Source: Canola Council of Canada
Canola meal makes ration balancing simple. The superior amino acid profile, along with a high percentage of rumen bypass protein has repeatedly been shown to support milk production with lower amounts of protein, resulting in lower levels of milk urea nitrogen (MUN) and less waste.
Canola meal is a well-researched feed ingredient for dairy cows that consistently provides value for producers, as shown in recent academic studies. Field trials conducted in Wisconsin have shown that canola meal can be an alternative for animal proteins and can also be used to replace the high bypass protein soybean meal products that are often needed in rations balanced for amino acids.
The following are some ways canola meal provides value to dairy producers:
- Mid-lactation cows fed canola meal as their primary protein source average 2.2 pounds more milk per day when compared to cows fed primarily soybean meal (Huhtanen et al., 2011).
- Canola meal in early lactation has been shown to get cows off to a good start, with even higher production. Cows receiving canola meal produced 4 kg/day more energy corrected in one trial
- Cows find canola meal highly palatable. Recent studies have demonstrated that cows will readily consume 20 percent of their diet as canola meal.
- Canola meal has been proven to pair well with high-forage diets, as well as with a variety of grains and starch levels.
- Canola meal is a rich source of phosphorus, often a costly required nutrient.
Click any of the links below to learn more about:
- The latest news about Bypass Protein
- Amino Acids and why they matter
- Milk Components to maximize profitability
Bypass Protein
When picking protein sources for dairy rations, the stress has historically been on the crude-protein levels of protein sources. More protein is always better, right? Not necessarily. Cows need the right protein, in the right place. When these requirements are met, the cow uses protein in the most efficient way possible, meaning less protein ends up in the manure pile. Fortunately, canola meal provides the right protein, in the right place, at the right time.
Canola meal has more rumen undegraded protein, or bypass protein, than many other frequently used protein sources. When protein enters a cow’s rumen, rumen microbes break down, or degrade, a fraction of the available protein. The remaining protein bypasses the cow’s rumen and becomes available to satisfy the cow’s amino acid requirements. This means that while it may not always beat other protein sources in crude protein levels, a high portion of canola meal’s protein makes it through the cow’s rumen, putting the protein right where the cow needs it to produce milk. See how canola meal stacks up against soybean meal when it comes to bypass protein in the table below. Feeding canola meal means better feeding efficiency and higher milk production for dairy operations.
Pound for pound, canola meal provides as much digestible RUP as soybean meal, even with its lower crude protein levels. The RUP in canola meal provides more available methionine and histidine than soybean meal, and about 90% as much available lysine, as shown in the table below. Although high protein distiller’s grains supplies more digestible RUP than either soybean meal or canola meal, it fails to supply the amino acids most critical for milk production, and much more would be needed in the diet to supply the amino acids.
Bypass Protein Match-Up
1Maxin, G., Ouellet, D.R. and Lapierre, H., 2013.
2Ross, D.A., Gutierrez-Botero, M. and Van Amburgh, M.E. 2013.
Amino Acids
Another way canola meal provides value is through its amino acid profile. A high level of bypass protein combined with canola meal’s unique amino acid profile not only helps cows optimize milk production, but also supports the production of high-quality milk.
Canola meal’s amino acid profile helps explain the consistent milk yield response when canola meal is included in rations. In a summary of 24 research trials with canola meal included in dairy diets, the average milk production response was an additional 2.2 pounds of milk per day, per cow. With results like that, canola meal is a must-try for all dairy producers looking to increase profits and efficiencies in their operation. Canola’s amino acid pattern matches that of milk more closely than other vegetable protein sources (Table below) and therefore is utilized more efficiently.
Ingredient and rumen microbe amino acid composition as compared milk essential amino acid (EAA) composition (The first limiting amino acid is highlighted for each source)
Ingredient and rumen microbe amino acid composition as compared milk essential amino acid (EAA) composition (the first limiting amino acid is highlighted for each source)
| Milk¹ EAA | Rumen² Microbes | Corn DDGS | Soybean Meal % of Amount in Milk | Corn Gluten | Cottonseed Meal | Canola Meal | |
| Methionine | 2.50 | 88 | 79 | 53 | 95 | 56 | 84 |
| Lysine | 8.00 | 101 | 35 | 76 | 21 | 50 | 68 |
| Arginine | 3.38 | 140 | 127 | 216 | 93 | 342 | 191 |
| Threonine | 4.31 | 124 | 86 | 90 | 77 | 71 | 97 |
| Leucine | 9.56 | 82 | 121 | 78 | 169 | 57 | 63 |
| Isoleucine | 5.12 | 112 | 71 | 89 | 78 | 59 | 66 |
| Histidine | 2.73 | 69 | 97 | 96 | 74 | 100 | 132 |
| Phenylalanine | 4.94 | 108 | 99 | 102 | 125 | 107 | 81 |
| Tryprophan | 0.90 | 131 | 89 | 148 | 60 | 136 | 143 |
| Valine | 5.60 | 102 | 87 | 84 | 81 | 75 | 91 |
¹ Lee C., Giallongo, F., Hristov, A.N., Lapierre, H., Cassidy, T.W., Heyler, K.S., Varga, G.A. and Parys, C., 2015
² Sok, M., Ouellet, D.R., Firkins, J.L., Pellerin, D. and Lappiere, H., 2017
Another way we can look at this is through canola meal’s milk protein score. Feed ingredients are sometimes given milk protein scores as another way to measure their value. The milk protein score takes the amino acid profile of protein sources and compares it to the amino acid composition of milk itself. Canola meal has the highest milk protein score among vegetable-based protein sources, including soybean meal. A high milk protein score equals high-quality milk.
Milk Components
Canola meal’s bypass protein levels and great milk protein score combine to support high levels of components in milk. Milk components, or the fat and protein portions of milk, are important because they are indicative of high-quality milk, and could mean more milk check premiums for dairy producers.
As the table below illustrates, daily protein and fat yields increased when canola meal replaced either soybean meal or cottonseed meal in diets for high-producing dairy cows.
Example of response to canola meal in the diet of dairy cows*
| Added Protein Source | Soybean Meal | Cottonseed Meal | Canola Meal |
| Measurement | |||
| Percent of diet dry matter | 12.1 | 14.1 | 16.5 |
| Dry matter intake, lbs/day | 54.3 | 54.5 | 54.9 |
| Milk yield, lbs/day | 88.2 | 89.3 | 90.6 |
| Protein yield, lbs/day | 2.71 | 2.60 | 2.80 |
| Fat yield, lbs/day | 2.69 | 2.60 | 2.84 |
*U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Madison, WI (Brito, et al., J. Dairy Sci., 90:1828-1841, 2007)
Example of performance of lactating dairy cows fed low – or moderate – protein diets with canola meal or soybean meal
| 15% Crude Protein | 15% Crude Protein | 17% Crude Protein | 17% Crude Protein | |
| Soybean Meal | Canola Meal | Soybean Meal | Canola Meal | |
| Measurement | ||||
| Dry matter intake, lbs | 54.6 | 55.6 | 55.4 | 56.1 |
| Milk yield, lbs | 86.9 | 88.4 | 87.8 | 90.4 |
| Protein yield, lbs | 2.62 | 2.66 | 2.66 | 2.73 |
| Fat yield, lbs | 3.43 | 3.50 | 3.52 | 3.63 |
*U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, Madison, WI (Broderick, et al., J. Dairy Sci., 98:5672-5687, 2015)
These results are consistent with newer research that now recognizes that the soluble fraction of protein meals is not all degraded in the rumen, and some of the soluble protein from both soybean meal and canola meal will bypass the rumen.
