High energy, protein, Ufl

darragh_haven

"Don't forget if U go for brewers u will need to balance it with a hi energy product or condition will fall off cows as they will shove out milk.75 to 80 dmd sage is as good as any.in a big tillage area I'd be goingvto every tillage man to sus out whole crop or maize on contract.all they can do is say no"

The above post is from another thread and it raised a few issues with feed that I don't really understand coz I'm not the main farmer at home. Mainly, whats the relationship between feed with protein, energy, whats ufl etc.

jwof2006

Can largely look at different feeds based on protein, fibre, and energy(UFL).

UFL is like the unit of energy used with dairy feeding to measure the energy in the food, gained by the animals. (UFV is more beef and for finishing animals).

Most cereals provide 1 UFL per kilo, brewers would be considered a low energy feed not sure but would .7UFL be around right..., high protein and fibre, and so should not really be a complete diet for cows with high energy requirements.

I think the figure given for dairy cows, is around 15.5 UFLs needed a day(higher earlier in the lactation) while lactating. Grazing will usually fall just short of supplying a cows required UFLs.(15kgs of grass grazed=15UFLs).

High protein feeds include soyabean meal(good quality protein and safe) and others like sunflower seed meal(less digestible but good quality),brewers even rapeseed and cottonseed are other cheaper options but the protein quality is poorer and there is an increased risk of things like aflatoxins.. Lysine and methionine amino acids are important here as they may be deficient in other feeds. Cows need 1500g+ when lactating, and get 100g from a kilo of grass(estimate) so diet could be deficient in protein sometimes.

Hi-enery feeds are barley, wheat, corn, citrus pulp, sugarbeat pulp, maize-distillers grains..

I think fibre is more important for beef farmers, as they would look for low fibre, hence less full bellies and more intake. In dairy fibre is a way of maintaining the fat content of the milk.

This is all fairly sketchy info., please feel free to correct:o

case885

Short silage for winter but at 300/acre for 1 cut of silage would you be better off making it up with concentrates? Maize i heard is nearly a grand an acre which seems pretty mad. I usually get around 200 tonne of beet as its great mixed with silage but ill probably still be short. Add in contractor and it will be about 415/acre for 1 cut of silage probably get 11 or so tonne to the acre, whats the best solution?

mahoney_j

case885 wrote: »

Short silage for winter but at 300/acre for 1 cut of silage would you be better off making it up with concentrates? Maize i heard is nearly a grand an acre which seems pretty mad. I usually get around 200 tonne of beet as its great mixed with silage but ill probably still be short. Add in contractor and it will be about 415/acre for 1 cut of silage probably get 11 or so tonne to the acre, whats the best solution?

If in a tillage area try around for whole crop.there was a guy selling a maize /fodder beat mix on dd during spring.would be a serious feed

case885

mahoney_j wrote: »

If in a tillage area try around for whole crop.there was a guy selling a maize /fodder beat mix on dd during spring.would be a serious feed

How much does that go for? What kind of a yield? cheers

Deepsouthwest

mahoney_j wrote: »

If in a tillage area try around for whole crop.there was a guy selling a maize /fodder beat mix on dd during spring.would be a serious feed

Saw that add alright,think he was in Kildare, doubt if he'd draw it down to me. he must've had a lot as the add kept being refreshed. Would be serious feed alright though, there will be plenty demand for all that stuff when quotas are gone, most overstocked farmers (myself included) trying to squeeze every last litre out of the cows, whether it pays or not!