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October 2013
Canola meal for dairy not only provides competitive levels of crude protein, it takes protein to another level when it comes to rumen undegradable protein.
Protein. Arguably, it’s really what a good dairy ration comes down to. When comparing potential protein sources, most people focus on crude protein. But, the percent of crude protein in an ingredient doesn’t tell the whole story. Crude protein represents the total protein in the ingredient, not the different types of protein in that ingredient and their relative values to the cow.
The crude protein percent represents several factors, including the amino acid profile and rumen undegradable protein (RUP), also referred to as bypass protein. These individual values have different effects on milk production. In short, just because an ingredient has a lot of crude protein doesn’t mean it has the right kind of protein for your cows.
Bypass protein is one of those factors. Bypass protein refers to the amount of protein that is able to make it through the rumen, undegraded, during the digestion process, and remains usable to the cow after the rumen. In order to produce milk, cows must be able to utilize protein after it passes through the rumen. A high level of bypass protein means that there is more protein available to the cow for milk production, at the right time, in the right place.
Canola meal has more bypass protein than other popular protein sources, such as soybean meal and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Canola meal may not always have the highest level of crude protein, but the protein it does bring to the table is more readily available to the cow. In fact, if you had 5 pounds each of canola meal and soybean meal, only 1.05 pounds of protein from the soybean meal would make it past the cow’s rumen, but 0.95 pounds of canola meal would be available to the cow for milk production. Feeding canola meal means ensuring feed efficiency and higher milk production for your operation.
To learn more about bypass protein, check out the Dairy Feed Calculator and determine how valuable canola meal is for your operation.
