FEED & NUTRITION

A successful breeding program starts with good, early lactation nutritional management. Getting cows off to the best possible start in early lactation is critical on every dairy farm. It is essential to ensure the nutrient intake of the cow is adequate to meet its needs.

Traditionally, it has been assumed practical diets fed to dairy cattle provide sufficient chromium to meet their requirements. However, research conducted over the past 20 years has shown chromium supplementation of practical diets can increase insulin sensitivity and increase cattle performance and health under certain conditions.

When diets were balanced for individual amino acids rather than metabolizable protein, net income increased and nitrogen balance decreased, implying an overall better usage of nitrogen on the farm.

Forage and fibre in the diets of dairy cows is critical for their optimal health and milk production. How the fibre in forages ferments, digests and is metabolized is an ongoing subject of discussion and research.

Every November, the Ruminant Feed Industry Days provide learning opportunities for feed industry professionals.

When a crop is harvested to be ensiled, it’s a race against time to minimize losses and preserve a majority of dry matter and nutrients in the form of digestible fibre, protein and energy. In order to have a successful preservation, there needs to be an absence of oxygen in the forage mass, along with sufficient production of organic (lactic) acids by lactic acid bacteria population.