Cracked dry or finely ground high moisture shelled corn as a supplement for grazing cows

Feeding shelled corn as the primary supplement in cracked dry form or ground high moisture form to grazing cows was studied in an experiment using 32 cows in late lactation. Each of the two forms of corn accounted for 74.7% of the concentrate supplement, which was fed at 9 kg/d (DM). The experiment was 13 wk, during which cows grazed permanent native pasture containing mostly grasses and some clover. Milk yield was 2.4 kg/d higher for cows fed ground high moisture shelled corn than for those fed dry cracked shelled corn. Milk fat content was lower (3.28 vs. 3.67%), but protein content was higher (3.26 vs. 3.15%) for the high moisture corn supplement. Results suggest that high moisture corn can serve as a better supplement for grazing cows than dry corn, likely by providing more metabolizable energy and microbial protein due to more fermentable and digestible starch.