Episodi
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Balchem sponsored several abstracts presented at the 2024 ADSA Annual Meeting. This episode consists of five segments, each focused on an abstract.
Segment 1: Evaluating the total mixed ration stability of rumen-protected lysine products.
Guests: Kari Estes, Balchem; Dr. Mark Hanigan, Virginia Tech
This research compared the TMR stability of a Balchem prototype, several commercially available rumen-protected lysine products and a positive control of unprotected lysine. (3:39)
A sample of TMR and the equivalent of one gram of lysine from each product were mixed and placed in a plastic zip bag for 0, 6, 12, or 24 hours. After each time point, the sample was placed in a strainer bag, dipped in distilled water, and drip-dried. The solution was collected and analyzed for free lysine content. (5:28)
About 85% of the unprotected lysine was recovered at 0 hours. After 24 hours, around 50% was recovered. The rumen-protected lysine products varied widely; one product released nearly 87% of its lysine in 24 hours, while another only released 9%. TMR stability should be taken into account when determining feeding rates and handling of rumen-protected lysine products. (7:19)
Segment 2: Evaluating the total mixed ration stability of rumen-protected choline products.
Guests: Kari Estes, Balchem; Dr. Mark Hanigan, Virginia Tech
In this experiment, Kari evaluated TMR stability of five commercially available rumen-protected choline products, along with a positive control treatment of unprotected choline chloride. (14:04)
At 0 hours, about 80% of the unprotected choline was recovered and 50% was recovered at 24 hours. Results for the rumen-protected choline products were highly variable, ranging from 5% release to 100% release at 24 hours. Rumen-protected choline products should be evaluated for TMR stability in addition to rumen stability and intestinal release. (17:25)
Segment 3: Effect of dry period heat stress and rumen-protected choline on productivity of Holstein cows.
Guests: Maria Torres de Barri and Dr. Geoff Dahl, University of Florida
The experiment had four treatments: heat stress with and without rumen-protected choline, and cooling with and without rumen-protected choline. Cows in the cooling treatment were provided shade, soakers, and fans, while cows in the heat stress treatment were only provided shade. (24:45)
Heat-stress cows had higher rectal temperatures and respiration rates than cooled cows. Heat-stress cows also had lower dry matter intakes, shorter gestation length, lighter calves, and produced less milk. (29:36)
For cows in the cooling group, choline supplementation increased milk production. However, cows in the heat stress group supplemented with choline produced less milk than cows who did not receive choline. (31:04)
Dr. Dahl suggests that not cooling cows in heat-stress environments when they’re receiving choline will not result in optimal results. (33:49)
Segment 4: Effects of dietary rumen-protected, ruminal-infused, or abomasal-infused choline chloride on milk, urine, and fecal choline and choline metabolite yields in lactating cows.
Guests: Mingyang (Charlie) You and Dr. Joe McFadden, Cornell University
This experiment evaluated early and late lactation cows supplemented with choline via three different methods. Each treatment had 12.5 grams of choline ion provided daily: fed in rumen-protected form, continuously infused into the rumen, or continuously infused into the abomasum. (36:29)
Choline bioavailability was influenced by the delivery method of choline. Fecal and milk choline concentration was only observed in early lactating cows with abomasal infusion. Abomasal infusion increases the choline metabolite betaine in feces and urine. These results suggest there is potential saturation of choline metabolism in the lactating cow. (40:53)
Segment 5: The metabolic fate of deuterium-labeled choline in gestating and lactating Holstein dairy cows.
Guests: Dr. Tanya France, University of Wisconsin; Dr. Joe McFadden, Cornell University
Dr. France explains that choline can be metabolized via two different pathways. Using deuterium-labeled choline (D-9 choline) allows researchers to know which pathway is used. If D-3 or D-6 choline is measured, the methionine cycle is used, and if D-9 choline is measured, the CDP choline pathway is used. The hypothesis was that the physiological stage (late gestation vs early lactation) would influence choline metabolism. (51:06)
Dr. France found that both choline metabolism pathways were used in both physiological stages. This experiment also confirmed that choline is a methyl donor and that choline recycling can occur. The research also evaluated the relative amounts of choline and choline metabolites in each pool. (53:40)
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This episode of the Real Science Exchange podcast was recorded during a webinar from Balchem’s Real Science Lecture Series.
