A Soybean and Silage Ration for Dairy Cows

Abstract

Summary Cows yielding as much as 50 pounds of milk daily (one cow averaged 40 lbs. daily during experimental period) were successfully carried over a period of 22 weeks on silage, fed ad libitum , and soybeans, fed at the rate of 1 pound per 5 pounds of milk produced. The silage was corn silage, sorghum silage or sorghum silage supplemented with 1 pound of corn per 20 pounds of silage. Bonemeal and salt were also provided. Silage consumption averaged about 6 pounds daily per hundred pounds live weight. Up to 9 pounds daily of soybeans were consumed by a single cow. No indications of nutritional deficiencies were observed. The cows practically maintained their weight while being fed soybeans and silage. As compared with paired cows on a normal grain and roughage ration the cows on the experimental ration produced slightly less milk but more butterfat. These differences were not statistically significant. The cows receiving the experimental ration produced milk with a significantly higher percentage of butterfat in it than did the cows on normal feed. No differences were found in the protein content of the milk produced by the two lots of cows, but there were significant differences in the iodine, Reichert-Meissl, and Polenske values. The iodine number was raised and the Reichert-Meissl and Polenske numbers were lowered by the experimental feeding. The experimental ration of soybeans and silage caused no marked change in milk flavor.