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Dehydrated
alfalfa pellets have been used in dairy cattle diets in North America
since the 1930s. Product attributes include palatability, uniform
quality, and high nutrient availability.
Recent research has established dehydrated alfalfa as a quality source
of bypass protein for lactating dairy cows and growing young stock.
Both dehydrated and suncured alfalfa pellets can be used as a high
quality forage source in farm-mixed and compound feeds to supplement
low quality forages or to augment forage supply.
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Canadian
alfalfa cubes are renowned for their consistent high quality and year
round availability. Like pellets, cubes are a dense, easily transported
and handled product. Since alfalfa used in making cubes is coarsely
shredded rather than finely chopped it can be used as the sole roughage
source for direct feeding. Canadian research on feeding alfalfa cubes
to lactating dairy cows shows maintained milk and butterfat production.
Canadian alfalfa cubes are available in a regular cube of 1 1/2 inches
on each side and a smaller cube of 7/8 inch on each side.
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Silage + Cubes
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Silage + Hay
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---------- with concentrate ----------
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Milk,
kg/day
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24.7
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24.0
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Milk
Fat, %
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3.39
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3.58
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4%
Fat Corrected Milk, kg/day
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22.1
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22.4
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Dry
Matter Intake, kg/day
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21.0
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20.2
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Christensen
& Cochran, 1990
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Ref
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Alfalfa
Pellets
in Diet
%
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Dry
Matter
Intake
kg/day
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Milk
Yield
kg/day
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Milk
Fat
%
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4% Fat
Corrected
Milk
kg/day
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1
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0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
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21.9
21.9
22.9
23.1
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25.3
25.7
27.9
26.5
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3.20
3.20
3.50
3.20
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21.2
23.4
25.1
23.7
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2
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0.0
15.0
27.0
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18.0
18.7
19.2
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27.5
26.6
26.0
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3.13
3.36
3.63
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23.5
23.3
24.5
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3
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0.0
6.6
13.2
19.8
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20.9
20.2
21.2
21.2
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25.3
25.0
25.3
24.9
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3.20
3.34
3.48
3.54
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22.0
21.6
23.6
23.0
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References:
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1.
Danelon (1993)
2. Christensen & Cochrane (1983)
3. Kirkpatrick et al. (1984)
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• Bypass
Protein for high producing dairy cows and rapidly growing young stock.
• Beta Carotene is preserved in dehydrated alfalfa pellets by the
processing and storage procedures used. Beta carotene is a precursor of
Vitamin A, promoting health and good reproductive performance.
• Palatability and nutrient complement ensure that cows will
readily accept dehydrated alfalfa and more of the total diet, thereby
increasing total nutrient intake.
• Other Factors - Dehydrated alfalfa pellets are a natural and
recognized source of: Vitamin E, Calcium, Sulphur-containing amino
acids, Selenium, Potassium (buffer), Fibre, and Digestible Energy.
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High
producing dairy cattle and rapidly growing ruminants require more
protein than can be made available through rumen microbial action.
Rumen protein synthesis has been estimated to be adequate only for
animal maintenance plus production of 14-16 kg of milk daily.
Higher production requires protein sources which do not readily
break down in the rumen. Up to 60 percent of the protein in dehydrated
alfalfa will bypass the rumen for further digestion in the small
intestine, resulting in higher milk production.
The added bypass protein is combined with the high quality of
dehydrated alfalfa protein, resulting in an effective and efficient
source of protein in dairy cattle diets. Therefore, dehydrated alfalfa
is more efficient than many other protein sources for milk synthesis
and can reduce the amount of supplemental protein for more economical
diets.
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Research
has been conducted in Canada and the United States on feeding
dehydrated alfalfa pellets as a portion of the concentrate for
lactating dairy cows. Animals fed dehydrated alfalfa pellets maintained
or improved 4% fat corrected milk yield and increased milk fat percent.
Results indicate that pellets can replace up to 30 percent of the
concentrate in the dairy cow’s diet.
Recent research in other countries suggest similar results. Cows
fed a concentrate-corn silage based diet with 3.5 kg of dehydrated
alfalfa pellets per cow, compared to 3.5 kg of long hay, produced more
milk while maintaining high butterfat percent.
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Lactating
Dairy Cows:
• up to
3.5 kg daily as a portion of the concentrate and to provide a high
quality forage source.
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Dry
Cows:
• up to
2.5 kg/cow daily.
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Replacement
Heifers:
• up to
20 percent of the total ration may be replaced with dehydrated or suncured
alfalfa pellets.
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With
other forages:
• feed up
to 8 kg daily with 3-5 kg of other forages.
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As
the sole forage source:
• cows
should be gradually adjusted to cubes by starting at 1-2 kilograms per
days, gradually increasing the amount over 2-3 weeks.
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