Dairy cows: middling silage qualities selectively supplemented

Two concepts – one objective

Weather conditions last year meant that farms faced a huge challenge when they harvested their grass silage. It was often impossible to harvest at the optimum time and this had an impact on silage quality. This resulted in high crude fibre contents in particular. Silage maize has also been harvested with excessively high dry matter and crude fibre contents due to the dry, hot late summer. As a result, silages overall had a reduced energy content. Also, food intake dropped because the high crude fibre content of silages means that they take longer to pass through the digestive tract.

It is vital to adjust feeds to compensate for such middling quality in order to prevent deterioration in health and output losses. AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG offers, among other things, two particular approaches, based on supplement feeds, in order to avoid energy deficiencies and the associated negative effects on the health and performance of cows. While using Crystalyx lick blocks makes it possible to increase staple feed intake and improve digestion in the rumen, using Miravit KuhPower aims to boost the energy content of rations and reduce strain on the rumen.


Further information can be obtained from Dominique Jeske, Tel.: 0173 7293226 or email dominique.jeske@agravis.de or from Gerald Krabbe, 0172 2316560, email gerald.krabbe@agravis.de.