High inclusion rate of wet corn gluten feed on performance of late-lactation holstein cows: preliminary results

Dairy Research, 2008 is known as Dairy Day, 2008A novel diet formulation strategy incorporating wet corn gluten feed at 47% of diet dry matter was evaluated in late-lactation cows. Diets were formulated for similar protein and energy concentrations with dramatic differences in forage sources. Milk fat and protein concentrations increased with the high wet corn gluten feed inclusion rate, and this diet tended to increase milk fat yield. The preliminary work indicates that very low cost rations incorporating wet corn gluten feed may be formulated to maintain milk production, at least in late-lactation cows

Effects of varying rates of tallgrass prairie hay and wet corn gluten feed on productivity of dairy cows

Dairy Research, 2010 is known as Dairy Day, 2010Productivity of lactating dairy cows was assessed when fed diets containing wet corn gluten feed (WCGF; Sweet Bran, Cargill Inc.) as the primary energy substrate and prairie hay as the primary source of physically effective neutral detergent fiber (peNDF) compared with a control diet. Treatment diets were: 1) a control diet with 18% alfalfa, 18% corn silage, 33% WCGF, and 15% forage NDF (CON); 2) a diet with 20% tallgrass prairie hay, 46% WCGF, and 13% forage NDF (TPH20); and 3) a diet with 14% tallgrass prairie hay, 56% WCGF, and 9% forage NDF (TPH14). Midway through period 2, the TPH14 treatment diet was discontinued because of numerous cases of diarrhea. Dry matter intake was not altered by treatment. Milk yields were 80.0, 76.3, and 78.5 lb/day for CON, TPH20 and TPH14, respectively; milk yield was greater for CON than TPH20. Milk fat percentage was least for TPH14 with means of 3.47, 3.40, and 2.82% for CON, TPH20, and TPH14, respectively. Fat yield was greater for CON compared with TPH14, but was not different from TPH20. Milk urea nitrogen (MUN) was greatest for TPH20 and least for CON with TPH14 being intermediate, consistent with differences in dietary protein. Efficiencies, expressed as energy corrected milk divided by dry matter intake, were 1.45, 1.40, and 1.30 for CON, TPH20, and TPH14, respectively, and did not differ among diets. These data indicate that TPH14 did not provide adequate peNDF to support normal rumen function in midlactation dairy cows; however, TPH20 offered a feasible diet for use in dairies where high-NDF grass hay and WCGF are available

Alfalfa hay inclusion rate in wet corn gluten feed based diets

Dairy Research, 2008 is known as Dairy Day, 2008In this experiment, we evaluated the effects of varying alfalfa inclusion rate in diets containing 31% wet corn gluten feed on a dry matter basis. Eighty lactating Holstein cows were allocated into groups of 10 and assigned to 1 of 8 pens balanced for parity, stage of lactation, and milk yield. Diets were formulated to contain 0, 7, 14, or 21% alfalfa on a dry matter basis. Diets containing greater proportions of alfalfa had less corn silage and soybean meal but more corn grain. Feed intake, milk production, body weight, and body condition score were monitored, and effects of increasing alfalfa inclusion rate were assessed. As more alfalfa was included in the ration, cows consumed more feed and had a tendency to produce more solids- and energy-corrected milk. In contrast, body weight gain decreased in diets with more alfalfa. These changes in milk and body weight indicate that metabolizable energy utilization shifted from body weight gain to milk production when more alfalfa was fed. With this in mind, an economic model was constructed to determine whether the added production from including alfalfa is enough to justify incorporating it in this type of ration. The model demonstrated that, despite minor losses in productivity, decreasing alfalfa inclusion rate may improve farm profitability by reducing feed costs and expenses associated with manure handling