Cassava Chips and Ground Corn as Sources of Total Non-Fiber Carbohydrates in Total Mixed Rations for Dairy Cows

Six Holstein$\times$indigenous multiparous dairy cows, $60{\pm}8$ days in milk, were used in a double $3{\times}3$ Latin square design to investigate the efficiency of milk production. The dairy cows were randomly allocated to total mixed rations (TMR) containing ground corn, ground corn plus cassava chips 50:50 and cassava chips as main sources of total non-fiber carbohydrates. Ether extract and calculated energy intakes for dairy cows fed TMR containing cassava chips were lower (p<0.05) than those fed TMR containing ground corn and ground corn plus cassava chips 50:50. There were no differences (p>0.05) in daily DM intake (3.51, 3.41 and 3.29% BW), in 4% fat corrected milk (19.66, 20.59 and 20.23%), in milk protein (3.37, 3.27 and 3.33%), and in solids-not-fat (9.03, 8.90 and 8.99%) but there were differences in cost of diets per kg of 4% fat corrected milk (40.75, 34.33 and 28.17%; p<0.01) for dairy cows fed TMR containing ground corn, ground corn plus cassava chips 50:50, and cassava chips. It can be concluded that the efficiency of milk production (4% fat corrected milk per dry matter intake) for dairy cows fed TMR containing cassava was greater than for those fed TMR containing corn.