Twelve dairy cows (³/4 Hoslten x ¹/4 Gir) were used in a desing in Latin square, at Fazenda Raposo's dependences in Nepomuceno, MG, between November of 2001 and April of 2002 to compare the effect of the partial and total substitution of soybean meal for starea in the production and composition of milk. The medium weight of the animals was 443 kg and they were in the fourth nursing. The starea substituted soybean meal in the following proportions: 0 - 0% of starea 150 S; 33 - 33¨% of starea 150 S; 66 - 66% of starea 150 S and 100 - 100% of starea 150 S, and every treatments were isoenergetics and isoproteics. Sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) was used ad libitum as roughage. Each experimental period had the duration of 15 days being 9 days for adaptation and 6 days for collection of data. The milk production of each cow was weighed twice a day (morning and afternoon) and samples were sent for analysis of fat, protein, lactose, total solids and urea, by the infrared method, at the Clinic of the Milk of the Department of Animal Production at ESALQ/USP, in Piracicaba, SP. Fat and total solids of milk were not influenced by the treatments. The production of milk, protein, lactose and urea content of milk differed among the treatments (P<0.05). The results showed that it is viable the total substitution of soybean meal for starea.
Starea; intake; milk; production
