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Home My WebLink AboutFarming '88, 1988-03-30, Page 60PAGE 34. FARMING ’88, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1988. Energy measurement for dairy nutrition explained BY ANNETTE MOORE DAIRY SPECIALIST Energy is usually the first limiting nutrient in rations of high producing dairy cows. Energy is required in relatively large amounts and is required for body maintenance, milk production, reproduction and growth. However, when a dairy ration is balanced some concerns that are often voiced are: “Is this feed good enough for maximum milk produc tion?’’, “How much of this feed do I need to feed?’’, and “How do I compare one feed to another?”. Using energy measurement sy stems, like Total Digestible Nutri ents (TDN) or Net Energy Systems, questions like this can be answer ed. Before you can understand the differences between TDN and NE it helps tofirst understand what energy is, how it is measured and what units of measure are used. •What is Energy? Energy is the ‘fuel’ that helps the body grow, maintain itself, as well as produce milk and a calf. Energy is not a simple nutrient like protein, carbo hydrates, vitamins or minerals and Combined efforts needed to solve skills shortage Ontario’s $4.3 billion machinery and equipment manufacturing sector will need another 2,500 highly-skilled workers by 1991, according to a report released last month. The report states that govern ment, labourand industry must combine efforts to train new workers to keep the industry competitive. The report, “Human Resource and Training Needs in Ontario’s Machinery and Equipment Manu facturing Sector”, was sponsored by the Ministry of Skills Develop ment. “The ministry has programs in place so that we will be able to work together with industry and labour to not only train workers, but to create a greater awareness of the need for training,” Alvin Curling, Minister of Skills Development said. “Our combined efforts are needed so that Ontario’s machin ery and equipment manufacturing sectorwillcontinue togrow and compete on a world-wide basis.” The sector employs more than 39,000 people and will need more general machinists, tool and die makers, milling machine opera tors, welders, fitters and assembly line workers. The manufacturers face stiff competition for workers from larger industries such as automo tive, electrical and electronic industries which need the same type of skilled workers. Machinery and equipment man- ufacturersjjroduce items as di verse as roller bearings, conveyer belts, wood chippers, nuclear reactor parts and outboard motors. As well as the highly-skilled production workers, another 1,000 people will be needed by the sector to support production (mainly industrial engineers) and in non manufacturing areas (mainly sales and marketing). James F. Hepburn, chairman of the Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers’ Association, not ed that the lack of skilled workers neither can it be measured directly in the lab like protein, fibre or minerals. Energy exists in the organic component of feed such as protein, fatandfibre, however, the amount of energy present in the feed and its availability to the animal will depend upon the quantity and quality of each component in the feed. Energy is not present in the inorganic componentoffeeds, i.e., minerals, nor is it considered present in vitamins as the amount of vitamins present are very small. •How is Energy Measured? Since energy is rather an ‘elusive’ nutrient and is part of a lot of other nutrients, direct laboratory mea surement is very difficult. To get around this problem, scientists have developed equations which estimate TDN a nd NEL from the fiber fraction of feed. Fiber can be measured directly in the laboratory as Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF). However, there is a catch: the only equations that the research community feel at the present time are accurate are those equations which estimate energy for hay, haylage and corn silage. Other could have a direct effect upon the other staff. “If we can’t find the skilled workers, we can’t hire the non skilled workers,’’ Mr. Hepburn said. Vai Bourgeois, general vice- president of the International Machinists and Aerospace Work ers, said the group had been advocating more training for a number of years. “We realized that these shortages could occur. This report confirms the need for more training initiatives and closer co-operation among all key players involved,” Mr. Bourgeois said. Mr. Hepburn and Mr. Bourgeois were co-chairmen of the steering committee overseeing the report. The report recommends that industry and labour create a wider awareness of the need and import ance for adopting new technolo gies. Both groups should also plan for human resource and skills requirementsandbecome more directly involved in training. It also urges companies not to lay off apprentices and trainees when business is slow and to participate directly in formal training to ensure that the best “doers” are teachers. Government, the report states, can support these efforts by ensuring that apprenticeship pro grams reflect current and emerg ing skills needs. Industry, labour and government were all urged to find ways to attract more qualified people to the skilled trades. It was announced last fall that the ministry was taking a number of steps to upgrade and modernize the apprenticeship system to reflect emerging skills needs, including innovative training ap proaches. “These intiatives, based on the traditional system, are expected to increase the number of appren tices to 60,000 from 40,000 and could be a major factor in helping meet the needs of this manufactur ing sector,” Mr. Curling said. equations that estimate energy for feeds that are not hay, haylage and corn silage are not considered accurate. Energy values for such feeds as barley, barlage and soybean meal are derived from actual animal trials and are commonly referred to as “book values”. Research is continuing in this area and soon all feeds will be able to be routinely analysed for energy. •What Units of Measure are Used? The units most commonly used in North America to measure energy are kilocalories (kcal). However, other units of measure that can be seen are calories (cal), megacalories (Meal) and kilojoules (KJ). There relationship with each other are as follows: 1 kcal = 1000 cal 1 Meal = 1000 kcal 1 kcal = 4.18 KJ Energy can also be measured in terms of ration dry matter (Meal/ kg) or as a percentage of the total ration or feed. •Whatis the difference between TDN and NE? Both systems measure energy, but the NE system is the more accurate of the two. The NE system is more precise and is composed of three categories: NE maintenance (NEm), NE gain (NEg) and NE lactation (NE 1). The NE system therefore is divided into the amount of feed energy required for maintenance, gain and lactation. When formulating rations, the type of NE used will depend upon whether the animal is lactating or growing. Lactating dairy cattle rations use NElTwhile growing cattle rations such as for young heifers and growing and mature bulls use both NEm and NEg. TDN, on the other hand, is used for all classes of dairy cattle and has been shown to overestimate the energy available from roughages for both milk production and weight gain. The TDN system has been used in the past, but if the dairy industry is to continue to strive for optimum production per cow and maximum feed efficiency improved systems such as the NE system must be adopted. ESTABLISHED 1873 TEL. [519] 335-3561 1-800-265-3033 howick MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY WROXETER, ONTARIO NOG 2X0 The Howick Mutual has been serving the local community since 1873. Contact one of our broker representatives for all your farm, residential, commercial and automobile insurance needs. 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