The effect of grain sorghum silage mixed with urea-molasses-sulfur, cotton seed cake and fish meal supplemented during the dry season to dual purpose cattle for milk yield in the Sinu Valley (Colombia)

In the Sinu Valley region (Cordoba, Colombia), 12 dual purpose Holstein × Cebú cows in the first third of lactation were used to evaluate the response of supplementation sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) silage mixed with urea-molasses-sulfur, whole cottonseed and fish meal on milk yield over 60 days period. Treatments were: T1 = silage-0.100 kg of urea-0.250 kg of molasses and 0.004 kg of sulfur. T2 = silage-1.5 kg of whole cottonseed and T3 = silage 0.500 kg of fishmeal. Mean adjusted milk production was: 5,6±0,7, 6,6±1,4 y 5,6±0,6 kg/cow/day for T1, T2 and T3 respectively. Treatment had a significant effect on milk yield per cow. Mean yield of those cows in T2 was significantly higher than that of treatment 1 and 3, but not among T1 and T3. The sorghum silage feed intake was 4,1±0,31, 4.3±0,40 y 3.8±0,29 Kg dry matter/animal/day for treatment 1, 2 and 3 respectively. There were significant differences between T2 and T3, but there were no differences between T1 compared with T2 and T3. Live weight gain throughout the experimental period was in the order of 4.0, 10.0 and 8.4 kg for T1, T2 and T3 respectively, with significant differences only between T1 and T2. All treatments are economically viable, due to the positive income produced. However, treatment 1 showed the higher economic response.