-making and which take into account average milk yield, weight loss/gain and grass quality.

In very general terms the most important constituent for you to look at is the crude protein content of the meal – often a 12% ration would be best for the first 2 weeks after calving to allow the cows to get used to the new milking cow diet, followed by a rise to a 16% crude protein meal for the rest of lactation. Grass is naturally high in nitrogen and protein and so there is no necessity to use higher crude protein meals on a grass-based system. Always monitor your milk protein to ensure that energy requirements are being met – if milk protein drops, an increase in meal feeding may be warranted if grass is scarce. If milk fat drops, it is likely that an increase in fibre in the diet is required and so the cows can be given access to hay, straw, silage or beet pulp.

To reply to this post or ask further questions please visit our forum.