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Faunsdale, AL | Anhydrous is primarily a source of Non protein nitrogen like Urea etc. It may break down some fiber etc, but the effect is slight unless you are adding it to a silage before fermentation.
In that case it seems to depend on the rate. Low rates tend to speed up and enhance fermentation while higher rates tend to prolong fermentation since the chemical effect of the ammonia is to buffer the pH change that preserves the silage.
But adding NPN to a feed that has low protein, but digestable fiber can help the cow's rumen to digest more of the fiber faster resulting in better performance. With a low level of protein and low protein digestability, there isn't enough free nitrogen (ammonia really) in the rumen fluid for the bacteria and protozoa that digest the fiber to grow at maximum rates. In that situation additonal protein will help and NPN can substitute for more expensive natural protein which the rumen bugs usually break down to the ammonia anyway.
The bugs don't use protein so much as they use ammonia. The cow can't do anything with the ammonia, but she can digest the bugs after they have used it to grow on. Any ammonia that is not used by the bugs is lost as gas from the belching of the cow or absorbed and converted to Urea in the liver before being eliminated from the body in the urine. Any protein not broken down by the rumen bugs may be digested by the cow along with the bugs that flow out of the rumen with the remaining feed.
Calcium hydroxide or lime reacts with moisture and fiber to break it down and make it more digestable to the cow. Maybe someone needs to do a trial with stalks, lime and NPN. | |
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deep well with high sulfur levels
