New Soybean Hull Product for Dairy

Two experiments were conducted comparing the effects of wet corn gluten feed and a new product composed of raw soybean hulls and corn steep liquor. The control diet contained 30% alfalfa hay, 15% corn silage, 32% corn, 9.3% whole cottonseed, 4.4% solvent soybean meal and 3.3% expeller soybean meal, on a dry weight basis. Twenty percent wet corn gluten feed replaced 10% alfalfa hay, 5% corn silage, 5% corn and the expeller soybean meal replaced the solvent soybean meal. The hull-corn steep liquid product replaced 10% alfalfa hay, 5% corn silage, 3% solvent soybean meal and 2% corn. During the first 13 weeks of lactation, the energy-corrected milk, dry matter intake and energy-correlated milk per dry matter intake was similar for all three treatments. The two treatments supported improved milk, energy-corrected milk, milk component yield, and energy-corrected milk per dry matter intake compared to the control diet. In a digestion study, the research group was unable to show significant treatment differences in dry matter intake; total tract digestibility of dry matter, fiber and crude protein; rumen pH; concentrations of total volatile fatty acids or ammonia; however, the ratio of acetate to propionate was higher for the control treatment compared to the other two treatments. The researchers concluded that the wet corn gluten feed or a raw soybean hull-corn steep liquid product could serve as alternative feed ingredients in diets fed to lactating dairy cows.

Wickersham, E.E. and co-workers. 2004. Response of dairy cows to diets containing wet corn gluten feed or a raw soybean hull-corn steep liquor pellet. J. Dairy Sci. 87(1): 3899-3911.