Take seven steps to best nutrition
18 August 2000
Take seven steps to best nutrition
Achieving better
performance from your cows
hinges on understanding
nutrition, as producers at a
Milk Development
Council meeting heard.
Emma Penny reports
MILK producers should regard themselves as nutritionists as well as farmers, and should be prepared to become far more involved in feeding their herd.
Speaking at an MDC focus centre meeting at ADAS Bridgets, Hants, nutritionist Jonathan Blake said feeding cows successfully depended on seven key points (see box).
"Know your aims, your cows, your feeds and your system. Use a feeding model to predict the future, know your rules and think ahead," he told producers at the meeting.
"While you might have someone coming on-farm to advise you about nutrition, you are the nutritionist, it is up to you to decide which ration is right for your cows, and its your opinion that counts."
Knowing your aims is vital, said Dr Blake. "Have a strategy, whether it is to feed the cheapest ration or produce most milk, and write it down. If you start with a vague strategy, you will finish up vaguely." Milk producers must also know their cows. "You are the person who knows them best; what is their genetic type? Are they suitable for a grass based system, or capable of producing high yields? What stage of lactation are they at?
"What is their intake potential? Most people guess this, but you must work out what cows are eating; be honest and produce a realistic figure."
Keeping cows happy depends on five factors: Rumen bugs, providing energy through starch and volatile fatty acids, and providing protein, oils and vitamins and minerals, he added. "Keeping rumen microbes happy depends on providing a constant supply of energy and protein, minerals, and good environment, which means avoiding excess acidity, providing a constant temperature and low oxygen levels within the rumen."
But the secret of good nutrition is that energy out equals energy in; the energy expended in producing milk, a calf and maintenance – and accounting for a lot of energy wasted as heat – must equal the energy – or feed – going into the cow.
"The energy in/energy out equation must balance. If it does not, you risk causing problems. Cows will lose weight if they are expending energy which cannot be balanced through intake. It is vital to think about the energy balance; consider their current dry matter intake and how much they really require," urged Dr Blake. That also tied in with knowing the feeds you are offering, he believed. "Know your forages, get an analysis done and understand what it is telling you."
He advised producers to find a lab they were happy with and stick to it. "Research carried out by farmers weekly in 1995 obtained nine different results for an identical silage from nine labs. That variation is a pain, so my advice is to find a lab you are happy with and to stick with it."
But knowing the quality of concentrate you are offering was also important. "Know your supplier. Do you trust them? You could opt to have feeds analysed occasionally, which can frighten suppliers into ensuring feeds are up to spec."
Once quality is known, formulating appropriate rations is the next step, and he advised using a computer feeding model as a means of predicting the effect of rations.
"There are three options for rationing; the first is to do what you have always done, but cows, forages, concentrates and feed prices can all change. The second option is to do calculations on a pocket calculator, and this can work in an average situation with average cows giving average yields.
"But if you are planning to push your cows to produce more, you need to be able to do calculations quickly and efficiently, which is where a model can help. There are a number of different systems available including the UKs ME/MP and the Cornell system. They all require time to understand the rules, but once you have found a system you like, it is best to stick with it," advised Dr Blake.
When using a computer model for rationing, be realistic about your cows intake potential and your silage quality, and be prepared to add a safety factor in for the first 100 days of lactation if you think it is important. *
Know your feeding aim, whether it is to feed the cheapest ration or produce the most milk.
NUTRITION RULES
• Know your aims.
• Know your cows.
• Know your feeds.
• Know your system.
• Use a feeding model.
• Know your rules.
• Think ahead.