On-farm feeding trial was conducted in Bure district of the Amhara National Regional State with the objective of evaluating the effect of feed supplementation on milk yield and milk composition of local cows. The study was conducted on 20 lactating cows of uniform parity and stage of lactation. Average body weight and initial milk yield of cows were 231.7 ± 36.7 kg and 1.08 ± 0.11 kg/cow/day respectively. The treatment groups included control (T₁), noug seed cake (T₂), ad libitum urea treated wheat straw (T₃), noug seed cake + ad libitum urea treated wheat straw (T₄) and concentrate comprising 74% maize grain + 25% noug seed cake + 1% salt (T₅). A significant difference (P<0.05) between control and supplemented group was observed in terms of increased milk yield, milk-fat and total solids while supplemented groups were not-significantly different (P>0.05), for increased milk protein, solids-not-fat and ash contents. The highest and the lowest milk yield per cow per day were recorded for cows fed urea treated wheat straw and the control group, respectively. The intervention diets increased the net profit/cow/day by ETB 3.40 (T₂), 6.33 (T₃), 3.58 (T₄), and 3.84 (T₅) over the control (T₁). In general, urea treated wheat straw supplementation improved milk yield, and economic return. Hence, the government and other concerned bodies should pay due attention to scale up the feeding package developed in this study considering the respective milk production systems to capitalize market-oriented milk industry in the district and similar areas.

Ethiopia's stricken economy is based on subsistence agriculture accounting for almost half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 60% of exports and 80% of total employment. The sub-sector also accounts for 19% to the export earnings (BoFED, 2006). Livestock production contributes 30-35% of the GDP and more than 85% of farm cash income. In this respect, milk production is playing a vital role in the livelihoods of the people of Ethiopia.

Bure is one of the districts of West Gojjam Administrative Zone in Amhara National Regional State (ANRS). It is one of the pilot learning sites of Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers Project and surplus agricultural product producer districts of ANRS (Yigzaw and Kahsay, 2007). It is believed to have high potential for milk development. In Bure district, the increasing pressure on land to grow food crops and the ever expanding human population has resulted in reduction in grazing land. Crop residues from cereals, such as teff straw, millet straw, barley straw and maize stover mainly form the basal diets of the animals. In other words, wheat straw was not efficiently used. However, crop residues are inherently believed to have low Crude Protein (CP), digestibility and intake and deficient in minerals (Rehrahie, 2001).