Feed supplement a waste of cash?

26 April 2002

Feed supplement a waste of cash?

FEEDING extra protein and fibre to dairy cows on spring grass could be a waste of money. Tom Phillips told members of the Wye Graze group that a recent test indicated herbage currently contains 27% crude protein and 18% fibre.

"If you are still feeding cake in the parlour it does not need to be 18% protein. The extra fibre to diets to make cows less loose may also not be necessary."

Mr Phillips advised using a credit card test to decide whether extra fibre was needed.

This involved placing a card next to sample dung pats to assess whether they were higher. If they were supplementation was unnecessary.