Nebraska: A Great Place to Find Protein for your Dairy Cows!

We, in Nebraska, are fortunate for the ample and locally produced feed supplies.  A dairy cow consuming 50 pounds of dry matter typically may consumes over 8 pounds of protein daily. To convert this feed protein into milk protein, high quality feeds must be used. Last year, Nebraska produced 288 million bushels of soybeans, placing among the nations top five producing states. Many of the soybeans are further processed to remove oil, a process which produces soybean meal, a high quality dairy feed.. The crude protein content of soybean meal accounts for roughly half of the dry matter in the feed and about 70 % of the soybean meal is used directly by rumen microbes. These microbes degrade or break down this protein to synthesize their own amino acids and when these microbes die they wash out of the rumen, and in turn, supply amino acids to the cow. The remaining 30 % is referred to as rumen undegradable protein or RUP. This protein is not degraded by rumen microbes and passes through the rumen reaching the small intestine where it is then digested by the cow. Soybean meal, which is processed with the addition of heat, results in less protein degraded by rumen microbes and allows for more protein directly available to the cows to produce milk protein. Research has shown that heat processing may increase RUP of soybean meal to as much as 70%. There are a number of different methods of heat processing soybean meal, but the main principle is to induce the same chemical reaction. This is the same reaction you employ each time you make toasted bread. This simple chemical reaction is known as the “Maillard reaction” which is a reaction between amino acids and sugars. The result is a chemical structure that protects the protein from being broken down in the rumen and makes it directly available to the small intestine of the cow.In addition to being a major site of soybean production, Nebraska is also a major state, which proudly produces heat-treated soybean meal for the benefit of dairy producers. These feeds represent abundant,, safe and high quality sources of protein for the dairy industry in Nebraska and the nation as a whole.