INCREASING MILK SOLIDS
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Selko HealthyLife | Dairy Performance

INCREASING MILK SOLIDS

Improving dairy farm profitability by increasing milk solids

How to increase the production of milk fat and protein?

In most countries, payment for milk is directly related to the amount of milk produced as well as to fat and protein percentage. A common parameter to compare milk production between farms with different levels of solids in the milk is the amount of Energy Corrected Milk (ECM) produced on the farm.

A common formula to calculate ECM is53:

kg milk production x
(0.383 x fat % + 0.242 x protein % + 0.7832)

3.1138

Cows need 12 meals per day to stay healthy

Cows need 12 meals a day to reduce the risk of rumen and hindgut acidosis, thus preventing “leaky gut” and systemic immune activation. To ensure dairy cows can eat 12 meals a day, good feed and barn management is essential. There needs to be enough space at the feeding fence for each cow to eat without feeling stress or pain.

How to increase the protein percentage of milk in a dairy herd

The percentage of protein in milk is directly related to the energy supply to the udder. In other words, by managing the negative energy balance that occurs after calving, the protein percentage in milk of dairy cows can be optimised.

How to increase the fat percentage of milk in a dairy herd

The percentage of fat in milk is mostly related to the quality of rumen fermentation and to hindgut health. There are a number of ways to increase fat percentage in milk, related to animal factors, feeding management, diet and dietary interventions that can reach the hindgut of dairy cows.

Animal factors

  • Breed, lactational stage and season all have an effect
  • Manage the transition to lactation in such a way that the incidence of metabolic diseases is low
  • Introduce fresh cows into the lactating group in batches once every 2 weeks
  • Consider a separate heifer group54

Feeding management

  • Increase the number of meals per day
  • Ideally provide fresh feed twice daily55
  • Push up the feed regularly
  • Avoiding sorting
  • Ensure sufficient space at the feeding fence and ensure it offers cows comfort while eating56

Feed a correct ration57

  • Provide enough effective fibre
  • Ensure dry matter percentage of the ratio is not too low
  • Don’t feed too much rumen active fat, use rumen protected fats
  • Don’t feed too much unsaturated fats
  • Avoid sub-acute rumen acidosis, so don’t feed too much fast fermenting carbohydrates
  • Sulfate forms of trace minerals can have a negative impact on fibre digestibility because sulfates are toxic to bacteria. Use trace minerals which contain the hydroxy form of zinc and copper instead of sulfates

Supplementation

  • Yeast or yeast derived products can stabilize rumen pH of dairy cows and thus improve fermentation
  • If there are large amounts of fast fermentable carbohydrates in the diet, add a buffer such as sodium carbonate
  • Hindgut acidosis can cause “leaky gut“, which can cause a drop in milk fat production. Use hydroxy forms of trace minerals42 and rumen protected prebiotic43,46,47 and to improve hindgut health and to increase the production of milk fat44,45,48,49,50

Feed efficiency of dairy cows is a key driver of dairy farm profitability

Feeding IntelliBond trace minerals improves digestibility of fibre in the diet, enabling cows to produce more milk out of the same amount of feed.

Learn more about how Selko IntelliBond helps to improve fibre digestibility to optimize performance
Download the brochure

HealthyLife | solutions based on science

Increase your milk production by improving fibre digestibility

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You can access all of our documentation about HealthyLife protocols, sustainable dairy farming and latest research insights about Dairy Cow transition management.

Download the Technical brochure "How to increase the production of milk fat"

Milk production of dairy cows and the fat percentage in milk can be increased by improving rumen fermentation and hindgut health. Protein percentage and milk production can be improved by managing the negative energy balance after calving correctly.

Check out our Technical brochures "Increasing the production of milk fat" and "Managing the negative energy balance in dairy cows" and our protocols.

Download brochure - How to increase the production of milk fat

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Find out more about dairy performance...

DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Making dairy farming sustainable by improving digestibility of fibre in dairy cattle

Feed effciency of dairy cows can be used to measure performance, to monitor income over feed costs and to reduce the amount of methane produced per kg of milk. Digestibility of feed has a big impact on feed efficiency. Fibre digestibility can be improved by using hydroxy trace minerals instead of sulphates.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

The impact of trace mineral source on fibre digestibility and milk production of dairy cows

A trial showed that feeding IntelliBond hydroxy trace minerals instead of sulphates improved rumen health, and increased NDF digestibility, production of volatile fatty acids and production of milk in dairy cows, resulting in an increase of feed efficiency.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Differences between NRC 2001 and NASEM 2021 dairy trace mineral and vitamin requirements

Values from the 2021 NASEM requirements are presented in tables with daily nutrient requirements, adequate nutrient intake values, absorption coefficients, mineral and vitamin levels required and typical values of basal diets for dairy cows. Major changes were reviewed.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

How to calculate the relative absorption coefficient of trace minerals for dairy cows?

