As the calendar turns the last two months of the year, now is the time to finish 2024 strong! QLF molasses-based liquid feeds can be a great tool to help enhance efficiency and profitability for the remainder of the year! Here’s how:
Enhance Milk & Component Income
- Milk and component prices have increased! Remember that molasses-based liquid feeds provide a great opportunity to help enhance milk and component production. Meta analysis research has shown that reaching a sugar level of 6.5 – 8.5% of the diet DM is the most profitable way to feed sugar from molasses-based liquid feeds. Achieving optimal sugar supplementation increased DMI by 2 lbs, and FCM by 4.6 lb/day (PAS 33: 700-707). Production of individual components and economic impact is shown in the table below.
- Remember that the best responses from molasses-based liquid feed supplementation are in higher producing cows (>73 lb/day milk) and cows <150 DIM. Make sure to feed enough sugar to reach recommended levels (6.5 – 8.5% of diet DM). Usually, it will take 1.5 – 2 lbs of supplemental sugar to reach this level (4-6 lbs of liquid feed, as-fed). And, make sure to feed enough RDP (10-11% of DM) to help the rumen bugs capture the energy from sugar and transform it to microbial protein! For more complete information, please see QLF Tech Bulletin #4349 “Using QLF Liquid Supplements to improve milk performance and profitability”
- Don’t forget about the benefits of molasses-based liquid feeds for dry and fresh cows too! Prefresh cows have very challenging biology, with late-stage calf development, diet/feed changes, and preparation for the upcoming lactation. Feeding molasses-based liquid feeds in the prefresh period can help enhance rumen efficiency and DMI, which can lead to better post-calving performance and milk efficiency!
2024 Forage Challenges
- Weather extremes have been the “norm” for 2024, resulting in a large variation in the moisture level, quality and quantity of forage available in many areas. Late planted corn and drought stress will impact the feeding value of corn silage and high moisture corn. Weather patterns resulting in overly mature hays, and use of alternative forages will bring high levels of NDF to the diet, which can lower rumen passage rate and DMI.
- Using molasses-based liquid feeds at 4-6 lb/cow/day to provide sugars and protein to feed the fiber digesting bacteria will help keep the bacteria populations thriving and provide a consistent fermentation base to the rumen. This increases VFA energy available from forage and will help the rumen transition more smoothly through seasonal feed and forage changes. And, feeding 4-6 lb/day of QLF sweetens up the TMR, and helps reduce sorting, to increase overall forage intake and lessen weigh-backs!
- Better forage digestion helps cows maintain target intakes and milk component production. Remember that producing more microbial protein in the rumen helps provide metabolizable protein for the cow, fueling milk protein production. And digestion of fiber provides precursors for milk fat production!
Improve Milk Efficiency
- Today’s dairy farms have weathered large fluctuations in the milk price in the last 5 years. Improving efficiency today creates a stronger economic future for the farm!
- Productivity & efficiency starts in the rumen! Remember that the sugars in molasses-based liquid feeds complement the digestion of dietary starches and fiber, helping to “fill the structure gap” while microbes are gaining access to the energies contained in starch and fiber. This is especially important in times of drought and reduced forage availability, to help make the best use of all available feeds and optimize microbial protein production. This also helps maintain consistent DMI and energy supply to the cow!
- Also, fall harvest conditions in some areas led to rapid dry down of high moisture corn. Sugars from the molasses-based liquid feeds provide valuable energy to the rumen bugs when feeding dry high moisture corn, helping to maximize rumen efficiency!
- Remember that sugars are a “safe” carbohydrate for the rumen bugs, when it comes to maintaining normal rumen pH. When properly fed, sugars are digested very quickly by the microbes or stored by the bugs for later use, so they don’t have a negative effect on rumen pH like rapidly available starches from grains can have. So, the sugars can be a special tool to help maintain optimal rumen fermentation and efficiency!
- Molasses-based liquid feeds can also help enhance milk efficiency by providing a precise method to deliver specialty additives which positively impact rumen fermentation, TMR utilization, and production. Please check with your QLF District Sales manager for more information about delivering specialty additives which enhance digestion and gut function, ionophores, mycotoxin adsorbents, TMR preservative, and more!
Benefit for Every Cow, Every Day
- Molasses-based liquid feeds provide benefits to the cows 365 days per year! Molasses-based liquid feeds are formulated for year-round flow and handling through all 4 seasons, including winter. Many customers handle QLF molasses-based liquid feeds successfully all winter long. Here’s how:
- QLF products are stored in closed tank handling systems, which protects the product from winter’s extreme cold air. It is recommended to handle QLF dairy products through a “QLF 365” equipment system, with insulated and heat cabled hoses, and weather/windbreak protection around the pump.
- Product temperature in an un-insulated hose will be the same as ambient air temperature… so if air temperature is 0 °F, the product in an un-insulated hose will be too! Utilizing heat cable and insulating the lines helps keep the product at a flowable temperature in the hoses. And, using a gear pump allows the product to be reversed back into the tank when addition to the TMR mixer is complete.
- Keeping tanks more than 25% full in the winter also helps maintain more optimal product handling temperature in the winter and provides head pressure for moving the product in the pumping system.
- Make sure that all handling equipment is in good working order before cold weather arrives. And, remember to plug in the heat cable when cold weather arrives!
- Please ask your QLF District Sales Manager for more information about a QLF 365 handling system for your QLF Dairy Product.
In summary, QLF Dairy products can help finish 2024 strong and make the best use of 2024 feeds and forages! Please contact your QLF District Sales Manager for more information about the benefits of QLF!