'My feed advisor assures me that it digests better'

With a fluctuating milk price and an increasingly sharp focus on efficiency, as in the probably mandatory Recycling Guide, roughage utilization is becoming more important than ever. Why is this so important and how can you improve roughage utilization?

It lowers feed costs
Producing maximum milk from roughage ensures the lowest feed costs. The feed advisor calculates that milk comes from VEM: the sum of all digestible components. For silage maize this is the cob and the residual plant.

A good digestibility of the residual plant gives up to 75 VEM per kg ds extra. So more milk from every kilogram of roughage. With the same cultivation costs, this increases the balance:

It scores better in the Kringloopwijzer
The mandatory Recycling Guide focuses on mineral efficiency. This makes roughage utilization even more important: more liters of milk from roughage means a more efficient use of minerals, and therefore a better score in the Recycling Guide. Corn also uses nitrogen and phosphate more efficiently.

It increases your added value
The added value of a dairy farm is converting feed products into milk. Converting roughage of 8 cents per kg ds into milk provides more added value than concentrates of 20 cents per kg ds. Focusing on maximum milking from roughage therefore ensures a high balance.

Utilization of silage maize
The nutritional value of silage maize comes from the digestion of the cob, stem and leaf. A bite of maize consists of 40% grain components (starch) and 60% residual plants. Starch is highly digestible and the main source of energy. The extent to which the cow can use the residual plant depends on the degradability of the cell walls: cell wall or NDF digestibility.

This indicates where the profit can be made, namely in a more digestible residual plant. 1% better plant digestibility yields an extra 15 VEM, and more VEM equals more milk. The NDF digestibility varies by up to 12% between available maize varieties. So keep this in mind when choosing a variety and opt for more digestible silage maize varieties.

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