# Feeding Cows Old Newspapers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539 "2012-05-01T18:00:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/1 "2012-05-01T18:00:39Z")
Many years ago, I read of a local dairy farm that fed their cows on old newspapers. Since cows can digest cellulose, this would have two benefits: 1. you get rid of the newspapers, and get fertilizer out of the cow 2. the old newspapers are germ free-the cows would not get sick Can cows live on old paper? I imagine they would have to have some vitamin/mineral supplements-newsprint doesn’t have much of that. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/2 "2012-05-01T18:10:27Z")
IANAV, but I doubt that old newsprint has much in the way of nutrition for bovines. And wouldn’t consuming all of that ink cause toxicity at some point (or issues with milk production)? Sounds to me more like a publicity stunt than a sounds livestock management practice… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/3 "2012-05-01T18:18:26Z")
This was explored back in the 1970’s and again in the early 1990’s. I don’t know what the current status of newsprint-as-cattle-fodder is, but [here’s a 1991 newspaper article](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19910426&id=zQYhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h3YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2519,3446082) that discusses it: > [@](#): > > Initial tests indicated newspaper inks, especially those made with soy oil, are harmless to livestock. […] > > Feeding newspapers to cattle is not a new idea. It was tried 20 years ago but the papers were not very nutritious or digestible, [animal science researcher Larry] Berger said. […] > > “We’ll add molasses because cattle like it, and mix it with hay, grain and soybean meal,” said Berger. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/4 "2012-05-01T18:20:44Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > And wouldn’t consuming all of that ink cause toxicity at some point (or issues with milk production)? Hey, you could have steaks that already have the USDA stamp on 'em! ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/5 "2012-05-01T18:54:03Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > This was explored back in the 1970’s and again in the early 1990’s. I don’t know what the current status of newsprint-as-cattle-fodder is, but [here’s a 1991 newspaper article](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19910426&id=zQYhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h3YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2519,3446082) that discusses it: Yeah, I heard some rumor about molasses and newsprint being used for cow fodder, but this was a pre-internet rumor and I have never tried to confirm it. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/6 "2012-05-01T19:24:44Z")
Hopefully they don’t anymore. These days news is um hard to digest. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/7 "2012-05-01T19:28:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > 1. the old newspapers are germ free-the cows would not get sick. Why would old newspapers be germ free? New papers are relatively germ-free because of the production processes, but old newspapers have been handled, and exposed to environmental germs. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/8 "2012-05-01T19:29:38Z")
I once fed a cow newspapers printed with India ink. It mooed Indigo. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/9 "2012-05-01T20:52:15Z")
Cellulose is very poor nutritionally. While some species can break it down efficiently enough to make eating it pay, it is surprising what others can’t. E.g., deer will starve to death eating just bark and such in the winter as the energy cost to break it down is more than than the energy gained. For large animals, you need a really big gut and a slow digestive system (and associated slow lifestyle). Gorillas and cows for example. It is really a borderline food. Newspaper would have to be supplemented with stuff with a lot of protein. And that’s expensive. My ex-dairy farming relatives would also grow wheat and bale wheat straw. It was also basically cellulose and they used it/sold it for stall liner and such. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw#Uses) is Wikipedia’s take on straw as food. Not that great. I say just stick to alfalfa. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/10 "2012-05-01T20:54:40Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I once fed a cow newspapers printed with India ink. > > It mooed Indigo. I want to bear your children. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/11 "2012-05-01T21:37:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why would old newspapers be germ free? New papers are relatively germ-free because of the production processes, but old newspapers have been handled, and exposed to environmental germs. You just brought back very bad memories of cleaning out the apartment of a tenant who had died. His 10-year-old newspaper collection filled an entire closet and had been inhabited by mice for long enough that we should probably have called in a bio-hazard crew. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/12 "2012-05-01T22:41:45Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I once fed a cow newspapers printed with India ink. > > It mooed Indigo. And the curry-flavored milk was just a side-bonus. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/13 "2012-05-02T13:11:53Z")
Don’t they have much-needed roughage and essential inks? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/14 "2012-05-02T13:12:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I want to bear your children. \<3 ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/15 "2012-05-02T13:31:42Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > IANAV, but I doubt that old newsprint has much in the way of nutrition for bovines. And wouldn’t consuming all of that ink cause toxicity at some point (or issues with milk production)? Sounds to me more like a publicity stunt than a sounds livestock management practice… Most newspapers used soy-based inks. Not toxic at all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/16 "2012-05-02T13:44:37Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > This was explored back in the 1970’s and again in the early 1990’s. I don’t know what the current status of newsprint-as-cattle-fodder is, but [here’s a 1991 newspaper article](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19910426&id=zQYhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h3YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2519,3446082) that discusses it: Did they eventually feed the article to the cows? ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeding-cows-old-newspapers/620539/17 "2012-05-02T14:49:47Z")
Newspaper would be lacking nitrogen, needed for the synthesis of amino acids and proteins. Microorganisms in the digestive track can to some extent split the cellulose in the paper into its glucose units, which serve as an energy fuel. But without an adequate nitrogen source, they cannot live and grow.