Treatment of urea-treated whole crop wheat to improve its energy value for lactating dairy cows

In an attempt to improve the energy value of urea-treated whole crop wheat (WCW) for milk production, energy and nitrogen balance was measured in four lactating cows given 1:2 grass silage:WCW (DM basis) nd libitum with conceatrates. The WCW was fed untreated or treated with caustic soda to improve digestibility or supplemented with molasses on the forage or concentrates to reduce rumen ammonia concentrations. None of the treatments increased gross energy intake significantly but all increased milk energy and fat output. Caustic treatment increased fibre digestibility but reduced starch digestibility while molasses reduced fibre digestibility. There were no significant effects on energy digestibility or the partition of digestible or metabolizablesable energy. It is concluded that the benefits of the treatments are unlikely to be of practical importance to the farmer.