Dr. Bill Weiss explained how the NASEM 2021 recommendations for trace minerals, macro elements, electrolytes, DCAD and vitamins in dairy rations changed and how the relative absorption coefficient for a source of trace mineral should be taken into account.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

The impact of trace mineral source on palatability of calf starter

Compared to hydroxy trace minerals for dairy cattle, suplhate trace minerals are highly soluble and as a result, can have a strong negative impact on palatbility of cattle feed.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Managing trace minerals for ruminants under bad weather conditions

Including hydroxy trace minerals in a dairy ration reduces losses as a result of leaching in case of exposure to poor weather conditions
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

A review of the new NASEM 2021 Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle

Compared to NRC 2001, NASEM 21 recommendations for supplementation of cattle with Co, Cu, Mn, Zn and I changed, trace metal recommendations for Cr, Fe, Mo and Se stayed the same.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Three reasons to rethink sulphate trace minerals in the ration of dairy cows

Hydroxy trace minerals dissociate mainly in the abomasum, avoiding high concentrations of trace metals in the rumen with a negative impact on rumen flora. As a result, digestibility of fibre and feed efficiency are improved, while maintaining an excellent bioavailability of zinc, copper and manganese to the animal.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Achieving essential trace mineral formulation requirements via NASEM Dairy 2021 Requirements for dairy cows

The NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle have been replaced by the new NASEM Dairy 2021 Requirements manual which are based on age, weight, reproduction and production stage.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

The impact of trace mineral management on rumen function of dairy cows

During the EAAP congress, Professor Spears will discuss research that indicates that hydroxy sources of Zn and Cu are metabolized differently in the rumen than sulfate sources. This have an impact on fiber digestibility of dairy cattle.Limited research suggests that trace mineral source may affect the rumen microbiome of dairy cows.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Breeding for feed efficiency increases utilisation of roughage intake of dairy cattle

Breeding for feed intake capacity reduces the feed efficiency of dairy cattle, but breeding for feed efficiency traits also reduces the feed intake capacity. Efficient dairy cows utilise roughage better for milk production but do not eat more compound feed.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Making dairy farming sustainable by improving feed efficiency of dairy cattle

Professor Santos from the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida discusses how to calculate feed efficiency of dairy cows and how it impacts dairy performance. Residual Feed Intake of dairy cows is a very accurate parameter to calculate feed efficiency of dairy cattle. It can be improved by genetic selection, nutritional tools and dairy management.
DAIRY PERFORMANCE

Improving feed efficiency of dairy cows

Dr. Mike Hutjens explains that feed efficency of dairy cows is an important performance indicator to improve sustainability and profitability of dairy farming. Feed efficiency in dairy cows can vary between <1.3 and >2.0. Digestibility of feed is one of the factors with a big impact on feed efficiency of dairy cattle.

Selko HealthyLife 

Making sustainable dairy farming profitable

Science-based solutions for optimum dairy performance

Selko LactiBute

Adding Selko LactiBute to the ratio increases milk production while increasing fat and protein levels at the same time. This results in an increase of Energy Corrected Milk of 0.85-1 kg per head per day.

Read more   

Selko IntelliBond

IntelliBond’s increased bioavailability and the positive impact on fibre digestion and gut barrier function support well-being and optimizes animal productivity of dairy cows.

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Selko TOXO & TOXO-XL

Selko TOXO® is a mycotoxin mitigation product that contains bentonite, which has strong binding capacity for aflatoxins, ergot toxines and LPS, in combination with glucose biopolymers which maintain gut tight junctions to reduce the translocation of mycotoxins into blood stream. Selko TOXO-XL® combines this with purified β-glucans that improve the immune function of dairy cows.

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Selko TMR

Selko TMR® is a blend of organic acids that reduces the growth of yeasts, moulds and bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae like Salmonella. As a result of the reduction in growth of micro-organisms, increases in temperature of the TMR are delayed by at least 6 hours in silages treated with Selko-TMR, resulting in a higher dry matter intake.

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Selko NutriCool

Even the best heat stress control programme cannot always fully prevent problems with heat stress in dairy cows. Supplementation with Selko NutriCool can help to avoid a drop in dry matter intake and loss of milk production as a result of heat stress.

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Farm-O-San Glucolac

Farm-O-San Glucolac 40 Plus provides glucogenic energy and reduces the risk of subclinical or clinical ketosis in dairy cows.

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Farm-O-San Reviva

Farm-O-San Reviva is a highly palatable post calving drink for dairy cows, with large amounts of energy and calcium. It reduces the risk of hypocalcaemia and milk fever in dairy cows.

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