Throughout the last 30 years, the dairy industry has moved to producing highly concentrated versions of milk proteins. In cows’ milk, about 80% of the protein is casein and 20% is in the serum or whey phase. These ratios vary by species. There are three major caseins in cows’ milk: alpha-S-casein, beta-casein, and kappa-casein. The first two are rich in phosphate for calcium binding. Kappa-casein is critical in a micellar structure that allows these structures to stay suspended in the milk. (1:21)
Whey proteins also differ by species. In cows’ milk, about 50% of the whey protein is beta-lactoglobulin. It’s rich in branched-chain amino acids, and it is not present in human milk so it is a focus of allergy research. Alpha-lactalbumin is found in all mammals and is a cofactor for lactose production. (10:34)
Caseins and whey proteins are different from one another and are in completely different classes of proteins. From structure, to size, to amino acid content, to solubility; these two types of proteins are yin and yang. (11:51)
When fluid milk or whey is concentrated by removing water, some sugars and other materials dissolve via evaporation or membrane filtration. It results in dried powders, milk protein concentrate, milk protein isolate, whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolates. Concentrates contain 80-85% protein and isolates contain more than 90% protein. (17:14)
What's driving the current and probably future popularity of these dairy proteins? One, is their versatility in many food applications, and the other is the superior nutritional quality of the proteins. Nearly half of the milk protein concentrate use is for mainstream nutrition and sports beverages. Similar trends have been observed for whey protein isolates. (20:05)
Dairy proteins are very rich in branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) like leucine. BCAAs help initiate protein synthesis, are important for muscle recovery, help with weight loss by maintaining blood glucose levels, are synergistic with exercise, and can promote healthy aging. Dr. Lucey gives several different examples of products utilizing dairy proteins. He predicts that the increased focus on nutrition products, interest in isolating individual proteins and improving export opportunities will continue to drive demand for dairy proteins in the future. (27:21)
All of the main milk proteins have genetic variants, which are minor amino acid differences in the same protein. Variants occur at different frequencies among breeds. Beta-casein has two variants, A1 and A2. There is one amino acid difference out of 209 total amino acids, located at position 67 where a histidine is found in variant A1 and a proline is found in variant A2. When histidine is present, the beta-casein is prone to cleavage at position 67, creating a fragment called beta-casomorphin-7 (BCM-7). When proline is present, it hinders the cleavage of casein at position 67. BCM-7 is an exogenous opioid peptide with the potential to elicit opioid activity on a range of tissues and organs. It’s known as a “bioactive peptide” and some others from milk and cheese have been implicated as anti-hypertensive. (35:26)
In the late 1990s, some researchers claimed that A1 milk was implicated in diabetes, coronary heart disease, autism, and schizophrenia. Subsequent reviews and investigations by significant international bodies found no evidence of these claims. (40:34)
In closing, Dr. Lucey answers questions from the webinar audience. He talks about the potential of breeding cows customized for the production of minor milk components, milk components as renewable bio-plastics, and the superiority of milk proteins compared to plant proteins. Watch the full webinar at balchem.com/realscience. (47:41)
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Episodi mancanti?
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Dr. Overton presented on this topic in a Real Science Lecture series webinar on July 10, 2024. You can find it at www.balchem.com/realscience. This episode takes a deeper dive into the conversation.
