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Increased feed value of maize offers opportunities
The importance of maize in rations is increasing. The plant's cell wall digestibility is improving in many breeds, yielding additional VEM (Vegetarian Fatty Acids). Modern forage harvesters are chopping the grains ever finer, increasing the usability of the starch. ForFarmers sees that this enables livestock farmers to extract more milk from their own roughage and save on concentrates.
Rob Rutgers, a technical specialist at ForFarmers, confirms the trend of increasing cell wall digestibility in maize. "We're simply seeing higher feed value and NDF digestibility. Crop specialists who work extensively with maize varieties do indicate that there's a limit to the growth of VEM due to the increasing cell wall digestibility. After all, the maize needs to remain upright in the field, especially during the period when the maize plant begins to elongate." However, according to Rutgers, this hasn't yet caused any real problems in practice.
More milk, lower excretion
According to the specialist, the increased NDF digestibility is good news for livestock farmers. It means higher feed value per kilogram of dry matter. This makes more milk from roughage possible, because the more VEM you can get into the cow, the more milk she can potentially produce. You can also utilize this higher feed value by saving on your concentrate costs. An additional advantage, according to Rutgers, is that the high VEM also affects the BEX and the figures from the Kringloopwijzer (Circular Cycle Indicator). "These kinds of things also help the farmer, because the higher the feed value (utilization), the lower the excretion. Because the cow uses the roughage she receives more efficiently. Then you achieve a higher BEX benefit and lower CO2-emissions, but the most important thing for the farmer is simply more milk from their own roughage."
Pen acidification is not a problem
Rutgers looks back on an ideal forage season. "Here in the East, it was exceptionally good." According to him, the good silage results from both grass and maize are no cause for concern about rumen acidosis. "The cow is, of course, a ruminant, and it needs NDF (naturally occurring dietary fiber). But I don't believe that's a direct problem at the moment. In practice, you always encounter situations where you encounter rumen acidosis, but the question is what the cause is. Is it due to the forage quality, or is it feed management, selection, ration composition, or other factors?" According to the specialist, good feed management is always important, but especially so in a year with such good forage. He says the balance of structure and energy is still perfectly fine in many cases.
Starch resistance decreases over time
When the corn is freshly chopped, its starch resistance is always somewhat higher, the technical specialist explains. "The resistance decreases over time because the grains soften somewhat after a few months and therefore become more digestible. So the longer the corn is covered in plastic, the more starch breaks down in the rumen. The risk of rumen acidosis increases with corn that sits in the silage longer. The grain fineness also affects the starch resistance. Modern grain crushers are better at reaching the grain, so the grains become finer and more digestible. "That's especially helpful in the first few months of the silage. And that's valuable, because you usually find more corn grains in the manure during that period."
Corn share rises
The expiring derogation gives livestock farmers room to increase the share of maize in their rations. ForFarmers is already seeing a change. "Next year, the derogation expires, so we'll be rid of the 80/20 split. We're already seeing it slowly shifting towards 75/25." The technical specialist indicates that while there are still more possibilities from a cultivation perspective, legal requirements can be restrictive. After all, with less than 75% grassland, you have to grow a third crop. According to him, some livestock farmers are also experimenting more with mixed cereals (MKS) or other concentrate-like feeds when they have ample roughage. His cautious expectation is that this could gain traction in the coming years.
Soil as the basis of a roughage plan
In general, ForFarmers emphasizes "roughage quality" as a key focus for the future. "Make a plan, consider which crops you want to grow where, and adjust your fertilization accordingly," advises Rutgers. "Is the soil structure and pH optimal? Plan your roughage cultivation and think about it carefully. This also applies to legislation and the associated requirements. It's a truly customized approach for each individual farm. If you're increasingly allowed to apply less animal manure, let the soil do its part; it needs to be in good condition." This awareness is truly growing, according to Rutgers. He says ForFarmers has been promoting this for years.
With good quality maize, you can reduce the amount of concentrates in your ration. The higher cell wall digestibility of maize reinforces this. "With good corn, you can get more milk out of your roughage," says Jos Groot Koerkamp of Limagrain. "And then it just depends on your goal as a livestock farmer. Do you want more milk in the tank or do you want to save on concentrate costs? You have that choice by growing high-quality corn. We're talking about LG Animal Nutrition, maize varieties with energy support from high starch content and high plant digestibility. A combination that yields up to 50 VEM per kilo of dry matter. For an average Dutch dairy farm with 114 cows and 4,5 kilos of maize dry matter in the ration, this means a saving of almost 10 tons of concentrate feed per year at the same milk production, or an increase of around 20.000 kilos of milk per year (approximately 0,5 liters per cow per day). At current prices, this translates to over €10.000 in additional milk revenue.
