MILK PRODUCTION:
Heat treatment may have the greatest potential for safe and economical treatment of soybeans. Increased milk production has been obtained from feeding heat-treated soybeans to lactating cows compared with yields from those fed solvent-extracted soybean meal and raw soybeans.
Milk production of cows during the experimental period is illustrated in Figure 1 (see above). The increase in milk production with heat-treated soybeans relative to soybean meal and raw soybeans became greater as lactation progressed to 9 weeks. Cows fed heat-treated soybeans peaked about two weeks later than cows fed soybean meal or raw soybeans. Others have made similar observations. Cows fed heat-treated soybeans produced an average of 4.5 kb/d more milk than cows fed soybean meal or raw soybeans.
Excerpt from Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 74, No. 9, 1991.
"Feeding Heat-Treated Full Fat Soybeans to Cows in Early Lactation"
M. A. Faldet and L. D. Satter
U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center
University of Wisconsin