VALUABLE STOCK FOOD.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18159, 25 October 1930, Page 5

VALUABLE STOCK FOOD.

BUTTER-MILK POWDER. PRODUCED BY SPRAY PROCESS. The value of buttermilk-powder as a stock food is stressed in a special article by Mr W. 11. Udy. 'B.Sc., A.1.C., in the October issue of ‘‘The Dairyfarmer.” The use of milk by-products for stock feeding is an old practice, but it is rapidly becoming more and more important with the development of manufacturing methods whereby these products can be put up in suitable forms for general farm use. Probably the most valuable of these byproducts is buttermilk-powder. This product, as produced by the spray process in New Zealand is a fine creamy coloured powder easily soluble in water. One pound of the powder will make a gallon of rich buttermilk, somewhat more than the equivalent of a gallon ■of skim milk mainly because of -the extra butterfat and fat soluble vitamines. The average composition of buttermilk powder is as follows: Butterfat 84 per cent. Protein 36 per cent. Sugar of Milk .. 41 per cent. Mineral Matter . . 8 per cent. Moisture 5 per cent. A pound of- this powder therefore contains the equivalent of .85 per cent, fat in the one gallon of buttermilk as made up. Buttermilk powder as made by the New Zealand Co-Operative Dairy Co., at its Te Awamutu factory, is prepared from fresh buttermilk from sweet cream and it is a clean wholeseme stock food. It’s ready solubility and the extreme fineness of the fat. globules makes it very easily digested. Protein of Right Quality. Young growing animals require rations which furnish ample protein and plenty of mineral matter, especially calcium and phosphorus, for the rapid development of their protein tissues and their skeletons. Furthermore, the protein must he of the right kind or quality. All these conditions pravail in buttermilk powder where the protein is present in the most valuable forms known and where plentiful supplies of calcium and phosphorus exist. Buttermilk powder also contains a valuable supply -of vitamines. Of more recent years the remarkable fact has been discovered that the parent substance of a valuable fat soluble vitamine is concentrated many times in buttermilk. This is further concentrated in the powder, and makes it an especially valuable food for young stock. The powder is done up in 168 lb. sacks lined with moisture-proof material which enables it to be kept in good condition. In order to preserve the complete solubility in water the paper should be kept folded over the powder. With storage in a dry place it will then keep in excellent condition.

Buttermilk powder has a most promising field in calf feeding. It should be fed by mixing a pound to a gallon and given as with ordinary skim milk. As with skim milk it shoukPbe sup(Continued In n+xl column.)

plemented with grain-food, such as crushed oats, though to a lesser extent. The supplement of grain food with skim milk is necessary because the fat of the whole milk has been practically completely removed. In buttermilk as made up from the powder we have an appreciable amount of fat and so relatively smaller supplement is necessary.