André Brito, associate professor of dairy nutrition and management, and researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, discusses his research project Feeding Field Peas to High-Producing Lactating Dairy Cows at the 2017 NH Farm and Forest Expo.
Field peas (Pisum sativum) are one of the few feedstuffs that combine relatively high concentrations of protein and starch, making them a unique substitute for typical dairy protein and energy sources such as soybean meal, corn, and barley. Field peas also may be an alternative to soybean meal and corn in organically certified dairies due to the increased risk of these traditional feeds to be genetically modified. However, most of field peas rumen-degradable consists of soluble protein, which may decrease milk yield and nitrogen use efficiency in lactating dairy cows particularly at high levels of dietary inclusion. Brito presented recent research results focused on dietary strategies to improve nitrogen use efficiency in high-producing dairy cows fed field peas.
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Written By:
Lori Wright, '06G | NH Agricultural Experiment Station | lori.wright@unh.edu | 16038621452
