Dietary Sugars for Optimizing Rumen Function and Dairy Cow Performance

Abstract

Typical rations without supplemental sugars contain about 1.5 to 3% sugar. Adding more dietary sugar often reduces rumen ammonia, suggesting that rapidly digestible sugars help the rumen microbes capture and use nitrogen. Fiber digestion, microbial protein synthesis, and rumen pH can increase with additional dietary sugars when balanced appropriately with dietary starch to positively impact dairy cow performance.