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Amino acid balancing rather than crude protein is the cutting edge in dairy nutrition
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by Robert Hamilton, Technical Sales Manager, Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health EMENA, UK
ince the 1980s we have been using crude protein (CP) as a key element in ration formulation. As with other industries, when advances are made, they are incorporated into systems and practises. This is also the case for ration formulation. With the mounting pressure to reduce soya usage as world demand increases, combined with the environmental impact of excess nitrogen protein excretion, it has never been a better time to explore the use of rumen protected amino acids (RP-AA). They not only help in addressing these key issues but also provide a range of benefits, such as increased production, improved milk quality, improved fertility and better general health of the animal. In mid-range CP diets, it is impossible to meet the Methionine (Met) and Lysine (Lys) requirements of the animal, therefore we cannot
achieve maximum potential and optimum returns. Amino acids have been used successfully for many years in the monogastric sector and it makes perfect sense that, with improving rumen protection technology (encapsulation and HMBi), along with higher bioavailability, they are also utilised more extensively in the ruminant sector. To maximise bioavailability the product must escape the rumen relatively intact (encapsulated products) and into the absorption sites (abomasum, small intestine) to achieve the highest possible transfer value. Dependant on the encapsulation technology and product core (particle size & functional specific gravity) the true bioavailability can be very different from product to product. Methionine benefits are commonly known within the dairy industry but, when used in concert with Lysine, it provides additional benefits beyond individual component feeding. It is important that, when using these two RP-AA, they are fed at
Figure 1: Percentage of milk fat yield (MF) and milk protein yield (MP) increase with different levels of additional metabolisable Lysine (MP Lys) added to control diets (balanced exclusively for Methionine (Ref 18-00054, Ref. 17-00015, Ref. 17-00018, Ref. 17-00019, Ref. 18-00005, Ref. 17-00015, Ref. 18-00027).
56 | June 2020 - Milling and Grain