Amino Acid Supplementation for Dry Cows

3/21/2017
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.
- 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).
- The source of amino acids will be from microbial protein synthesis and rumen-undegraded amino acids from feed sources.
- 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.
- 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.