The substitution of soybean meal for urea: the effect on the ammonia content of the rumen fluid, the N flow in the duodenum, the nitrogen and energy balances and the milk production.

In different experiments, the nutritive value of maize silage associated with urea was compared with that of the same forage associated with soybean meal. The ammonia concentration in the rumen fluid was measured with two dry cows fitted with a permanent rumen cannula. Urea gave rise to much higher NH3 concentrations compared with soybean meal. The duodenal N flow was measured with two dry cows fitted with a re-entrant cannula at 10 cm from the pylorus. Adding increasing amounts of either of the two N supplements to the maize silage showed that they were equivalent with low N intakes. However, clearly more N reached the intestine with soybean meal than with urea when the N intake increased. With 33 cows in the second part of lactation, the substitution of soybean meal for urea decreased the urinary N loss. At the same time, it significantly increased the mammary protein secretion and the milk production. The increase of the dietary metabolizable energy density noted under these feeding conditions corresponded to about two thirds of the increase of the milk production. Milk composition was only slightly affected.