Does Nutrition Influence Profit?

There are three aspects associated with dairy farming that can elevate or decimate farm profits, and individual cows especially. Feed, Fertility and Lameness. All three are highly related, outside environmental causes to lameness. So, the answer is YES!

FEED: As obvious as it may seem, feed and fertility are well research-proven limitations to farm profit. Based on the Australian 305 day lactation average milk production, clearly we are underfeeding our cows by at least 4+ kgs DM daily. We have bred cows through genetic advancement that have far greater capacity for converting feed dollars to milk dollars, yet we have not taken advantage of our investment in genetics when our national average milk production is half that of the USA.

I’ve been told for 40 years we are a different industry from the USA. Problem is; we are competing on the same world markets against more efficient milk production systems. Further, cows are cows and feed is feed, irrespective of delivery system; grazed or TMR. Producing more milk from the same fixed costs (land and cow maintenance energy cost), increases our competitiveness, but more so, our profit.

Having the feed to optimise our cows’ capacity for converting it to milk dollars is a multifaceted issue we’ll look more closely at next month under the heading of Feed Budgeting. Suffice to say, as all my consultancy clients know, number one is allowing cows access to feed per se. From there we look to planning the growing of forages that are highly digestible. We can fill a cow to contentment with hay, but she will not convert that hay to much milk. Worse still, the conversion of hay dollars to milk dollars is not profitable due mostly to very slow digestibility rates that limit daily dry matter intakes.

From here we look at energy and protein densities. How much energy and protein is in each kg of dry matter consumed by our cow. She has a physical limit to DM feed intake, so the higher the energy and protein in each kg DM of feed, the higher the total energy/protein intake will be, and obviously, how much milk she will produce daily.

We run a ratio in our diet analysis program of energy to maintenance and production. This ratio is critical in determining feed cost per litre of milk produced. Further, as this ratio shifts according to feed intake, digestibility and energy density, the cost of producing a litre of milk rises or falls rapidly. There is a multiplier effect occurring in the shifts of this ratio; for better or worse.

Feed intake, digestibility and energy/protein density are the ‘macros’ of dairy nutrition and production. However, the next plane is mineral nutrition. Our forages are a ‘mixed bag’ of minerals, some excessive and some deficient. For example, our forages tend to be between excessive, and highly excessive in potassium – fertilizer dependant. Our cows have a massive requirement for calcium, and pastures are very low in calcium; likewise, magnesium. It is essential we supplement our cows to regulate excesses and supply deficiencies. Cows also have a high salt requirement.

Next we need to consider trace minerals. Although they are supplemented in very small amounts, they are highly essential to many biological functions of dairy cows, including our opening claim of feed, fertility and lameness. Trace minerals are not very bioavailable from plant tissue, and hence must be supplemented via mineral premixes in grain.

Following are the critical roles of commonly supplemented trace minerals and vitamins. Copper, Manganese and Zinc play important roles in protein synthesis, vitamin metabolism, the growth of ligaments and immune function. Cobalt is essential to B12 vitamin production in the rumen, and if not limited, will supply all the cows’ need for B12. Vitamins A & D are commonly supplemented despite their natural availability from green forages and sunlight respectively, to ensure no compromised requirement.

There are two other essential supplements that I have left until we look at fertility, as they are critical to that major profit driver. They are; the trace mineral selenium and vitamin E. Both have vital roles in uterine health the therefore fertility. Further, both are antioxidants which have important roles in stabilising fatty acids and soluble vitamins. Their role in reducing toxicity of fats is very significant in our grazing based system as pasture has very high fat. The obvious sign of excessive dietary fats from pasture is suppressed BF%. Antioxidants also prevent the formation of free radicals affecting digestion of feeds and animal health.

Fertility then becomes a natural and serendipitous outcome of a fresh cow that has not suffered excessive negative energy balance from underfeeding, or pre-calving nutrition, has her mineral and vitamin requirements met, and then, a healthy and vital uterus. The one issue that can decimate all the above, is lameness.

Lameness prevention has specific nutritional needs, all of which are mentioned above related to milk production and fertility. However, to highlight a few very necessary preventative measures, we ensure adequate zinc is fed for formation of sound hoof material. Limit weight loss post-calving which can reduce the fat pad and its ‘shock-absorber’ function in the heel, and of course, feed buffering agents and adequate effective fibre for good rumen health and mitigation of sub-optimal ruminal pH (SARA).

Supplementing Biotin in mineral mixes added to grain has significant benefits to hoof integrity.

Addressing environmental causes to lameness such as track maintenance, minimising sharp turns on concrete (exiting rotary platforms especially) or covering with rubber mats will reduce injury and ware to hooves. Applying zinc sulphate and copper sulphate solutions alternately via absorbent mats while exiting dairies are beneficial in drying and hardening soles during wet conditions, reducing risk of stone punctures and bruising.

Despite our best efforts in all the above, I cannot stress enough that failed transition nutrition, which I’ve written on numerous times over the past few months, will severely reduce our ability to enhance our cows’ capacity for profitable lactations through feed, fertility and the absence of lameness. A recent report highlighted the fresh cow’s energy need as being similar to a human running two marathons daily. Nothing impacts post-calving energy (feed intake) like transition nutrition.

Nutrition provides a massive ‘window of opportunity’ from dry-off to pregnancy for highly profitable dairy business.