Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1909 — Feeding Grain to Milch Cows. [ARTICLE]

Feeding Grain to Milch Cows.

• Under advanced methods of dairy farming, It Is recognized as essential to -the greatest success to maintain the highest and most uniform flow A milk practicable throughout the year. Now whqp good pasturage is available the change from barn feeding tc pasture Is as a rule highly bepeflcial both as regards yield and quality oi milk and health of the cows, but even In good grazing regions 'there are frequently parts of the season, usually late summer, when the pastures are apt to become dry and thus make it a matter of much practical importance to find some means of keeping up the milk flow, says the Mirror and Farmer For this purpose the practice of feeding either grain or soiling crops to supplement the pasture hat been suggested. The economy oi feeding grain to cows at pasture hat been a subject of investigation by several of the experiment stations. In experiments at the Kansas station a number of years ago two lots of cows each were fed alternately on pasture and bran, pasture and cornmeal, and pasture and ground oats for periods of seven days each. Th« conclusion was -that although the grain feed added, materially to the milk yield, cornmeal showing the greatest increase, the increased returns did not pay the cost of the grain. In fact there was a considerable loss. In experiments at the New York Cornell Btation one lot of cows was fed, from June 8 to September 21, a daily ration of two pounds of cottonseed meal and two pounds of bran per cow, and another lot was fed from May 25 to September 17, six to nine pounds daily per cow of a mixture of wheat bran 100 pounds, cottonseed meal 100 pounds, and malt sprouts 15 pounds, in addition to good bluegrass pasture. In neither case was theVe any profitable return in milk or btitter for the additional grain feed. In experiments with cows soiled in the barn on fresh grass there was an increase in the milk and butter production and a saving in grass barely sufficient to pay the cost of the added grain ration. To determine whether the profit from grain feeding would be greater in case of poorer pasturage a herd of cows on light pasture was divided into two similar lots, one lot receiving only pasture and soiling, the other, beginning May 23, was fed four quarts per cow daily (two feeds, night and morning,) of a mixture of equal parts of corn meal, wheat bran, and cottonseed meal. On August 10, the pastures having beqome dry, both lots began to receive a ration of green corn fodder of about 16 pounds per cow per day. On September 9 the corn fodder ration was changed to millet, which continued until October 1; when second growth grass was used; this continued until October 13 when pumpkin began to be fed. The grain feeding in this case resulted in a profitable increase in milk production and also in a considerable gain in weight of.the cows. .The beneficial effect of the grain feeding was observable the following season, particularly in the development and performance of the younger animals. At the Mississippi station no benefit was derived from feeding three to four pounds of cottonseed meal and four to six pounds of wheat bran per cow daily to cows running on good pasture. The question of grain feeding of cows at pasture has recently been Investigated anew by J. H. Stewart jmd H. Atwood of the West Virginia station. They found that there was no direct financial gain from feeding six pounds per cow daily bf a rather rich grain feed containing 16.5 per cent protein and 3.5 per cent of fat to cows on pasture, notwithstanding the fact that in some cases the pasture became short from drouth. It is true the cows which received grain were uniformly in somewhat better flesh than those that did not receive grain, hut as far as the milk yield was concerned the Increased flow was produced at an actual Jfoss. > Summarizing the results of all the experiments which have been made on the subject, the conclusion seems justified that unless dairy products are especially high in price it is not a profitable practice to feed grain to cows at pasture. It is true that more milk .is obtained and the cows hold up their yield better and remain in better flesh when receiving the grain rations, hut und r ordinary circumstances there is no direct profit from the grain feeding,, as the increased production usually costs more than it can be sold for.