High feed costs and low milk prices are great motivators for dairy producers and nutritionists to scrutinize and analyze rations.

To get the most out of rations these days, you and your nutritionist need to consider what forages and feedstuffs you’re using in your diets and how they can best work together. The quality of forages and optimal usage of other feeds and feed additives are all items that can affect the outcomes of your profitability.

1. Build the foundation with quality forages.
Forages are the foundation of the ration. With good-quality forages, it’s much easier to formulate a diet and see production results in your animals. Forages are included in the diet to supply a source of fiber that is necessary for rumen health. They also supply a digestible source of energy in addition to the necessary protein and minerals. The quality of the forage makes a significant impact on the ration intake and nutrient utilization.

As plants mature, the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) portions of the plant increase and cause a decline in forage quality. Because the NDF portion of the diet is associated with rumen fill, low-quality forages will meet the optimum fiber requirements at a lower inclusion rate of the dietary dry matter when compared to using high-quality forage. Therefore, it’s difficult to feed low-quality forages at high inclusion levels without making some sacrifices in production.

Compared to better-quality forages, low-quality forages are low in digestibility and supply less digestible energy to the animal. They are also higher in lignin, which is indigestible to the cow’s microbial population. Lignin can also physically interfere with the microbe’s access to the digestible portion of the fiber, resulting in a further decline in digestibility and utilization.

The forages you and your nutritionist have to work with in ration formulation lay the groundwork for optimal animal performance. The quality of the forage also drives decisions on using other feeds or additives that a cow may need and should be included in her diet.

2. Use feeds to efficiently provide rumen microbes with protein.
In ration balancing, we need to feed the cow’s rumen bugs first. For the microbes to grow, they need a readily available source of carbohydrate and nitrogen from the feed sources. As microbes break down these nutrient sources, they grow and can then digest the feeds in the rumen that would otherwise be indigestible. The microbes synthesize volatile fatty acids that the animal can use for energy. In addition, the microbes that leave the rumen and enter the small intestine become an important source of amino acids to the animal.

Balancing rations for metabolizable protein (MP) considers the contribution of microbes to the small intestine. Feed protein (protein that escapes degradation and supplies amino acids to the small intestine) and the bacterial protein (protein that is supplied to the small intestine by the rumen bacteria) both make up the MP. Balancing rations on MP offers a more fine-tuned approach to putting diets together as compared to balancing only with crude protein.

Current ration software helps us predict the supply of microbial and feed protein to the small intestine. This is done by looking at the individual protein and carbohydrate fractions of the various feedstuffs and finding the optimum balance that supports rumen microbial growth. Once we know what value the microbial protein contributes, we can then focus on using other bypass protein sources or ruminal-protected amino acids.

3. Add value and target specific needs with feed additives.
When you have the rumen in balance with quality forages and the optimal supply of protein and carbohydrates, then you can move on and look at the contribution of other feeds to the diet. If you haven’t laid the foundation of a good ration through forages and proper utilization of nutrients, gaining the full effect of other feeds is difficult to measure.

There are several feedstuffs or additives that can be included in a diet. Work with your nutritionist to discuss your herd’s needs and the best way to accomplish this. Adding ingredients may be necessary to supply nutrients such as amino acids, fats, vitamins or minerals. Other ingredients may be necessary to promote some other type of response, such as a stable rumen environment or stimulating the microbial population.

With low milk prices, it’s often tempting to remove items from your herd’s diet. It is important to understand the overall diet, what the feed or additive contributes and the possible effect of removing it. Sometimes, when an ingredient may be directly related to a response in milk production, it’s easy to see the short-term effect. But at other times, you don’t see a response with the addition or removal of an ingredient. It could be that the desired response of the ingredient was long-term and has an effect on heat stress, hoof health or reproduction.

Many feed additives lend themselves to a specific group of animals such as transition cows or your high-producers. Perhaps now is a good time to focus on utilizing additives for their intended purpose and targeting a specific group of animals rather than putting it in across a large group of diverse animals.

Balancing rations for right now
You should always pay attention to the ration and understand the impact of high-quality forages and the optimal balancing for the animal. But because of the present economic situation, now is a critical time to work with your nutritionist and make sure the ration is properly balanced and performing for your herd. Utilizing other feed ingredients or additives is also something that should be considered carefully. Your nutritionist can assist you in making these decisions and putting together the right diet that will satisfy your herd’s short-term and long-term needs. PD

Dr. Carla Kuehn is a nutritionist at the Form-A-Feed and TechMix companies, headquartered in Stewart, Minnesota. For more information, call Kuehn at (800) 422-3649 or send an e-mail to articleinfo@formafeed.com

Carla Kuehn
Nutritionist
Form-A-Feed
articleinfo@formafeed.com