Nitrogen Ingredients
Urea
Ammonium polyphosphates
Ammonium sulfate
Ammoniated thio-sulfate
Corn solubles
Fish solubles
Ammoniated lignin sulfonate
Natural protein ingredients

Mineral and Vitamin Ingredients
Vitamins A, D, and E
Calcium chloride or sulfate
Phosphoric acid
Ammonium polyphosphates
Magnesium sulfate
Sodium chloride, sulfate, or bicarbonate
Ethylene diamine dihydroiodide (iodine)
Sulfate or chelated form of iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, and boron
Sodium selenate or selenite

Other
ionophores (monensin and lasalocid)
Suspension agents (gums and clays)
Antibiotics

Some molasses-based mixtures contain urea. A major concern when feeding molasses-based mixtures containing urea is toxicity. To prevent this, a few simple precautions should be taken.

1. Never feed mixtures from an open trough in which the equivalent crude protein from non-protein nitrogen exceeds 15%, unless it is a formula that limits intake.

2. Never offer starving or underfed cattle free access to medium or high non-protein nitrogen molasses supplements. Fill them up with forage or other feeds first.

3. Always provide adequate quantities of forage or other feeds along with the high non-protein nitrogen molasses supplement.

EVALUATING MOLASSES-BASED FEED FORMULAS

It is important to learn as much as possible about the composition of a molasses-based mixture in order to select the correct formula at the lowest cost. The most helpful source of information is the feed analysis tag. An example is presented in Figure 1. Study all feed analysis tags carefully.

Be certain that nutrients or items listed on the tag are contained in significant quantities and relate to cost. In terms of cost of the feed and the quantity required by cattle, the two most important nutrients are energy and crude protein. Minerals and vitamins are important, but are required in small quantities, and the cost of adding them is relatively small. Minerals and vitamins also may be provided in a mineral supplement available to cattle all year.

The following guidelines can be used to evaluate the information on the feed analysis tag.

1. Energy content--It is difficult to evaluate the energy of molasses-based supplements, since standard energy values such as total digestible nutrients (TDN) are not used. Some feed tag analyses that are indicative of the energy value include the following:

a. Total sugars, invert sugars, or carbohydrate content. These nutrients supply energy in molasses based feeds; each 1% of sugar approximately equals 1% TDN.



b. Moisture content. Water supplies no energy or protein and reduces the nutritive value.



c. Ash or mineral content. A high ash or mineral content reduces the energy value.



d. Brix value. It is a measure of the solid component (by weight) and generally indicates the sugar content.



e. Fat content. Fat often is added to molasses supplements to improve the energy value; each 1% of fat is equal to approximately 2.25% TDN.

2. Crude protein - Crude protein can be derived from natural protein and non-protein nitrogen (usually urea). These two forms make up the total crude protein content. However, crude protein from natural protein is often better utilized than that from non-protein nitrogen, particularly in situations where forages low in TDN are fed. An indicator of natural protein content is the difference between total crude protein and crude protein from non-protein nitrogen, both listed on the feed tag.

3. Mineral content - Determine if the quantities listed are significant in relationship to the requirements of the animal. Requirements can be found in NRC (1984).

a. Phosphorus (most important).



b. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium.



c. Trace elements (copper, iron, cobalt, selenium, zinc, manganese, iodine).

4. Vitamin content--As with minerals, determine if the quantities listed are significant in relation to requirements. Important vitamins are A and E.

EQUIPMENT

Because they are liquid, molasses supplements can be handled easily with little labor and fed on a free-choice or limited basis. Molasses-based supplements can be transported in 55-gallon drums and fed in any container that holds liquid (Figure 2), or transported in trucks or tractor-drawn tanks and fed with modern lick-wheel equipment(Figure 3).

Open troughs are convenient for feeding molasses-based supplements, although minor drawbacks are encountered. For example, the feed is exposed to weather as well as birds and other animals. Also, cattle and calves may occasionally be pushed into the trough. Intake of molasses mixtures by brood cows can be relatively high from open troughs; greater than 10 pounds/cow daily has been observed. Molasses mixtures can be limit-fed by filling open troughs only twice a week. If a 3- or 4-day supply is provided at one time to brood cows being fed 3 to 5 lbs/head/day, it will require one or more days for the cattle to eat that feeding. All cattle will have a chance to eat, and their performance will be as good as with daily feeding. Molasses-based supplements which control intake at 1 to 3 lbs/head/day are also available for open trough feeding.

