Least Cost Dairy Cattle Ration Formulation Model Based on the Degradable Protein System

Protein requirement equations for lactating dairy cattle based on 1985 NRC recommendations were incorporated into a linear programming model for computerized least cost dairy ration formulation. To incorporate the 1985 NRC protein system into a linear programming model for dairy cattle diet formulation, transfer activities were used in the model to represent variables in the protein system and accounting constraints were used to represent the biological relationships that define the protein requirements. Example dairy ration formulations based on the 1985 NRC protein system are presented for three milk yields.