Year-round supply of feeds for livestock under study

MANILA, Philippines — The dairy cattle industry is one of the primary sources of income among cattle raisers, especially the farmers from the province of Isabela in Cagayan Valley, where there is a wide range of rice and corn fields.

However, many dairy farmers are still faced with scarcity problem of quality feed resources for dairy animals especially during dry season. The supply of forage is very low during the dry spell.

The wet season, on the other hand, is the peak season wherein quality feeds are high in supply, therefore contributing to the good milk production of cows.

To address feed quality and scarcity, and improve the current state of the dairy sector, the Bureau of Agricultural Research embarked on a project aimed at producing quality feed and roughages all-year-round.

Forages and roughages are the backbone of the industry, because ruminants like cow depend on them for milk and meat production.

Farmers need to be proficient in managing the development of forages. Having an alternative supply of quality forage during lean months will help reduce the cost of feed production and increase milk production and profit.

To operationalize the supply of quality forages, BAR collaborated with the Isabela State University (ISU) to improve dairy production and increase the income of dairy farmers through the utilization of green corn silage and urea molasses mineral block supplementation using locally available feed resources.

Green corn silage production, nutrient-enriched rice straw (as haylage) and the use of UMMB have been proven to improve nutrition among dairy animals, thereby improving milk and meat production.

Corn silage is a high energy feed resource for ruminants being part forage and part grain. In terms of nutrient content, corn silage is lower in crude protein and higher in digestible energy than other forages.

As a minimum feed requirement, it is essential to provide a green fodder supplement to enhance rumen function for bovine animals and to increase milk production. Forage conserved this way will be good for up to three years.

Silage is very palatable to livestock and can be fed any time.Initial results of the project showed that milk production  gradually increased from three  liters/ head/day to 10-11 liters/ head/ day.