A comparison of roughages for milk production

Abstract

<p>Altho dairy cows are especially adapted to the consumption of various roughages and tho they utilize more profitably than other livestock many such feeds which cannot be marketed directly, yet there is a marked difference in the values of roughages when considered from the standpoint of milk and butterfat production.</p> <p>That fact is emphasized in the results of the dairy feeding trials with Iowa’s standard roughages, corn silage, corn fodder and timothy and legume hays, reported in this bulletin. In the three tests, alfalfa was the legume hay used, tho clover could have been used in its place. Corn silage has a decided advantage over corn fodder in the ration, and its dry matter seems to be worth about again as much as that of the fodder. Alfalfa hay was shown to have 20 times greater feeding value than timothy hay.</p>