Amino Acid Supplementation for Dry Cows

Dry cows have an amino acid requirement, not a crude protein requirement. There are several important factors that should be considered when supplementing amino acids in dry cow rations.

1. Dry cow amino acid requirements will depend if the dry cow is in the far-off dry cow phase (the initial 30 to 35 days in the dry period with lower amino acid levels) or close-up dry cow phase (the last 21 days before calving with higher amino acid levels).
2. The source of amino acids will be from microbial protein synthesis and rumen-undegraded amino acids from feed sources.
3. Dry matter intake is critical to provide the energy needed to optimize amino acids from microbial growth based on digestible organic matter consumed and ration rumen-undegraded protein sources.
4. If amino acids are supplemented, they must be rumen-protected from microbial degradation to avoid changing to ammonia and a carbon source for energy.

Click here to read the full article on dry cow and closeup rations and the role of methionine in these rations.