Some of the country’s leading dairy nutritionists, producers and industry influencers converged on Stoke-on-Trent earlier this summer to discuss new developments in transition cow nutrition.
Hosted by Balchem Animal Nutrition & Health, the UK leg of a series of events across Europe was organised in partnership with Trident MicroNutri, and brought some of the leading voices in the industry together, to not only share research findings, but also look at practical trial results in a farm setting.
The ‘New Developments in Transition Cow Nutrition’ seminar saw renowned researcher and professor, Dr Jose Santos from the University of Florida, share some of the newest research demonstrating the many benefits of feeding rumen-protected choline to transition dairy cows.
Dr Santos was joined at the UK seminar by Anna Millar, Trident MicroNutri’s ruminant technical manager, as she shared insights from the field.
Ms Millar looked at how the highly concentrated form of rumen-protected choline, ReaShure XC, affects colostrum yield and quality. This included a look at the successful field trial work with the renowned Gold Cup winning dairy operation, Metcalfe Farms.
At the time of the trial, starting in April 2022, the dairy herd at Metcalfe Farms consisted of 1,300 pedigree Holsteins with 1,100 in milk, showing an average yield of 39kg per cow at 3.3% protein and 3.9% butterfat.
As high-yielding cows, averaging around 12,500 litres, their livers needed all the support they could get through transition.
“The overall aim was to improve the transition of the cows and to increase three-week milk yields, so they could get the cows hitting the ground running and being more productive at the beginning of the lactation, achieving their full potential,” explained Ms Millar.
The close-up dry and fresh cow groups were fed ReaShure XC, at 21 days pre- and post-partum, via addition into TMR in a pre-blended pre-mix.
“The results saw colostrum quality increase, and metabolic incidences remained low,” said Ms Millar. “Cows at 21-days in milk lifted their milk yield by about 2.3kg. Heifers also transitioned well with a similar improvement.”
The level of metritis and displaced abomasum (DA) also reduced, with a lot healthier cow seen through the transition period.
Return on Investment
From an economic point of view, Ms Millar looked at approximate costs of feeding the rumen-protected choline product on farm.
“At 40p per day, based on a 42-day transition, three-weeks before and three-weeks after calving, which we think is best protocol for feeding ReaShure XC, this works out at £16.80 per cow per transition,” she explained.
“In comparison to other approaches to supporting the energy balance of cows around calving, such as a bolus or bypass fats, the costs stand up extremely favourably, before even considering the additional benefits achieved, such as health and fertility.”
Studies have proven that delivering choline during transition leads to substantial ROI, up to as much as 23:1, in terms of combined benefits to full lactation milk production, reduced metabolic disorders and improved calf health and growth.
“So, we can conclude that feeding ReaShure XC both pre- and post-calving delivers ROI, while supporting higher peak milk and lactation yield, healthier transitions, improved calf growth and health and increased colostrum production,” concluded Ms Millar.
