Tassie trial reveals tailored feeding requirements for Dairy Cows might be beneficial
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Regenerative Ag & Carbon Farming News
- Jan 19, 2018
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Do dairy cows produce more milk when they receive a personalised menu to meet their individual nutritional requirements? A Tasmanian trial is looking at the impact of individually feeding concentrated feed supplements to dairy cows – and preliminary results show there could be a benefit.
The feeding trial is being run at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) Dairy Research Facility at Elliott and will run for the duration of lactation. The trial is testing the impact of two different concentrate feeding levels based on cows’ weight, milk production and genetics.
“Some famers are currently feeding cows individually, but there needs to be more clarity on the benefits and how to optimise individualised feeding in a Tasmanian pasture-based context,” TIA Dairy Extension Officer Lesley Irvine said.
“With technology developments and upgrades to dairy farms, more Tasmanian dairy farmers are able to individually feed cows concentrates as a supplement to pasture.
“This research will help farmers decide how much supplement to give based on the cows’ responses to different levels of concentrate, and understand the overall impact of individual feeding on farm profitability.”
Ms Irvine said concentrate feeding made up a significant 22 per cent of total dairy farming costs.
The trial involves 180 dairy cows and began in mid-August last year. It is being led by TIA dairy researchers Mark Freeman, Dr James Hills and Pieter Raedts.
“We’ve measured the cows’ milk production and bodyweight every day since August, and we’ve measured milk composition each month,” Mr Freeman said.
“Being a whole of lactation trial, it’s only halfway through. But interesting preliminary findings are already emerging.”
At the start of the trial, cows were allocated to one of three treatment groups based on either their bodyweight (large or small framed cows), production (high or low) or genetics (Friesian or Crossbred).
Half of the cows in each treatment group have been fed 2 kg dry matter of concentrates per cow each day and the other half have been fed 6 kg.
Mr Freeman said that looking at production in litres of milk, the most interesting finding so far is the response from the group of low and high producing cows.
“In the first 100 days of the lactation, the high production cows fed 6 kg have produced an average of 1.8 litres more per day per cow than the cows being fed 2 kg,” Mr Freeman said.
“What is surprising is the response from the low production cows. These cows each fed 6 kg have produced an average of 3.7 litres per day more than the low production cows that have been fed 2 kg,” he said.
Mr Freeman said the preliminary results challenged normal recommendations.
“We’re in the process of calculating milk solids production, and when the results are in, it will be very interesting to see if there are any changes in the differences we have seen so far,” he said.
Picture - Mark Freeman, TIA Dairy Advisor
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