June 18, 2013
Canada's rapeseed meal boosts milk production
The joint study conducted by the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) and Chinese researchers confirmed that rapeseed meal fed to dairy cattle in China significantly increases milk production.
The study confirmed that rapeseed meal increases daily milk production by .6 kilogramme per cow. The research project was conducted at five of China's largest dairy farms. Feeding rapeseed meal to dairy cattle is not new; in fact previous studies conducted over the past 30-years have also found that milk production increased when feeding rapeseed meal.
For years, Chinese dairies have tried to raise milk quality and quantity, without increasing feed input costs. Canadian rapeseed may be the most cost effective solution for Chinese dairy farmers.
Rapeseed, hailed as Canada's top crop, is the biggest agricultural export commodity to China. Sales of rapeseed, oil and meal to China is worth US$3.1-billion to the Canadian economy.