Dairy Article Archive

Plants of the Brassicacea family (canola, camelina, carinata) are rich in glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are compounds that by themselves are non-harmful. When degraded during chewing and digestion however, they form substances that cause a bitter taste which affects the preference for the meal, therefore, potentially decreasing the intake of oilseed meals.

Corn distillers dried grains (DDGS) are valued by ruminant nutritionists because of their high nutrient concentration. During ethanol production most of the starch in corn is fermented which leads to a nearly three-fold concentration of the rest of its nutrients.

In late years, limit-fed nutrient dense diets at a set rate or proportion of body weight of growing dairy heifers has been proved to improve digestibility of nutrients and feed efficiency, while maintaining growth performance. Additionally, using dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) as part of limit-fed diets improved digestibility of crude protein and fiber compared to a corn and soybean product based diet.

On behalf of I-29 Moo University, a 5-state collaboration of extension professionals (Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota), we are inviting you to help with sponsorship of our entire year’s activities.

The South Dakota State University (SDSU) Dairy and Food Science department recently conducted some initial preliminary research on feeding dairy heifers soluble syrup residues resulting from a microbial (fungal) treatment process of soybean meal. This fungal treatment process was originally developed for manufacturing Aquaculture feeds.

Drought stress is usually the major limitation to forage yields. When drought has compromised tonnage of corn grain, silage producers may still retain part of its feeding value. Although grazing the plants is an alternative, mechanical harvesting maximizes the tonnage obtained.

This growing season has been a challenge across the upper Midwest. Whether your crops have been hit with drought or hail the odds are that we are going to see an increase potential for feed contaminants such nitrates or molds which cause mycotoxins.

Según el Economic Research Service, del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos, solamente un 11% del maíz cultivado en ese país se produce con irrigación. Por este motivo, la escasez de precipitaciones junto con las altas temperaturas ocurridas en algunas partes del país durante el verano pasado ha provocado una disminución considerable de la producción de maíz e incluso la pérdida total de algunos cultivos.

Del punto de vista de la incidencia de las micotoxicosis el hecho de que muchos ingredientes compongan la dieta de la vaca lechera puede ser visto de forma positiva o negativa. Al usar múltiples alimentos se diluyen las toxinas que uno de ellos pueda tener lo que redunda en una dieta más segura.

When addressing mycotoxin issues the fact that multiple ingredients make up a dairy cattle diet can be viewed both positively and negatively. Multiple feeds dilute the toxins from any given feed, resulting in a safer diet.