What is Molasses?

Liquid Molasses is a thick, dark, sugary liquid, similar to treacle. It is a byproduct made during the sugar refining process, left behind after the sugar crystals are extracted from the juices of sugarcane or sugar beet. In the UK, molasses is sometimes confused with treacle, and while they are similar, molasses is thicker, darker and slightly more bitter. Liquid molasses in UK farms is used as an additive to dry feeds for cattle, sheep and horses.

Benefits of Molasses Feed

There are many health benefits of molasses for livestock, as well as benefits to farmers in terms of lambing rates, milk yield and so on. Because of the sugar content, molasses is enjoyed by animals readily and can be used to mask the taste of additives or support increased food intake.

• Improves fibre digestion of pasture and dry matter, including PKE, helping maintain the health and condition of the herd
• Improves appetite, increasing food intake
• Improves palatability of additives, ensuring they are consumed
• Feeds microbes in the rumen, stimulating & optimising their function and improving utilisation of other feeds
• Helps balance the diet, improving overall herd health
• Is an effective mineral carrier, maximising the impact of additives
• Provides essential energy for reproduction
• Easy & Convenient to Store with tanks available for delivery

Liquid Molasses feed can coat all ingredients in a ration mix. The sweetness provided has been shown to reduce feed sorting and rejection by animals, ensuring they eat a balanced diet and reducing waste. 

Benefits of Molasses for Cattle

For the best digestion and rumen function, cows need a diet with 6-8% sugars, which is difficult to supply with pasture and concentrates alone. Research has shown that 6-carbon sugars found in molasses, such as sucrose and glucose, can be more efficiently digested than 5-carbon sugars found in silages and syrups, which are harder to break down in the rumen. Cattle can easily break down 6-carbon sugars found in molasses to feed the microbes in the rumen. This encourages the production of more volatile fatty acids (VFAs) than with 5-carbon sugars. VFAs provide up to 70% of their total energy requirement.

• Feeds Rumen Bacteria, increasing energy production
• Balancing starch and sugar when mixed with dry matter and ground straw, increasing rumen protein production
• Increases availability of nutrients from pasture and forage, reducing reliance on other bought feeds
• Improved Milk Quality with higher protein and fat levels
• Essential Energy for Reproduction with sugars

Benefits of Molasses for Sheep

A molasses liquid feed for sheep has great benefits for herd health and lambing success. Because of the 6-carbon sugar content, molasses feeds provide high energy for ewes during ovulation and late pregnancy, with huge positive impacts on lambing success. Providing this energy during late pregnancy can reduce the risk of twin lamb disease, and improve lambs’ health. 

Feeding Molasses Pre-tupping 

The practice of flushing ewes, increasing their nutrient intake, is a well-established method to improve ovulation rates and lambing percentage. Using Molasses as part of the feed ration in this stage has been shown to increase the uptake of nutrients, improve digestion and provide essential energy for lambing.

Feeding Molasses Pre-lambing and Post-lambing

As a supplement to forage, molasses feeds rumen bacteria with sugars, increasing the bio-availability of nutrients in the rest of the feed mix. This means that the nutrients contained in the pasture are more readily digested and absorbed by the sheep, improving the health of both ewe and lamb.

Feeding a Molasses with Protein mix can support healthy lamb growth in the last two months of pregnancy when most of the growth takes place.

The health benefits of molasses for sheep also include:

• Balancing starch and sugar when mixed with dry matter and ground straw, increasing rumen protein production
• Helps balance the diet, improving overall herd health
• Is an effective mineral carrier, maximising the impact of additives
• Provides essential energy for reproduction
• Improves appetite, increasing food intake
• Improves palatability of additives, ensuring they are consumed

How to Mix Molasses with Feed

Molasses can be mixed with any dry feed, such as hay, silage, PKE and pellets, fed through lickblocks or added to drinking water for pre-weaned calves. To add to dry feed, simply pour molasses over the ration and turn until all the feed is coated.

Some recommend adding molasses as part of a winter feeding plan, while others swear by using it all year round. While it has benefits, molasses is primarily sugar and water, so it is important to avoid overfeeding. Please consult your nutritionist for specific advice on feeding molasses to your livestock prior to inclusion in the ration.

Molasses Storage Tanks

Molasses is easy and convenient to store in bulk storage tanks. We deliver molasses in loads from 2,000kg to 28,000kg, straight to your tank. Molasses tanks are designed to be easily-moved, structurally strong, and resistant to rust or corrosion. We provide molasses bulk tanks in a range of sizes, with 6,000L, 12,500L, 25,000L and 30,000L capacities available in natural or yellow UV Stabilised polyethene (NB: 1,000L of Molasses = 1,400 kg).

For situations where power is not available for pumping your molasses, a gravity dispensing tank may be ideal. For a steel molasses tank capable of storing 12-32 tonnes of molasses, call or enquire here.