Lick-wheel tanks offer the advantage of limiting intake of molasses mixtures. They are essential when feeding molasses mixtures which contain high levels of urea. The lick-wheel tank also protects the molasses mixture from dirt, rain, birds, insects, etc. A lick wheel for each 8 to 10 cows is suggested, but varies with conditions.

Mixing molasses slurries (molasses mixtures with dry feed ingredients) is a recent concept, and special problems are encountered relative to obtaining uniform feed products that can be handled. Feed companies have developed molasses slurries, and some Florida producers mix molasses slurries on the ranch. For ranch mixing it is recommended that the mixing unit be self-contained in the tank used to deliver molasses mixtures to the feed trough or lick tank. A tank mixer currently used on some Florida ranches is shown in (Figure 4). For detailed information on design and construction of a slurry mixer, it is recommended that interested individuals contact the U. S. Sugar Corporation, Clewiston, Florida; Alico Ranch, La Belle, Florida; or Lykes Brothers Ranch, Inc., Brighton, Florida.

A slurry fed in research trials at the Ona AREC contained 73% standard molasses, 25% cottonseed meal, 1% urea, and 1% water. This mixture was thick and difficult to handle. A slurry of 85.5% standard molasses with 12.5% feather meal, 1% urea, and 1% water worked in a mix tank and flowed without problems. This mixture also worked well in a lick-wheel feeder from which yearling heifers consumed more than 4 lbs/head/day. It appears that each dry feed ingredient reacts differently when mixed with molasses, but the 15 to 20% level of dry ingredient may be the upper limit for making a workable slurry with standard molasses. The flow of any mixture can be improved by adding water or other liquids less viscous than molasses. Some trial and error may be necessary to develop the proper combination of ingredients to make a workable molasses slurry.

WHEN AND WHERE TO USE MOLASSES-BASED SUPPLEMENTS

Molasses-based mixtures are used primarily as winter supplements for brood cows in Florida when the quantity and/or quality of forages is limited. Molasses-based supplements are used at moderate levels (3 to 5 lbs/head/day) as an energy supplement and may contain ingredients to supply crude protein, minerals and vitamins. They may be fed in limited quantities (1 to 3 lbs/head/day) to supply some energy, but mainly crude protein and other nutrients. The winter season can also be critical, because cows in south Florida are usually nursing calves and are often being rebred. During this production period, adequate levels of energy, protein and other nutrients are very important.

Nutrients added to molasses will be beneficial if they are not supplied in adequate amounts by the forage or other supplements. For example, both a mineral mixture and a molasses mixture containing adequate minerals need not be offered. Also, many of the nutrients are contained in the consumed forage. Some nutrients, such as certain trace elements and vitamins, are inexpensive because of the small quantities used in a mixture and are added for insurance.

Adding non-protein nitrogen or natural protein increases the cost of a molasses-based supplement and should be used only when needed. The quantity of crude protein needed in a molasses-based supplement, and the resulting benefits, depend upon the crude protein content of the consumed forage. Beef cows nursing calves and grazing forage with 10% or more crude protein, or a dry cow grazing forage with 7 to 8% crude protein, probably will not benefit from added crude protein in a molasses-based supplement. It should be noted that millrun blackstrap molasses produced in Florida naturally contains 7% or more crude protein as compared to only 2 to 4% in molasses produced in other areas. Probably the only situation where forage from a perennial grass pasture in Florida would contain more than 10% crude protein in the winter is on organic soils.

The usual situation in Florida is that forages from grass pastures on sandy soils contain much less than 10% protein in the winter and are low in TDN. This is certainly the case for bahiagrass, Florida's most common pasture forage. In these situations, a molasses-based supplement containing 15 to 20% crude protein should be fed at moderate levels (3 to 5 lbs/head/day).

