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Ground Corn Cobs as a Source of Roughage for Lactating Dairy Cows¹

Departments of Dairy and Agricultural Chemistry Michigan State University, East Lansing

ABSTRACT

Two studies were conducted with milking cows to compare ground corn cobs with alfalfa hay for roughage, and a high protein (20.8 to 22.6%) grain mix was fed to supply Morrison's (9) minimum TDN standards, assuming that the corn cobs had the same TDN value as the alfalfa hay. In Trial I, corn cobs were substituted for hay at the rate of 8.0 and 16.0 lb. per day without affecting milk production, fat test, or body weight. An alfalfa-brome grass hay, which had a TDN value of 47.8%, was used for comparison.

In Trial II, corn cobs replaced alfalfa hay up to 60% of the total roughage intake without affecting milk production, and up to 80% of the total roughage without seriously affecting milk production. The TDN content of the alfalfa hay was 52.0 to 53.0%. When the cows were fed 0.4 lb. of hay and 2.1 lb. of corn cobs per 100 lb. of body weight, consumption of total roughage decreased 1.6 lb. per cow daily. Corn cobs appear to be equal to medium-quality alfalfa hay up to the limit of the cow's ability to consume them. Digestion trials were conducted in both studies, but no significant trends were noted.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article No. 2126.