Planting from vegetative material - cgiar

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3. Why is protein important?
Protein is essential for:
• Efficient break-down of feed in the rumen.
If the diet is poor (protein level less than 7%) the
micro-organisms in the rumen cannot break down the
feed efficiently and the animal loses weight.
• Growing and productive animals. If we only want to
maintain an animal’s condition, a small amount of
protein is enough. If we want the animal to grow
quickly, work hard or produce milk then much more
protein is needed in the diet.
What do ruminants need to grow well?
Ruminants need large quantities of good-quality feed.
Without this, they will not grow quickly or be able to work
hard. Cows will not produce enough milk for their calves
and will not produce as many calves. If ruminants are fed
low-quality forage (or other low-quality feed), which
breaks down slowly in the rumen, they cannot eat enough
feed to grow well, work hard or produce enough milk for
young animals (see following Figure on page 27).