RESPONSE OF BROOD COWS TO MOLASSES-BASED SUPPLEMENTS

MOLASSES AS AN ENERGY SUPPLEMENT

A five-year experiment was conducted at the Everglades Research and Education Center at Belle Glade from 1980 to 1985 (Pate, Crockett and Phillips, 1985). Brangus-type cows (124 head) grazed continuously on Roselawn St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) grown on organic soil at a stocking rate of 1.25 cows/acre. The breeding season was from January 1 to March 10. The grass contained 13 to 15% crude protein and 40 to 45% total digestible nutrients (TDN) on a dry matter basis during the winter. This crude protein level far exceeded the 10% level recommended by the National Research Council (1984) for cows nursing calves, but the TDN was far below the 56 to 58% recommended level. This provided a good situation to measure the value of molasses as an energy supplement because the pasture forage provided more than adequate crude protein.

The experiment compared three molasses treatments: (1) no molasses, (2) molasses during the breeding season (December 15 to March 1), and (3) molasses during the calving and breeding season (October 15 to March 10). Millrun blackstrap cane molasses was fed twice weekly in open troughs at a rate of 5 lbs/brood cow/day.

Cows fed molasses during the breeding season weaned approximately 7 more calves per 100 cows, weaned a similar sized calf and produced 36 lbs more calf per cow in the breeding herd than cows not fed molasses (Table 2). Cows fed molasses during the calving and breeding season weaned approximately 6 more calves per 100 cows, had a 24-lb heavier calf at weaning, and produced 52 lbs more calf per cow than cows not fed molasses.

MOLASSSE AS AN ENERGY AND PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT

Florida's sandy soil pastures, most of which are bahiagrass, have both low energy (40 to 45% TDN) and crude protein (6 to 8%) during the winter. Thus, it is commonly recommended that a molasses mixture fortified with crude protein be fed to brood cows.

A four-year experiment was conducted at the Ona Agricultural Research and Education Center from 1984 to 1988 which compared three molasses mixtures: (1) a 6% crude protein standard blackstrap molasses, fed at 2.9 lbs/cow/day, (2) a 17.5% crude protein standard blackstrap molasses-urea mixture fed at 3.2 lbs/cow/day (3 lbs molasses, 0.13 lbs urea, 0.13 lbs water), and (3) a 17.5% crude protein standard blackstrap molasses-cottonseed meal-urea mixture fed at 2.8 lbs/cow/day (2 lbs molasses, 0.7 lbs cottonseed meal, 0.03 lbs urea, 0.03 lbs water). All supplements provided equal amounts of TDN.

The molasses mixtures were fed to Braford cows (approximately 130/year) grazing bahiagrass pasture. The breeding season was from March 1 to June 1. Cows were fed free-choice a low-quality stargrass hay (5.5% crude protein) for an average of 110 days starting in December or January and ending in April or May depending upon weather and pasture. Molasses mixtures were fed twice weekly in open troughs from an average starting date December 16 to an average ending date of April 22.

Cows fed molasses with urea weaned 7 more calves per 100 cows and their calves weighed 10 lbs more at weaning compared to cows fed molasses only (Table 3). Cows fed molasses-cottonseed meal-urea weaned 12 more calves per 100 cows and their calves were 6 lbs heavier at weaning compared to cows fed only molasses. Calf production per cow in the breeding herd was increased 39 and 57 lbs, respectively, by adding either urea or cottonseed meal-urea to the molasses mixture. The cows' weight differences were not substantial across treatments, but cows fed the molasses-cottonseed meal-urea supplement tended to be slightly heavier throughout the year than cows fed molasses or molasses-urea.

Younger cows had a greater response to the addition of crude protein to molasses than older cows (Table 3). Three-year-old first calf heifers fed molasses-urea had a 16% higher pregnancy rate than cows fed only molasses. Three-year-old first-calf heifers fed molasses-cottonseed meal-urea had a 32% higher pregnancy rate than cows fed molasses only. Even 4-to 6-year-old cows fed either molasses-urea or molasses-cottonseed meal-urea had a 14% and 16% higher pregnancy rate, respectively, than cows fed molasses only. 7-to 13-year-old cows exhibited no response in increase pregnancy rate to the addition of urea to molasses, and a slight response to the addition of cottonseed meal-urea to molasses (weaned 4 more calves per 100 cows). The results show the importance of feeding young cows molasses mixtures fortified with crude protein, part of which should be a natural protein.

RECOMMENDATIONS

LITERATURE CITED

NRC. 1984. Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle. 6th Ed. National Academy