Herd Management: Using autumn milk quality as a performance metric
As is the norm when we head into the autumn, milk solid percentages take a jump, due to a drop-off in volume.
As is the norm when we head into the autumn, milk solid percentages take a jump, due to a drop-off in volume. What we really must focus on more is the kilos of milk solids produced.
An observation I have made this year is that cows that were well fed during the drought to maintain milk yield then are currently milking very well.
Lactation persistency looks to be excellent this year in these herds, and as a result, high fat and protein percentages are now returning very good volumes of milk solids sold per cow in milk.
Every year seems to bring its new challenges, and more producers are starting to see that their herd is capable of much more when intakes are maintained cost effectively with complementary feeding. The cow is the best monitor of her own performance and is constantly giving feedback regarding how she is being fed and managed.
If butter fats are jumping up and down it indicates that intakes of dry matter each day are variable, and as a result, fibre digestion rates will also fluctuate. Fibre digestion drives butterfat.
The introduction of a buffer will stabilise intake and keep butterfats up. Increasing the protein content of a diet will promote more intake, but is not directly influencing milk protein.
More coops are now providing milk urea figures, and this an indicator of protein supply and utilisation. This figure has jumped up on most farms since the rain as nitrogen has been pushed up into the grass. High ureas are of less concern at this time of year in spring herds.
Urea spikes during and post-breeding in May, June and July may be associated with an increase in embryo deaths now being seen in recent scanning.
- Brian Reidy is an independent ruminant nutritionist at Premier Farm Nutrition.
