Alltech continues to enhance rumen health
It is undeniable that cow performance and milk yield has increased over the years and unfortunately this has been at the expense of cow health and longevity. There has also been an increased reliance on bought-in feeds, concentrates and high-energy supplements to try to bridge the growing gap between dairy cow genetics and energy intake.
Finding a better way to feed the modern dairy cow that focuses on using forage more effectively and improving rumen health and function has been the reasoning behind recent diet changes implemented by Herd Manager Chris Ford of MA Jeanes, Peadon Farm near Bridgwater in Somerset.
With a goal to maximise feed efficiency as well as improve overall rumen health, forward-thinking and progressive manager Chris teamed up with nutritionist Kevin Roberts of Three Counties Feeds and Alltech Technical Manager Graeme Smith.
Owned and managed by John Hill and covering an area of 1,000 acres near the north Somerset coast, Peadon Farm has a herd of 430 cows. They are milked three times a day and currently average 11,220 litres of milk sold per cow with a calving index of 407 days.
This level of performance can only be achieved by a very hard working and conscientious team and we are always looking at ways to improve performance, explained Chris.
All milk is sold on a Tesco contract through Wiseman with the cows split into three groups: Highs, Heifers and Lows. The cows are fed a TMR all year round and the ration is based predominately on maize and grass with a blend formulated to closely match the cows requirements.
With cows achieving milk yields at these levels rumen health is always a concern and the goal is to try to get a 50:50 balance between forage and concentrates, said Graeme. He believes adding a high-quality supplement such as Optigen to the feed could be the answer.
Optigen is a slowly released protein which supplies the fibre-digesting bugs with a steady and ready supply of nitrogen that they can assimilate immediately thus improving fibre digestion and feed utilisation.
Typically 100g of Optigen will replace 1kg of rapemeal and soya and therefore create space within the ration. This can be filled with forages to enhance rumen health and, if replacing with maize silage, starch to help lift milk yields and milk quality.
Following Graemes recommendation of adding Optigen to the rations for the cows to enable more forage to be included into the diet, Kevin Roberts reformulated the diets to include 100g of Optigen into the Highs and Heifers rations in February and two weeks later into the Lows diet.
Within three days I noticed a change in the cows, with the dung being more consistent with less undigested feed and fibre evident. We have also seen a reduction in the number of digestive upsets, said Chris.
Over the following months the concentrate feed rate at Peadon Farm has decreased by 16% and milk yields have increased by over 600 litres per cow with fertility remaining unchanged. This indicates that rumen health and function has improved resulting in greater utilisation of the ration.
Overall the effects of changing the ration have been extremely positive, as Chris Ford is happy to point out. In my opinion Optigen has a place and a part to play in any diet and we will continue to use Optigen to help improve performance and profitability at Peadon Farm, said Chris.
Alltech is one of the leading animal health and nutrition companies in the world. It is committed to providing natural solutions to meet the needs of the animal production industry worldwide and also to ensuring that it adheres to the pioneering ACE Principle deliver performance for the Animal, beneficial for the Consumer and natural and safe for the Environment. For more information please contact Alltech on freephone 0800 1078066.