PDS Nutritional Summary
The science behind the benefits from our approach is easy to convey: PDS promotes the use of on-farm production of key crops to supplement existing dairy herd forages (such as silage) to improve animal nutrition and efficiency.
The currently accepted practise is to use a standard mixed ration for dairy herds, typically consisting of silage, maize or barley, and a protein supplement such as Soya-based bulk concentrate. While on paper, these would appear to provide a balanced ration, we have found that this is only part of the picture.
Careful analysis of standard dairy herd rations has identified four main areas of concern.
- Low animal dry-matter intakes
- Low digestible protein content
- Low fibre content
- High starch content
In dairy cows, these often result in:
- High stomach acidity, leading to sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA)
- Animal weight-loss during lactation
- Very poor fertility levels
- Reduced animal life-span through constant 'stress'
PDS have spent years researching alternatives to increase efficiency and improve animal health. Our research, backed by research from American and Canadian Universities, proves that quality fibre and digestible protein is the answer to these problems.