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Corn Silage Compared to Alfalfa Hay for Milking Cows when Fed Various Levels of Grain¹

Dairy Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48823

ABSTRACT

Cows were fed either corn silage or alfalfa hay as the only roughage for three lactations. For one lactation two other groups of cows received different proportions of each forage. Grain was fed at two levels within each forage group. Cows fed grain at the usual rate of 1 lb per 3.5 lb milk produced as much milk, fat-corrected milk, fat, or solids-not-fat as cows fed the higher rate of grain, which was ad libitum until 84 days of lactation then reduced to 1:2.5. This was true for each of the four roughage groups for one lactation and for those fed either corn silage or hay for two or three consecutive lactations. Increasing the amount of grain fed from 2,074 to 3,111 kg per lactation did not result in greater milk production.

The production of milk, fat-corrected milk, fat, and solids-not-fat was similar (22, 21, 0.8, 2.0 kg/day respectively), for cows fed corn silage, hay, or combinations thereof for one lactation. "When continued on only corn silage or only hay for two or three consecutive lactations, those fed sil-lage consumed less roughage dry matter (3.0 kg/day), produced similar amounts of milk and fat-corrected milk (21 kg/ day) with similar persistencies (90%), consumed slightly more grain (0.5 kg/ day), and had less weight loss (0.06 kg/ day). There were no interactions between forage group and lactation number.

Cows fed only corn silage had more treatments for ketosis than cows fed only hay or for those fed a mixture of the two forages. Incidences of metritis, mastitis, and retained placentas were about equal for all treatments. Conception rate and vitamin A status were similar for cows fed corn silage or hay for one or three lactations. Cows can be fed corn silage as the only roughage for at least three lactations and maintain normal levels of milk production, reproduction, and health.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article no. 4552.