Straw In Diet

[Derrick Hughes]

Hi .I have spoke to a few farmers about this and they don't seem keen to to remove straw from the ration as it may upset the cows ration
How important is straw .
I mixed rations for 40 years and hardly ever incorporated straw but then our yields of 1200 gallons was a different world to today's

 

[Will Blackburn]

Straw isn't there to increase yield.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Straw isn't there to increase yield.

I know that . are there cheaper alternatives and would it reach a point where it would not be used if it became to expensive

 

[Kevtherev]

Anyone using treated straw in diets?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/us/silage-zone/corn_silage_feed/straw-in-dairy-diets/. Interesting read . note the bit about dirty straw harvested in poor weather which could well apply here this year .also particle size in primary forage

 

[More to life]

Straws for dry cows not for milkers

 

[Clay52]

Unless you have heaps of very cheap concentrates and expensive fiber sources, which very rarely happens, straw makes no sense from dairy cows.

Otherwise drop the straw from the diet. Up the digestible forage and lower the grain. Cheaper diet and higher production.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Unless you have heaps of very cheap concentrates and expensive fiber sources, which very rarely happens, straw makes no sense from dairy cows.

Otherwise drop the straw from the diet. Up the digestible forage and lower the grain. Cheaper diet and higher production.

products like brewers grain and beet pulp ?

 

[Will Blackburn]

Silage? Adding straw is just a ruse to sell more concentrates.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

I only offer straw to youngstock prior to tmr and there is growing evidence that this is a bit old school.

Can't remember the last time it was an ingredient in a dairy ration.

 

[multi power]

Grass,silage,hay is for eating
Straw is for bedding
End of story

 

[More to life]

Silage? Adding straw is just a ruse to sell more concentrates.

As farmers we were slow catching on tho

 

[Kiwi Pete]

About the only time I'd want to feed straw to a cow is to fix her trotters or make her dry off. I'm with @multi power.
Although, I always had straw in a ring for them to nibble on the way past it wasn't there for food, it was there to provide fibre in case they wanted some. Lots of white line issues before that.

 

[Sid]

Why not use hay? Scratch factor and nutritional?

 

[mixed farm]

So is the key to lowering lameness issues feeding fibre? Huge problems this year, wet grass, wet fields and wet and dirty roadways.

 

[Kevtherev]

Pretty low nutrient value in straw usually fed to suckler cows with silage.
Ad lib though as a bit of a change for them.

 

[Kevtherev]

Only pic I could find

 

[Derrick Hughes]

So is the key to lowering lameness issues feeding fibre? Huge problems this year, wet grass, wet fields and wet and dirty roadways.

high fibre cake helps .speak to your feed rep or mix your own.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

So is the key to lowering lameness issues feeding fibre? Huge problems this year, wet grass, wet fields and wet and dirty roadways.

Seems to be a fairly major improvement as fibre intake increases, yes.
White line/ laminitis is often, not always bought about by lack of fibre, especially later in her lactation.
A cow is largely designed to need an increasing fibre supply as her lactation goes on; mankind doesn't want the milk to drop hence "quality is key" - topping - 5 cuts of silage - etc
So where does Miss Golden Girl find fibre?
Usually, by walking straight through the manicured and fertilised sward and sticking her head through the fence to eat "rubbish"...
Hence, no lame cows at the front, they get to eat it, but the girls at the back suffer..
Chicken or the egg??

Plenty of folk over here "racecourse top"- mow 8 rounds around the paddock in October, tidy it up in December, paddock still all gets topped but in two halves.
That way, not only is quality vs quantity maintained, but the fibre is available to all cows.
A bit of insurance if it forgets to rain, as it does. Better to have some average grass than no grass.

 

[Serup]

Unless you have heaps of very cheap concentrates and expensive fiber sources, which very rarely happens, straw makes no sense from dairy cows.

Otherwise drop the straw from the diet. Up the digestible forage and lower the grain. Cheaper diet and higher production.

I feed about 1 kg/cow/day of straw in my diet. I really want to lower it, but everytime we go lower, the utilization of feed go down. It passes too fast and end on the floor undigested. I have uped my utilization by over 10% going from 0,5 to 1 kg. I feed about 23 kg DM and get about 34-35 kg ecm in one tmr mix for all milkers.