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Releasing the full value
of corn in dairy cattle
Getting more milk from a given amount of feed
and increasing productivity and efficiency,
whilst ensuring herd health, is the goal of all
dairy farmers, as feed is the greatest cost factor.
Feed enzymes are common tools in monogastric
nutrition, however, before now feed enzymes
have not been successful in ruminant nutrition.
DSM has spent the last 13 years researching
and developing the first ruminant enzyme RONOZYME® RumiStar™. This enzyme has
gained EFSA approval as a digestibility enhancer
in dairy cows. It was designed to improve
feed digestibility, utilization and, ultimately,
increase energy availability to match the daily
requirement of high yielding dairy cows. This
is a new innovative development in dairy cow
nutrition, which helps farmers achieve increased
dairy herd efficiency.
RONOZYME® RumiStar™ is an alpha amylase that increases the
efficiency of corn starch utilization in dairy cows, increasing the
supply of energy to the cow. When fed to the cow it increases
the rate of corn starch degradation in the rumen. The corn
starch is broken down to oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides
fuel cellulolytic bacteria, which are responsible for digesting
cellulose into feed, nitrogen is used, and microbial protein yield
in the rumen increases. This leads to improved fiber digestibility,
which delivers more acetate in the rumen. The acetate is then
absorbed into the blood, enters the udder and is used to help
produce milk fat. Rumen pH is unchanged, resulting in improved
digestibility with no reduction in rumen health.
The amylase also works in the small intestine, increasing
starch digestibility. The overall effect is more starch and fiber
are digested through the increase in fiber digesting bacteria,
resulting in less starch wasted and less fiber in the feces. More
energy, through glucose propionate and acetate, reaches the
cow. This will result in more milk, more butterfat and a better
energy balance; and, most critical in the current economic
climate, better efficiency.
RONOZYME® RumiStar™ releases the full value of corn to the
cow. If a dairy herd of 500 cows fails to digest 5% of starch,
this results in 22.5 tons of waste corn grain over 100 days, this
equates to a cost of €3,000. RONOZYME® RumiStar™ releases
more of the starch energy in corn-based rations, providing more
energy to the dairy cow and increasing forage digestion. As a
result, cows make better, more efficient use of their total diet,
which can reduce feed costs and boost milk efficiency.