Replacement of Corn Silage with Corn Gluten Feed and Sodium Bicarbonate for Lactating Dairy Cows

¹ Department of Dairy Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210

A digestion trial with primiparous, rumen-cannulated Holstein cows and a lactation trial with multiparous Jersey and Holstein cows were done to evaluate effects of replacing NDF from corn silage with NDF from dry corn gluten feed or sodium bicarbonate. The high forage control diet contained 49% forage and 51% concentrate, and three other diets contained 30 to 35% forage and 65 to 70% concentrate. Two of the high concentrate diets had 20% corn gluten feed without or with 1% sodium bicarbonate. The remaining diet contained a typical corn-soybean meal concentrate plus 1% sodium bicarbonate. Due to the relatively high NDF of forages, diets averaged about 37.5% NDF. Cows fed buffer plus corn gluten feed had the highest NDF digestibility. Those fed the high forage control diet produced less milk and milk protein than did cows fed corn gluten feed replacing forage, due partly to a trend for lower DMI. Four percent FCM averaged 33.0 kg/d for cows fed corn gluten feed plus buffer; this was higher than for those fed other diets (30.0 to 30.9 kg/d). Under the conditions of these trials, the combination of 20% corn gluten feed and 1% sodium bicarbonate was an effective replacement for NDF from corn silage.

Key Words: corn gluten feed • sodium bicarbonate • milk production

Submitted on August 20, 1990
Accepted on January 25, 1991