NitroShure™ Nitrogen

The Care and Feeding of the Microbiome

NitroShure Precision Release Nitrogen uses Balchem’s proprietary encapsulation technology to provide a more consistent nitrogen supply to rumen microbes, allowing for greater flexibility in feeding programs. It’s a valuable tool for helping producers and nutritionists to reduce ration costs while increasing the amount of high-quality protein available to the cow.

In many ways, feeding the rumen microbiome is more complicated than feeding the cow. When the nutritional needs of the rumen microbes are consistently met, desirable microbes will flourish, increasing rumen efficiency and microbial protein production while helping to maintain a stable rumen environment. When those needs are not met adequately, desirable microbe populations will decrease, allowing lactic acid-producing microbes to proliferate. These undesirable microbes can reduce rumen pH, leading to acidosis and decreased rumen productivity.

Just like a TMR for dairy cows, a properly balanced diet for the microbiome delivers adequate quantities of important nutrients to the microbes in synchrony, throughout the day. For microbes, these important nutrients include nitrogen sources such as ammonia, which is the preferred source of nitrogen for fiber digesting bacteria. It also includes carbohydrates like sugars, starch and cellulose that degrade at different rates and thus become available at different times throughout the day. It is important to synchronize the availability of nitrogen in the form of ammonia (NH3) with the availability of the carbohydrates.

Key Benefits of NitroShure

NitroShure Precision Release Nitrogen is a valuable tool for helping producers and nutritionists reduce ration costs while increasing the amount of high-quality protein available to the cow.

Improve Digestible Protein Yield and Quality – Replace low-quality proteins with NitroShure. Synchronizing nitrogen release with available carbohydrates in the rumen leads to improvements in high-quality, microbial protein production.

Improve Fiber Digestion and Dry Matter Utilization – Microbial mass and activity is increased when available carbohydrate and nitrogen is balanced, resulting in greater dry matter utilization, fiber digestion and volatile fatty acid production.

Create Ration Space – Replace less dense sources of protein with NitroShure to create approximately 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of dry matter space in the diet. The additional space can be used to increase dietary levels of forage, non-fiber carbohydrate or other key ration ingredients to improve milk and milk component production.

Lower Ration Costs – Replace more expensive protein sources with NitroShure to reduce purchased feed costs

Economics:

Studies show that NitroShure Precision Release Nitrogen is proven to help fill the nitrogen availability gap between fast release urea and slower nitrogen release of traditional protein sources to better synchronize nitrogen and carbohydrate availability in the rumen. Balancing nitrogen and carbohydrate availability can increase rumen microbial populations and fermentation efficiency, improving fiber and carbohydrate digestibility and microbial protein yield. Research studies show that improvements in rumen fermentation can lead to increases in milk yield and component production.

Illustration of cow with green highlighted stomach.

Meet Cows’ Needs with Improved Microbial Output

Make the most of your homegrown forages and optimize the rumen microbiome. Include NitroShure Precision Release Nitrogen in your ration to maximize microbial protein yield and quality, improve fiber digestion and dry matter utilization, lower your farm’s carbon footprint and reduce your out-of-pocket feed costs.

Bar graph of NitroShures impact on nitrogen flow.

Maximize Microbial Protein Yield and Quality

Microbial mass is an important source of metabolizable protein for dairy cows, contributing about one-half to two-thirds of the amino acids absorbed by ruminants.

Microbial protein is the highest quality protein for cows with an amino acid composition very similar to cow’s milk and virtually identical to what the mammary gland requires for milk and milk protein synthesis.

When nitrogen and carbohydrate availability are in synchrony and accessible to rumen microbes, the microbial biomass will expand. This increase in biomass creates additional high-value, high-quality, homegrown protein for the cow while reducing the amount of supplemental protein needed in the diet.

Research conducted by Garrett et al. (2005) showed that replacing a portion of the soybean meal with a blend of NitroShure, corn and molasses delivered an equivalent amount of metabolizable protein by generating more microbial mass. This represented 286 grams/day more microbial protein in a cow eating 22.5 kg dry matter (Figure 2).

Graph of NH3-N levels from NitroShure, Urea, Soybean Meal.

Improve Fiber Digestion and Dry Matter Utilization

Ruminal fermentation produces volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which provide approximately 70% of the total energy requirement for ruminants. The primary VFAs (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) are used by the microorganisms for reproduction and growth, with the balance of the production being used by the animal.

Synchronizing nitrogen with carbohydrate availability provides the balanced nutrition required by fibrolytic bacteria, accelerating population growth and fiber fermentation while increasing the VFAs (energy) available for the cow.

Furthermore, some of the more abundant fibrolytic bacteria species like Megasphaera elsdenii metabolize lactate as an energy source, which has the added benefit of raising rumen pH.

NitroShure is proven to fill the gap between fast-release urea and the slower nitrogen release of traditional protein sources to better balance nitrogen and carbohydrate availability in the rumen (Figure 3). This balance can increase rumen microbial populations and fermentation efficiency, improving fiber and carbohydrate digestibility and microbial protein yield.

Table of nutrient digestion for two diets.

Maximize Homegrown Feeds and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Fee Costs

In an era of volatile milk prices and escalating input costs, success depends on efficiency. The ruminant animal is the model of efficiency when it comes to the ability to convert fibrous feeds, low-quality protein and non-protein-nitrogen into valuable nutrients.

Replacing less dense sources of protein with NitroShure can create up to two pounds of dry matter space in the ration. The additional space can be used to increase dietary levels of forage, non-fiber carbohydrates or other key ration ingredients to improve milk and milk component production.

This strategy can also reduce out-of-pocket feed costs. By more efficiently utilizing homegrown forage, producers can reduce other purchased protein sources. In a research experiment conducted by Garrett et al. (2005), dry matter, NDF and total carbohydrate digestion increased when a portion of the soybean meal within the diet was replaced with NitroShure (Table 1). This increase in digestibility of key nutrients leads to more total energy for the cow.

NitroShure is a cost-effective protein source for dairy rations and can reduce the reliance on vegetable protein sources, which can be more expensive and volatile in price.

- A table on NitroShure vs. Urea effects on cows.
- DM Intake, Milk Yield, Fat & Protein listed.
- Green indicates rise with NitroShure.

Make the World a Healthier Place

Our world population is growing at a mind-boggling pace of 200,000 each day and is expected to exceed 9 billion by the year 2040. We are already overusing our planet’s ability to regenerate resources by 160%.

As a leader in animal feed technologies, Balchem is perfectly positioned to help drive the innovations that will change our future. We are helping livestock producers accomplish more with less and discovering unique products that will produce food most efficiently. We’re focused on moving toward a more secure and sustainable future.

NitroShure helps cows better utilize homegrown forages, reducing the amount of land required to support profitable milk production while also reducing the amount of nitrogen excreted into the environment. NitroShure also lowers the carbon footprint of a ration by replacing high-carbon ingredients like soybean meal that carry a high carbon burden, while still maintaining high production.

Supplementation of NitroShure can increase efficiency by improving milk component yields as compared to feeding raw urea. In a 2010 study by Highstreet et al., feeding NitroShure versus urea improved overall lactation performance (Table 2).