The Peru Gazette

Corn is costly to feed dairy cows – $200 per ton to purchase. Farmers in Northern New York searching for acceptable corn substitute products now have a better understanding of their options, thanks to research by W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY.

With funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP), Miner Institute staff collaborated with regional dairy and feed industry personnel to identify corn-substitute feedstuffs available within the NNY region.

Project leader Rick Grant, president of Miner Institute, says, “The Northern New York region is well-situated to take advantage of regional opportunities for purchasing good buys on such products as soybean hulls, distillers’ grains, malt sprouts, and gluten feed as well as citrus pulp and whole cottonseed stored in facilities along the St. Lawrence River.”

Using the various feedstuffs is estimated to increase the income over feed cost (IOFC) by about 44 cents/cow/day compared to a standard higher corn, higher starch diet. The actual savings vary depending on the prevailing price of forage, grains, and the various byproduct feeds. Dairy producers need to work with their nutritionist to monitor byproduct prices and formulate diets that maximize IOFC.

Samples of the various feed sources were sent to the Dairyland Lab in Arcadia, Wisconsin, to evaluate how well they would fit into a dairy cow ration. Using a technique known as Fermentrics, the lab evaluates such factors as digestibility and protein and carbohydrate content.

‘We believe this is the first time Fermentrics has been used to evaluate byproducts that can replace corn grain in the dairy cow diet for farmers in Northern New York,” Grant says. “We found good agreement between the Fermentrics analysis and the actual measured cow response in previous studies conducted here evaluating carbohydrate sources.”

Dairy farmers can use the results of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded corn grain substitutes testing to develop lower-starch dairy rations using the most nutritionally effective and economical replacement products without compromising milk production.

The complete Economical Substitutes for Corn Grain in NNY Dairy Cattle Rations report with results tables is posted at www.nnyagdev.org.

Miner Institute will update the database that farmers and dairy nutrition consultants can use to develop rations with the economical corn substitutes annually at www.whminer.com.

The NNYADP is a farmer-driven research, technical assistance, and outreach small grants program supporting the diverse agricultural sectors in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The program receives funding support from the New York State Senate.