USING CLOVER/GRASS SILAGE AS A PROTEIN FEED FOR DAIRY BULL CALVES

Summary

Calves need high concentrations of protein with high protein quality in their feed ration for proper growth. Soya bean meal is widely used in the world as a protein feed of good nutritional quality but the ethics around the cultivation of the beans are often questioned. Home grown or locally produced feeds, such as nitrogen fixating forage and grain legumes as well as rapeseed products, are shown to give less contribution to environmental problems than imported feeds. The objective of the study was to compare dry matter intake, live weight gain, feed efficiency and profitability in calves fed two levels of forages with high inclusion of red clover together with two different amounts of rapeseed cake vs. soya bean meal. Soya bean meal gave the highest live weight gain and the best profitability. However, a greater amount of rapeseed together with clover/grass silage also gave a good live weight gain and profitability, close to the results for soya bean meal.