Lane O. Ely, Dairy Scientist
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension
Drought: Commodities
Dairy Cattle — Rations with limited forage
Forage is in very short supply this year. Normally, rations would be designed to maximize the amount of forage being fed. Rations today need to be designed to maintain the health of the rumen and the cow's productivity. It is best to keep a minimum amount of forage in the ration for physical form. Two to three pounds of hay could provide the effective fiber for the dairy cow. The extensive use of by-products to replace forage will also cause shortages of these products and increase their price and availability.
The following rations are presented as guidelines for consideration. Forages need to be tested and rations balanced for individual situations. All rations presented are balanced for 50 pounds of milk.
Limited Forage Rations
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Pounds/Day | ||||||
| Wheat Silage | 25.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Corn Silage | -- | 25.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Bermudagrass Hay | 5.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Corn | 14.7 | 13.5 | 5.5 | 8.3 | 15.9 | -- |
| SBM 44 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 4.9 | -- |
| Wet Brewers Grains | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 19.0 |
| Whole Cottonseed | -- | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.5 |
| Cottonseed Hulls | 4.0 | -- | -- | -- | 4.3 | 3.0 |
| Soy Hulls | -- | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 |
| Corn Gluten Feed | 6.0 | -- | 6.0 | 6.0 | -- | 6.0 |
| Wheat Midds | -- | -- | 6.0 | 6.0 | -- | 8.0 |
| Citrus Pulp | -- | -- | -- | 2.2 | -- | 5.6 |
| Minerals | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
Ration can also be formulated without any hay or silage using higher fiber by products. These rations should be fed for only short periods of time. Long term feeding of these rations could result in acidosis because of small particle size and rapid passage out of the rumen. Availability of these by-products may also be limited due to drought conditions.
Ration with No Forage
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Pounds/Day | |||
| Corn | 14.6 | 7.9 | -- |
| SBM 44 | 7.6 | 0.3 | -- |
| Cottonseed Hulls | 7.4 | 3.0 | 5.3 |
| Soy Hulls | 9.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Citrus Pulp | 5.0 | 1.9 | 6.7 |
| Whole Cottonseed | -- | 7.0 | 2.6 |
| Corn Gluten Feed | -- | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Wet Brewers Grain | -- | -- | 25.9 |
| Wheat Midds | -- | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Minerals | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 |