Lactation Trial From McGill University
Compliments of Nutrition Research
Comparison of TMF94 to a Widely Grown "Dual-Purpose"
Pioneer Hybrid
as Silage for Lactating Dairy Cows
This lactation trial was conducted by McGill University.
Early lactation, high-producing dairy cows were assigned to four ration treatments
for a period of nine weeks. The ration treatments were as follows:
Ingredients |
Low Inclusion of Corn Silage |
High Inclusion of Corn Silage |
Corn Silage |
33.2% |
43.0% |
Haylage |
16.3% |
16.3% |
High Moisture Ear Corn |
8.5% |
4.6% |
Corn Grain |
14.9% |
11.0% |
Protein Supplement |
25.9% |
24.0% |
Mineral-Vitamin-Bicarbonate mix |
1.1% |
1.1% |
The only difference between the two rations
- within corn silage inclusion level - was the silage used: TMF or
"dual-purpose" hybrid
Milk production averaged 101.5 lb. per day for cows fed TMF
silage and 96 lb. for cows fed "dual-purpose" silage. Milk protein and fat
percent were similar among diets resulting in greater milk protein yield
for cows fed TMF silage. Cows fed rations containing TMF silage either at the high
or low silage inclusion level, produced approximately 5 lb. more milk per day than
cows fed the "dual-purpose" silage.
Bottom line: Feeding TMF silage could increase the
annual gross income of a 100-cow dairy operation by $23,725 (5 lb. per day increase in
milk production x 365 days x $13/cwt milk price).
- End - |