Dr. Overton begins by reminding listeners of the vast number of changes occurring in the fresh cow during the first two to three weeks after calving. Body fat and protein mobilization, some systemic inflammation, the potential for elevated NEFAs and ketones, and calcium dynamics all play a role in how the fresh cow starts her lactation period. (7:31)
When consulting with clients, Dr. Faldet uses research to guide his decisions. He likes to implement a 14-day pen for fresh cows, ranging from 10-17 days. He evaluates things like stocking rates, lockup times, and cow comfort, along with fine-tuning a diet for each individual farm setting. (9:14)
The panel discusses the importance of increasing effective fiber along with starch in fresh cow diets. Without adequate effective fiber in the diet, the risk of acidosis increases, resulting in cows going off feed. There is no silver bullet; each farm’s fresh cow diet is going to be different due to different forage bases and timing in the fresh cow group. (13:02)
Both Dr. Faldet and Dr. Overton stressed the diet is only one component of a successful fresh cow program. Other critical pieces include stocking rate, availability of feed, water quantity and quality, and cow comfort. Dr. Faldet suggests that if you do all these non-diet factors right, you could probably maneuver closeup and fresh pens a little differently and make the diet work with the ingredients you have. Dr. Overton’s group is conducting survey work evaluating the variability in particle size in closeup diets. A pilot study showed that as particle size variability increased, so did fresh cow health issues and poor postpartum metabolic status. (19:10)
Protein requirements of the fresh cow were another topic of Dr. Overton’s webinar. He described a recent experiment evaluating standard and high metabolizable protein concentrations in the diet for closeup and fresh cows. The postpartum MP gave a big milk response, around 15-16 pounds per day for the first 21 days after calving, with a carryover effect of 11-12 pounds of milk for the next 20 days after all cows went back on the same diet. It’s important to note that lysine and methionine were fixed regardless of treatment, so it seems that other amino acids are probably involved in the mechanism of action. (23:06)
Dr. Overton described an experiment designed to evaluate starch and fiber in fresh cow diets where higher fiber digestibility and increased corn in silage resulted in less fiber and more starch than anticipated in the diet. Fresh cows were a bit of a trainwreck, but the problem was resolved once another couple of pounds of straw were added to the diet. On the other hand, you can go too far with increased fiber in fresh cow diets, which results in ketosis, lower intakes, and less milk production. (35:19)
The panel then discusses far-off programs, fat supplementation in fresh cow diets, and vitamin and mineral concentrations for fresh cows. (42:37)
In summary, each panelist shares their takeaways. Dr. Elliott reminds listeners that we should think about starch, fat, fiber, and protein together and how they influence each other rather than considering them individually. Dr. Faldet’s take-home message is to know what your targets and bookends are and really hone in and implement your fresh cow diets accordingly. Dr. Overton suggests that the industry will shift to evaluating fresh cow diets as their own thing rather than trying to tweak a few things from your high cow diet. Implementing fresh cow diets consistently and well is going to be important. (53:30)
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Dr. Callaway presented on this topic in a Real Science Lecture series webinar on June 4, 2024. You can find it at www.balchem.com/realscience. The following podcast takes a deeper dive into the conversation.
For years, probiotics were known as direct-fed microbials (DFMs) in livestock and probiotics in humans. Terminology has been updated to reflect different modes of action and composition. (9:07)
A probiotic is defined as a living microorganism that will be beneficial to the health and/or performance of the host. Prebiotics are fermentable substrates that the host can’t use, but the microbes can. Dr. Steele agrees that terminology and definitions keep evolving; he uses “microbial-based solutions” rather than DFM. He believes that the ever-evolving terminology and definitions have led to some of the skepticism about these products in the industry. He recommends to farmers and nutritionists that a product should have a bare minimum of three publications in high-quality peer-reviewed journals showing efficacy before using them on-farm. (10:13)
Every farm is going to have a different set of challenges and goals that will play a role in determining the right choice of microbial-based solution. Weather and climate, water quality, pathogen challenges, ration grind size, and ration ingredients will all factor into the decision. (17:39)
Both guests agree that we don't know enough about the microbiome in cattle to define what a good versus a bad microbiome looks like. Dr. Steele suggests the next steps in research should look more deeply at the host’s physiological mechanisms in how they’re responding to a probiotic to truly understand when it’s going to work and when it’s not. (21:19)
Dr. Ordway asks how much microbial products could improve the absorption of nutrients. Dr. Steele responds that much of the research so far has focused on digestion and absorption has not been studied much. Some studies in calves fed microbials have shown changes in gut structure and the development of villi, and even papillae in the rumen. That gives us some high-level information about absorption, but we are not close to understanding the nitty gritty of the microbial mechanisms at play in absorption. Dr. Callaway adds that hindgut absorption in ruminants is more important than we have previously thought. Dr. Steele suggests the small and large intestines are equally as important as the forestomach, but they are not as well understood as they’re harder to study in ruminants. The conversation goes on to discuss possible modes of action behind increased liver abscesses observed in beef on dairy operations. (30:12)
Both guests share their thoughts regarding working together across disciplines, especially agronomy researchers since the feed base has such an impact on-farm. They discuss soil microbes, forge inoculants, and silage microbes. (43:23)
Dr. Ordway’s take-home message for nutritionists is to not forget to have conversations with your partners - the producer, the end user, the veterinarian, the crop team and the management team on the farm. Coordinated biology is not just within the animal, it’s all the factors coming into play that have been discussed in this episode. (58:32)
Dr. Steele reiterates his earlier advice to only use microbial-based solutions that have a bare minimum of three publications showing efficacy in a high-ranking journal. He also recommends you choose your metric of measurement properly. Focusing on cattle that are experiencing some stress or metabolic or infectious issues may allow you to truly evaluate the return on investment. There are great microbial solutions out there but you need to use a proven solution from a company that’s research-based. (59:48)
Dr. Callaway echoes Dr. Steele’s recommendation to be slightly cynical about companies that come in to sell you things. Ask how their product works, and ask to see the research. A company that tells you when its product works and when it doesn’t might be more trustworthy than one that says their product always works. Lastly, what does success look like for you as a farmer? Have a measurable, bite-size metric for determining if these products impact your bottom line. (1:01:28)
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This episode of the Real Science Exchange podcast was recorded during a webinar from Balchem’s Real Science Lecture Series.
Dr. Goff sees three main challenges for transition cows: negative energy and protein balance, immune suppression, and hypocalcemia. About half of all older cows experience hypocalcemia, and around 3% will experience milk fever. Cows develop hypocalcemia if they are unable to replace the calcium lost in milk from either their bone or diet. Compared to the day before calving, a cow needs around 32 extra grams of protein the day of calving to meet her increased requirements. (2:00)
Dr. Goff reviews the pathways of calcium homeostasis and the actions of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Aged cows may have a harder time maintaining calcium homeostasis due to the loss of vitamin D receptors in the intestine with age and fewer sites of active bone resorption capable of responding quickly to PTH once they have finished growing. Blood pH plays a role in calcium homeostasis: when blood pH becomes alkaline, animals become less responsive to PTH. Dr. Goff reviews the impacts of high vs low DCAD diets and reviews the amount of time it takes for the kidney and bone to respond to PTH. (4:20)
There are several strategies to reduce the risk of hypocalcemia. One is to reduce dietary potassium so the cow is not as alkaline. Using forages from fields that have not had manure applied to them is one way to accomplish this. In addition, warm-season grasses (corn) accumulate less potassium than cool-season grasses, and all grasses contain less potassium as they mature (straw). A second strategy is to add anions such as chloride or sulfate to the diet to acidify the blood to improve bone and kidney response to PTH. Research has shown that sulfate salts acidify about 60% as well as chloride salts. The palatability of anionic diets has led to commercial products such as Soychlor. (13:06)
Dr. Goff then discusses the over- and under-acidification of diets and gives his opinion on the appropriate range of urine pH for proper DCAD diet management, including a new proposed DCAD equation to account for alkalizing and acidifying components of the diet. He also gives some options for pH test strips to use for urine pH data collection. (18:30)
Dr. Goff’s lab has found that as prepartum urine pH increases, the calcium nadir decreases. The inflection point is right around pH 7.5, where above 7.5 indicates a higher risk of hypocalcemia. Data from other researchers suggests that urine pH lower than 6.0 may result in lower blood calcium, indicating an overall curvilinear response. Low urine pH (under 6.0) has also been associated with a higher incidence of left-displaced abomasum. (29:02)
Moving on to other minerals, Dr. Goff discusses phosphate homeostasis and how that interacts with calcium in the close-up cow. Feeding too much phosphorus can decrease calcium absorption and feeding low phosphorus diets before calving can improve blood levels of calcium. He recommends less than 0.35% phosphorus in close-up cow diets. For magnesium,he recommends 0.4% prepartum and immediately postpartum to take advantage of passive absorption across the rumen wall. (31:08)
Another strategy to reduce milk fever risk is to reduce dietary calcium prior to calving to stimulate parathyroid hormone release well before calving. A zeolite product that binds calcium is now available and may make this much easier to achieve. (42:59)
In closing, Dr. Goff reminds the audience that some level of hypocalcemia post-calving is normal and in fact, is associated with higher milk production. The key is making sure that the cow’s blood calcium levels can bounce back to normal by day two after calving. (51:23)
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Dr. DeVries presented a Real Science Lecture webinar on May 8, 2024, titled “Lessons Learned in Research on Nutritional Management of Robot Milked Cows.” You can find the webinar recording at balchem.com/realscience.
Dr. DeVries begins with an overview of how his robotic milking research has evolved. In Canada, around 20%-plus of farms are using robotic milkers. He describes survey research in the US and Canada as to why producers choose to implement robotic milkers. (9:19)
In Trevor’s webinar, he discussed the large amount of variation in nutritional management of robot-milked cows across Canada. Some of his research with Dr. Penner has looked at the interaction between feed consumed at the feed bunk and feed consumed at the robot. Ideally, you wish to be able to accurately predict intake because that is a primary driver of milk production. Because cows can be supplemented individually at the robot, there is opportunity to better feed cows to match their individual needs. (13:50)
Trevor and Greg describe their respective university’s robot milking research facilities. The panel discusses additional technologies that would be useful for all robotic milkers, like load cells to measure feed delivery and disappearance. Cows typically consume around 250-300 grams of concentrate per minute, and that can vary by feed type (pellet vs mash, for example.) The panel also ponders whether the design of the feed bunk in the robots has an impact on intake rate. (17:35)
As a consulting nutritionist, Todd prefers to feed as little as possible in the robot and have a more consistent mix in the PMR. The level of milk production of the cows can have a large influence on how much pellet is fed at the robot versus the feed bunk. Todd goes on to describe his strategy for creating proportions of PMR and robot intakes for different scenarios. (26:06)
Clay asks the panel what the maximum amount of concentrate should be fed at the robot. They discuss factors that can influence concentration including individual cow variation, length of time in the robot per milking, and the number of visits to the robot per day. Clay goes on to ask how fast fresh cows can be stepped up in their robot feedings. The group has a lively discussion about all the different factors that play a role in that decision. Greg reminds the audience not to get so caught up with programming the robot that we lose sight of the fact we’re still feeding cows and good dairy management still applies. (31:29)
Todd describes some of the biggest challenges he observes as a consultant in robotic dairies, primarily centered around understanding cow behavior. Trevor underlines the importance of cow comfort and other non-nutritional factors in regard to their influence on the success of the nutrition program.(41:29)
Scott asks the panel what they think robotic milkers might look like in 2050 and what problems will have been solved by then. Greg’s wish list includes knowing PMR intake to better manage robot feedings and having cow body weights on every dairy. Trevor thinks we will have a much better understanding of how genetics influence cow performance in a robotic system and how we can raise cows to adapt to the technology to be better robot cows. Todd agrees that body weights are critical and also envisions more individualized milkings depending on each cow’s preferences. On his wish list is a drone that could be used to fetch cows to the robot who have not gone to be milked. (46:51)
Trevor and Greg discuss what’s next in their upcoming research projects, and Todd gives some wishlist ideas for future research. (54:18)
In summary, each guest gives their take home messages. Clay is intrigued by the precision feeding aspects of robotic milking systems. Todd encourages dairy producers not to be scared of robotic milking systems. Greg looks forward to research in the next 5-10 years to support or refute the preconceived notions we have about robotic systems. Trevor reminds listeners that cows must consume a certain amount of nutrients in order to produce milk. In the robotic system, those nutrients are delivered via two different components and research continues to understand the interplay between them. Lastly, animal behavior is a critical component of the success of robotic systems and our management approach should reflect that. (1:02:46)
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Dr. Cannas presented a Real Science Lecture webinar on October 17, 2023, titled “Diets of Productive Sheep & Goats: Performance & Health.” You can find the webinar recording at balchem.com/realscience.
Dr. Cannas outlines the topics he covered in his webinar, including nutritional requirement differences between small and large ruminants, particularly in late gestation. Small ruminants have a shorter gestation and are more prolific than cattle, for example, and this means they have more nutritional challenges in late gestation. Dr. Cannas covered supplementation, basal diet quality, and sorting ewes or does by number of fetuses. He also discussed how high milk-producing sheep and goats partition nutrients. (10:36)
Many people treat sheep and goats like smaller, low-producing cattle. Dr. Cannas considers this approach a big mistake. During pregnancy and lactation, sheep and goats are highly-producing animals that garner the same attention given to high-producing dairy and beef cattle. Dr. Texeira agrees and reminds the audience that just because sheep and goats are very adaptable animals doesn’t mean you should feed them low-quality diets. Jessica mentions that providing poor-quality feed may not allow the ewe or doe to meet her genetic potential. (21:51)
The panel discusses the importance of record keeping and data to evaluate management changes. (27:31)
Jessica asks about how Antonello fed rumen-protected choline in his experiments. They fed individually to ensure each animal received the correct dose but recommended to mix it into a TMR or mineral supplement for on-farm feeding. (33:12)
Izabelle asks how many groups most farms sort ewes or does into before lambing or kidding in Sardinia. Antonello says it depends on the individual farm because they are so diverse, but at least two groups, singles and twins. They may also sort based on the number of days pregnant as well. He describes some experimental results from feeding rumen-protected choline to ewes carrying singles versus twins. (35:35)
Dr. Teixeira describes some of the challenges sheep and goat producers face in her native Brazil due to heat stress. Jessica gives examples of management strategies to help manage heat stress based on her work at Cornell. (41:14)
The panel discussed challenges with body condition scoring goats using a sheep scale since goats store more fat internally or in other locations like the tail. They also discuss recommendations for target body condition scores at different stages of the production cycle. (48:00)
In summary, Jessica recommends that sheep and goat producers focus on what they do well, make small changes to improve their operation, and collect data to see what is working and what is not working. Izabelle encourages producers to understand what is happening physiologically in each stage of production to best manage nutritional challenges. Antonello reiterates that sheep and goats should be given the same attention and care as high-producing dairy cows. It is a complex business and there is much room for improvement in the management of small ruminants. (57:27)
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Dr. Zimmerman presented a Real Science Lecture webinar on December 12th, 2023, titled “Not All Rumen-Protected Products Are Created Equal.” You can find the webinar recording at balchem.com/realscience.
Clay outlines four attributes of a good rumen-encapsulated product. They are feed and TMR stable, ruminal stable, nutrient bioavailability, and good efficacy biologically in the animal. (6:21)
Kari describes a TMR stability test that Balchem has been perfecting based on a paper published in 2016. One to two grams of a rumen-protected product (based on the nutrient composition) is mixed with a half pound of TMR in a Ziploc bag, then the mixture incubates for 0, 6, 12 or 24 hours (based on feeding 1x, 2x, or 3x per day). Once a sample is finished incubating, it’s placed in a strainer bag in one liter of distilled water for one minute. Then, the amount of nutrient that was leached into the distilled water is measured. She describes some of the observations and trends they’ve seen from using this technique on different products. (8:24)
Mark asks about the impact of abrasion during the mixing process on encap stability. Kari describes a mineral mix technique using a small ribbon and paddle mixer. In this case, 5-10 pounds of encap product are mixed with 90-95 pounds of a mineral mix for three minutes. Then a sample is analyzed for damage to the encap. Clay does not recommend pelleting any encapsulated product because that will only reduce efficacy. It may not be 100% damage, but it will be significant. (12:41)
Scott asks about the freeze-thaw stability of encapsulates. Clay mentions that all of Balchem’s encapsulated products are freeze-thaw stable. If a product is not, there will be cracks in the coating and some ruminal stability will be lost. (19:34)
When it comes to ruminal stability, matrix encapsulates tend to have lower stability in the rumen, but it varies widely. Some have no ruminal stability; some lose less than 10% in the rumen. Encapsulation is a complex process and there are tradeoffs between some of the steps. For example, between TMR stability or rumen stability and bioavailability, the goal is to find the perfect mix of these to make a high-efficacy product on the farm. Kari describes a rumen stability test that can be conducted on-farm for protected choline and lysine products. Mark describes in situ experiments for rumen stability testing using small Dacron bags in rumen-cannulated animals. He mentions that creating an encap with high rumen stability and high intestinal digestibility is key. (19:58)
Bioavailability is key, but methodologies for assessing bioavailability are a limitation. Kari and Mark discuss the pros and cons of various in situ/in vivo techniques, including mobile bag, abomasal pulse dose, and stable isotope. (29:25)
Clay mentions that in vitro techniques are a key piece to product development and testing, but may give erroneous results compared to in vivo testing. Kari describes an experiment she conducted with Mark comparing in vivo and in vitro techniques. She suggests that there may be an argument for creating specific in vitro tests built for different types of protected products. For example, for a pH-sensitive product, a step mimicking abomasal enzymes would be important. For a fat-coated product, a step mimicking intestinal enzymes for fat breakdown would be important. Clay cautions that a product with only in vitro data should be regarded with skepticism. (44:25)
Biological response in the animal is the key final step. Ultimately, you want independent, peer-reviewed data to prove the efficacy of a product. Mark reminds the audience that even if animals don’t respond to a product, there are a host of different issues that could be causing that unrelated to the product being tested. Things like water quality, water quantity, stress, cow comfort - there’s a whole laundry list of things to consider. (50:39)
In closing, Kari recommends that when picking an encap product, ask for the research that hits the four pillars: TMR stability, rumen stability, bioavailability, and animal performance. Mark suggests that you can’t make a bad encap good, but you can make a good encap bad if you aren’t careful. Clay agrees that the more data, the better. Lastly, we need more work on the feed stability pillar which has been overlooked. It is a critical piece to encap products being effective in the field. (55:13)
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This episode comes to you from the “New Developments in Transition Cow Nutrition” seminar in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Dr. Santos, Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Zimmerman spoke at the seminar. Each speaker gives a brief overview of their seminar presentation, and then the panel takes questions from the audience.
In his presentation, Dr. Santos discussed some of the latest research using rumen-protected choline in transition cows. There is substantial evidence that choline plays an important role in transition cow nutrition, particularly because of its consistent positive effect on the yield of energy-corrected milk and benefits that extend beyond the supplementation period. (1:16)
Dr. Reynolds’s presentation focused on protein nutrition in very early lactation cows. Cows are in a substantial negative balance for metabolizable protein in the first week or two postpartum. Recent research, with abomasal infusions of casein, or the amino acids in casein, immediately after calving, has resulted in substantial increases in milk yield. In his lab, Dr. Reynolds has used rumen drenches to supplement cows immediately postpartum as palatability of supplements has been an issue. Providing essential amino acids and total protein to cows immediately after calving is a challenging problem. (2:10)
