Breaking Through Dairy Production Barriers

Caroline Knoblock, MSc, - Director of Nutrition, Agrarian Solutions and Larry Roth, Ph.D., PAS - Vice President of Nutrition

Through genomics we have been able to estimate that today’s dairy cows have the genetic potential to give 75,000 pounds of milk in a year. That is a mind boggling number to think about – especially when we realize that the average US yearly milk production per cow is 24,000 pounds, and elite cows that peak at 200 pounds per day will give 44,000 pounds of milk in a year. If that number is true, what is holding cows back from reaching it? The obvious reality of our current environment is we will not have many cows hitting 75,000 pounds in the next few years – but 44,000 is attainable and there are elite herds and many cows reaching that level. What is different about these cows and the farms they are on that enable that kind of production? A comment in an article discussing these elite cows helps put it into perspective: diet and management are holding modern cows back from their potential, not genetics.

The modern dairy cow is a finely tuned machine akin to a sports car traveling very quickly down a highway. Cows of the past were more like the trusty farm truck – they did their job well but they weren’t very flashy and did not move very fast. But they were sturdy. Not much could knock cows off the peak of their lactation. Stressors did not have as much of an effect on them. Today’s cows are that fast-moving car; hit a bump in the road and they can go careening off the path they were on. Our job as dairy consultants is to control what we can to reduce stressors to the cows and help them manage what they are forced to deal with. We do not want to let health events in early lactation – a seemingly small bump in the road – reduce peak milk yield or decrease lactation persistency. Stressors that cows were formerly able to handle with no fuss, such as 3ppm of DON in the TMR, are now enough to prevent her from reaching her full potential. These top performance cows have high nutrient needs, and small hiccups that divert nutrients away from milk and reproduction are felt much more than in the past.

We must enable the modern dairy cow to fully respond to challenges and the calving transition. Better yet, we should take challenges out of her way. This means a deep focus on growing, harvesting, storing, and feeding out high quality forages. It means being aware of what is in the feed that could slow her down, such as high ash content, wild yeasts, and mycotoxins. It means helping farms manage cows in low-stress environments that enables a calm and successful calving transition.

“Manage the interaction between the cow and her diet in a proactive manner” is a partial quote from a recent article that featured Dr. Van Amburgh, Cornell University. We should not wait for the cow to let us know when something is wrong, because for some cows it is too late and they’ve already lost their ability to reach their peak production. We need to be testing for mycotoxins and aware of feed challenges before the cows start on the new forage. If mycotoxins are present we need to use products that are effective and do not hinder nutrient availability.

The modern dairy cow has the potential to make as much milk as we let her. By being aware of the challenges that cause inflammation and unnecessary immune responses, and helping her handle them better, we can make steps forward to healthy cows that make more milk. At Agrarian we are eager to see this future come true and work hard to create products that help remove the roadblocks and bumps in the road.