IN brief

2 November 2001

IN brief

&#8226 INTRODUCING a breed of cow with naturally higher constituent milk can achieve a higher milk price on some buyers contracts. Jonathan Blake explains that Jerseys typically produce milk of 4.7% fat and 3.8% protein, compared with Holsteins at 3.7% fat and 3.2% protein.

&#8226 HIGH milk yields appear to dilute milk concentration. While higher milk yield/cow leads to higher total output in kg of fat and protein, this is at the expense of fat and protein %, says Jonathan Blake.

&#8226 GENETIC selection can influence milk constituents as both fat and protein % are heritable traits, says Jonathan Blake. When selecting sires for use on a herd it is possible to concentrate or dilute milk constituent percentages.

&#8226 PREDICTING changes in milk composition by altering diet ingredients is complex. But Jonathan Blake believes new computer feeding models in the Feed into Milk system, due for launch shortly, will improve the accuracy of these predictions. &#42