What Do Cows Eat?

Dairy farmers and nutritionists work together to provide cows with a well-balanced diet. Learn all about what they eat!

Check out this article to learn more.

Comments

  1. Interesting. But no animals including us humans should be eating corn. Corn is a filler that cannot be digested by any of us. Wheat is also not good. Cows need grass.

    1. Thanks for the comment! Farmers work with dairy nutritionists who use their advanced degrees in ruminant nutrition and the best available ingredients to create cow’s carefully balanced diets, which often include ingredients like grass, corn and wheat by-products. Dairy nutritionists are also constantly reviewing the latest science and the vast body of research available regarding ruminant nutrition, because keeping cows healthy and comfortable is a top priority on dairy farms.

      -Erin Brown, American Dairy Association Mideast

    2. Actually, cows get a lot of use out of corn because they are ruminants. Think of corn as being made of two parts – the kernel and the plant (stalk, leaves, and husk). The kernel is mostly digested by microbes in the rumen of the cow, and these microbes supply the cow with energy and protein. The same is true for the plant part of corn, just by different microbes in the rumen – the same microbes that digest grass for the cow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *