Role of Dairy Cattle in Converting Feed to Food

The net contributions dairy cows make to the food system in the United States are not necessarily well understood by consumers. Estimates of nutrient conversion efficiency are sometimes used to describe these contributions but are often poorly documented or based on dubious assumptions. The main objectives of the first study were to: 1) define coefficients to calculate human-edible fractions of major dairy feed ingredients used in the United States, and 2) estimate the share of the dairy ration that is human-edible on a national level using these coefficients. The analysis was performed on a national average dairy ration computed from 350 farm surveys used in the carbon footprint life cycle assessment for fluid milk. The national average ration includes weighed rations for calves, open heifers, bred heifers, first-calf heifers, springers, lactating cows, and dry cows, and accounts for forage grazed during the year. The national average ration includes 33 ingredients and contains 53% forage and 47% concentrate (DM basis). Food, fuel, and fiber industry by-products (14 ingredients) account for 19% of dairy feed DM. Eight major crops account for 80% of dairy feed DM (corn 42%, alfalfa 22%, wheat 3.1%, soybean 3.0%, canola 1.8%, sorghum 1.7%, barley 1.4%, and cottonseed 1.4%). Two coefficients were calculated to estimate human-edible fractions of each ingredient. The composition coefficient was calculated as 1 minus NDF content (except for cottonseed where oil content was used). The non-NDF fraction was considered human edible if it does not contain toxic compounds, and ingredients containing more than 30% NDF were excluded. The demand coefficient was calculated by multiplying the first coefficient by the proportion of total ingredient production currently demanded by the U.S. food industry. This coefficient incorporates current consumer demand, preferences, and eating habits. The amount of human-edible dairy feed is either 20 or 2.2% of ration DM when using composition and demand coefficients, respectively. Dairy cows make a net positive contribution to food supply in the United States by converting significant amounts of otherwise unusable plant matter in feed into food.