Concentrate feed

What is concentrate feed?

Concentrate feed is feed with a high energy or protein density and little crude fibre. Unlike forage, it is usually bought in or used as home-grown cereal. A high-yielding cow cannot meet her needs from grass and silage alone, because her rumen only holds a limited volume. Concentrates close that gap.

What types are there?

• Energy feeds: wheat, barley, triticale, grain maize or dried sugar beet pulp. These mainly supply starch or easily digestible fibre.
• Protein feeds: rapeseed meal, soya bean meal, brewers’ grains or distillers’ dried grains. These balance low-protein rations with a lot of maize silage.
• Dairy compound feed: ready-made mixes with a fixed energy and protein content, often with minerals.
• Balancer feed: makes up for a specific shortfall in the basic ration, for example protein when there is a lot of maize.
• Dry cow concentrate: adapted to the lower requirements and the mineral profile of the dry period.

How are concentrates fed?

On many farms the concentrate is part of the TMR. Then every cow gets the same mix. Often a partial mixed ration is made for an average yield and the rest is allocated by yield, through out-of-parlour feeders, in the parlour or in the milking robot. The out-of-parlour feeder has the advantage that cows in early lactation and high yielders get more where it is needed.

Small portions are better than large ones. A large amount of starch at once makes the rumen pH drop quickly. So spread the concentrate over several meals through the day. After calving, build it up slowly over two to three weeks so the rumen microbes can adapt.

How much concentrate can a cow handle?

There is no fixed limit. It depends on forage quality, the structure of the ration and the type of starch. For the rumen, the ratio of concentrate to structural roughage counts most. As a guide, at least 16 to 18 percent crude fibre in the dry matter of the total ration is used. Maize and wheat starch are broken down at different speeds. Wheat and barley ferment quickly, grain maize more slowly.

Signs of too much concentrate or too little structure are thin, yellow dung with undigested grains, few cows ruminating in the lying area and a fat-to-protein ratio below 1.0 in milk recording. Hoof problems often follow later.

Concentrates in special phases

In the dry period, little or no concentrate is fed so the cow does not get too fat. In the last two to three weeks before calving, a small amount gets the rumen used to the lactation ration. For heifers before calving it should be no more than 2 to 3 kg a day, because too much energy encourages udder oedema.

In hot weather, less concentrate is often better for the rumen, because cows ruminate less and lose buffer through panting. Read more in Heat stress in dairy cattle. At grazing, part of the minerals often goes missing along with the concentrate, as you can read in Grazing: keep a close eye on minerals.

Concentrates and profitability

Concentrate is often the largest bought-in cost. So calculate with the milk produced from forage. The better the silage and hay, the less concentrate the cow needs for the same yield.

Frequently asked questions

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