Abstract #M248

# M248
Value of pulp from green protein extraction of grass clover as forage for dairy cows.
V. K. Damborg*1, S. K. Jensen1, M. R. Weisbjerg1, 1Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Foulum, Denmark.

The increasing demands for animal protein necessitate alternative feed protein sources e.g., protein from green biomass. Pulp of a grass-clover mixture produced by screw-pressing is macerated to release protein, and potentially improve accessibility of fiber and fiber-bound protein. The object of the study was to compare the pulp to grass-clover as forage for dairy cows. Freshly harvested grass-clover was separated into pulp and juice in an industrial scale Vincent twin-screw press (TSP-12). The juice was acidified by lactic acid fermentation precipitating the protein, followed by a decanting into paste, which was spin flash dried into green protein (GP). Pulp and grass-clover from the same field was separately ensiled without additives. The in vitro organic matter (OM) digestibility was 70.7 and 67.6% (n = 4) and crude protein (CP) concentrations were 16.8 and 13.6% of dry matter (DM), for pulp (P) and grass-clover (GC) silage, respectively. GP had a CP concentration of 33.5%DM. A production trial including 12 primiparous and 24 multiparous lactating cows was designed to compare P and GC, and to compare protein deficient rations (~14% CP of DM) to GP or to soybean meal (S) supplemented rations (~16% CP of DM). The trial design was an incomplete Latin square (4x6) consisting of 4 3-week periods and 6 treatments (GC, P, GC+GP, P+GP, GC+S, P+S) where rations without protein supplement (CG and P) were designed to be protein deficient. The forage:concentrate ratio was 55:45 for protein deficient TMRs and 50:50 for supplemented. The P or GC silage composed 68%DM of the forage. The DM intake (DMI) of P silage TMRs was 23.1 (±0.3) kg/d, which was higher than GC silage TMRs, 22.6 (±0.3) kg/d (P < 0.001). Milk yield for P silage TMRs was 37.4 (±0.9) kg/d, and lower for GC silage, 34.6 (±0.9) kg/d (P < 0.001).The results indicate that pulp from protein extraction of green biomass was a valuable forage for dairy cows compared with grass clover, even though part of the digestible soluble matter had been removed.

Key Words: protein extraction, pulp, forage