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• Soyhulls can supply 20 to 30% of the dry matter intake of midlactation cows producing about 66 pounds of milk/day.
• When more than 30% of the diet is soyhulls differences in the source of energy, amounts of fiber and nonstructural carbohydrates digested, and in the site of digestion within the digestive tract may cause a shortage of either the proper source and (or) amount of energy required for maximum milk production.
• Replacing a portion of the corn in the diet with soyhulls may help to reduce feed costs when soyhulls can be purchased at a more competitive price than corn.

INTRODUCTION

To achieve maximum milk production feeding systems for dairy cows need to assure, among other factors, high energy intake. This goal might be accomplished by raising the dietary concentration of rapidly degradable nonstructural carbohydrates, like starch from cereal grains. Increasing the concentration of nonstructural carbohydrates in diets of dairy cows, however, can lead to undesirable ruminal fermentation, compromising the nutrient supply for production of milk and milk components. The partial replacement of cereal grains with low starch byproduct feeds such as soyhulls (SH) represents a potential alternative to overcome this limitation.

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of the incremental substitution of SH for ground corn in high grain diets on ruminal fermentation, site and extent of nutrient digestion, microbial protein synthesis, and passage of nutrients to the small intestine of lactating dairy cows.

See attached PDF file for complete paper and tables.