Dairy Grist
A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER PRODUCED BY FORTIFIED NUTRITION LTD. VOLUME 23, ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2021
Dear Friends, It has been wonderful this last number of months to witness the stabilization and even growth in demand for dairy products in Canada. It is hard to believe that a year has passed since the start of the impact of COVID-19 on our industry, our country and our daily lives. As we soon enter the Spring of 2021, we pray that we will see much of this impact lessened, but regardless, we remain grateful that we are all involved in the Agri-Food industry, an industry that is more recognized as essential than it has been in recent history. Certainly, the impact of COVID has, for various reasons, increased the demand for butterfat. With the recent negative press on the use of palm fat in dairy rations, it is encouraging to read of various butterfat improvement strategies in the articles below that can assist in hitting component targets. Throughout this past COVID-19 impacted year, we have felt truly blessed to be able to work in an industry that is so very necessary to continue to provide fresh, wholesome, safe and nutritious food for fellow Canadians. We wish to thank each one of our dairy producers for their commitment to this honourable and (even more so now) appreciated cause. We trust that you will find the articles in this edition of the Dairy Grist to be both informative and helpful to you in your dairy operation. Sincerely, Ian Ross, President & CEO
MILK FATTY ACID ANALYSIS A SHARP TROUBLESHOOTING TOOL
by: KATHLEEN SHORE Ruminant Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers, Nutrition Direct
R
esearch out of Cornell University has highlighted that the fatty acid profile in cow’s milk can help advisors evaluate rumen health and fermentability of the diet provided. There are, of course, many behavioural and environmental factors that also impact rumen health such as space to eat and access to fresh, well mixed feed. Benchmarks set out of the United States have been developed looking at 3.75% as an average butterfat. Lactanet in Québec has also developed a process for evaluating milk fatty acids and have measured these fatty acids continuously on both Holstein and Jersey farms to get averages for each month of the year building averages for more typical Canadian components – tendency toward higher butterfat (4.0 – 4.2%). These averages show that longer days bring lower components and higher volume while shorter days bring higher components, so measuring throughout the year enables averages to be established for evaluating healthy cows that follow natural rhythms of production. Herds deviating from the average or experiencing sudden drops in butterfat can benefit from this analysis as a troubleshooting tool. Of the three groups of fat found in milk, de novo is the most critical to ensuring the cow’s rumen is working efficiently at producing volatile fatty acids – the backbone for 80% of the energy she needs to produce milk, milk components and maintain her own body/health status. The other two fat groups, mixed and preformed are still important to understand because as outlined in Figure 1 it helps tell a story of what is happening to the cow and how to affect dietary change toward improving herd performance and health. Research has consistently shown a clear relationship between de novo fatty acids and bulk tank fat and protein tests. For every tenth of
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1
3
De Novo
Preformed
Sythesized in the mammary gland. Reflect rumen health • Healthy rumen • Good microbial function • Lack of rumen degradable starch • Lack of effective fibre • Lack of rumen degradable protein • Too much fat in the ration • Poor rumen function • Ruminal acidosis • Poor management (competition, empty feed bunk, sorting...)
2 Mixed • Supplementation with palm oil based feed • Increased de novo synthesis • Removal of palm oil based feeds • Anything that affects the de novo
Derived from feed or body reserves. Reflect intake and mobilization • Changes in forages • Increased intake • Cows that lose weight after calving or for other reasons (if de novo drops at the same time) • Addition of feeds that are rich in fat • Decreased intake • Lack of energy • Change in forages (less fat)
De Novo FA: short chain FA (14 carbon or less( synthesized exclusively in the mamry gland from butyrate and acetate, two precursors that come from rumen fermentation. Mixed FA: 16 carbon FA derived from mammary gland synthesis (de novo) or the blood (feed or mobilization of body reserves). Preformed FA: long chain FA (15, 17, and 18 carbon or more) mainly derived from feed or mobilization of body reserves. Polyunsaturated: FA with more than one double bond, an increase in the milk reflects an increase in ingestion of polyunsaturated FA or a problem with biohydrogen. All polyunsaturated FA are preformed FA.
Figure 1. Fatty acid groups, reasons for high or low content in milk test (source: Lactanet)
a unit increased in de novo fatty acids milk fat increases by 0.20 and milk protein increases by 0.12 units. That does not mean that a few diet changes can bring that increase in de novo fatty acid synthesis because genetics will always play a role. However, cows that are not meeting that genetic potential will send up some red flags through their milk fatty acid profile. Understanding the beneficial effects of higher de novo fat in terms of milk components led Lactanet to also include barn/diet management trends common to top producers. They found that those herds in the 90th percentile for de novo fat production (0.98-1.1g/100g milk and 1.5 kg fat produced) had the following elements working for them in the barn: Ian Ross, President | David Ross, VP & CMO Mark Bowman | Jeff Keunen | Josh Devos | Kathleen Shore, Monogastric Nutritionists Michael Peckover, Publisher