Dr. Zimmerman’s presentation discussed differences in rumen encapsulated products. There are four parts of a good ruminant encap: good ruminal stability, good intestinal digestibility, good feed mixing and TMR stability and biological response in the animal. (3:44)
Questions from speakers and attendees were as follows:
What is the optimum level of choline to feed to a transition cow? Given the close relationship between methionine and choline, is there a similar ratio between them like the 3:1 lysine:methionine ratio? (4:56)
Around 98-99% of dietary choline will be degraded in the rumen whereas, with lysine and methionine, we know there's an amount that escapes with the bypass protein fraction of the diets. Has the ruminant animal evolved not to require any bypass choline? (13:46)
Dr. Santos’s presentation focused on the benefits of choline supplementation to the transition cow. What are the benefits for the in-utero calf? (19:45)
What is the mechanism by which choline increases colostrum production? Is it just similar to the effect on milk yield generally? (28:21)
Does choline impact younger or older cows differently? (30:36)
Given the increase in intestinal length and changes in the architecture in early lactation, does this result in suboptimal absorption and scouring? Could it be a nutrient deficiency problem as opposed to something like acidosis? Should we analyze fecal samples to assess this? (34:50)
Do you think fundamentally we are underestimating metabolizable protein requirements in very early lactation? Or are we just not managing that transition particularly well? And if so, what sort of safety factors should we evaluate regarding protein nutrition? (41:45)
In the early lactation studies where metabolizable protein is supplemented in high concentrations, we see big milk and energy-corrected milk responses, but no increase in dry matter intake. Why is that? (43:34)
Dr. Santos describes an experiment in beef cattle, evaluating the inflammation impacts of pneumonia on essential and nonessential amino acids in the gut. This model might be quite similar to that of a dairy cow with metritis. (50:24)
Do you have any recommendations for amino acid supply for cows on grass? Is there anything new coming in that regard? Are there any specific recommendations for synchrony and/or ratios of energy and amino acid supplies? (55:58)
When should amino acids be fed after calving? (1:01:13)
In closing, each panelist provides a take-home message. (1:06:00)
Dr. Santos: Consider choline a required nutrient.
Dr. Reynolds: Most of our cows have the genetic potential to produce a lot more milk than they are achieving in very early lactation. We need to look at that in terms of how we might be able to help them achieve that potential yield.
Dr. Zimmerman: Not all encaps are created equal. Make sure that you’re able to see published in-vivo research with these products, done by reputable institutions, to prove that these products are working in the animals.
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Dr. Harvatine gave a presentation on the Real Science Lecture series on April 2nd titled “High Oleic Soybeans, Where Do They Fit Into Dairy Diets?” Access the recording at balchem.com/real science.
As Dr. Harvatine thinks back over his 15 years at Penn State, he didn’t think he’d do much fat supplement work. But we keep getting new questions, new products, and new challenges. One of these is high oleic soybeans, which could be an opportunity to grow some of our own fat on the farm. (6:35)
High oleic soybeans have been around for about seven years or a little longer. They were developed for fry oil (french fries and potato chips), but dairy nutritionists were interested in the opportunity to use 18:1 fats because of their lower risk of milk fat depression. (7:36)
Dr. Davis indicates that high oleic soybeans are a growing piece of the soybeans planted yearly. Seedstock availability is limited, but many companies have it in their pipeline. Pest and weed control traits will eventually be baked into the seedstock, but growers are taking a risk by choosing to grow high oleic soybeans. Dr. Davis’s company offers a premium for high oleic soybeans at their plants to encourage growers to take those risks. (13:15)
What factors should a producer or a nutritionist consider when using high oleic soybeans? Dr. Harvatine sees a couple of different ways folks are feeding soybeans. One, is using expeller soybean meal or roasted soybeans as a RUP source while accounting for the additional fat that it provides, and the other would be pulling the dry fat supplement out of the ration and feeding high levels of roasted soybeans to replace it. He has some hesitations about the latter approach and reminds the audience that high oleic soybeans are not at zero risk for milk-fat depression. Dr. Davis adds that a major consideration is economics. The market has been extremely volatile lately, with very high oil prices, recently, followed by a decline over the last year. As renewable diesel becomes more common and more crush plants come online, we could see depressed meal prices as well. (16:14)
Do we know what amount of oleic acid to be feeding? Dr. Harvatine shares that Dr. Andres Contreras at the Michigan State Vet School has seen molecular changes in adipose tissue metabolism with 50 grams per day of abomasally infused oleic acid, so it seems to be bioactive at reasonably low levels. The challenge, however, is we’re not sure how much actually gets through the rumen from different feed sources. In addition, there may be some interaction between fatty acids and the type of fiber on NDF digestibility that needs to be investigated. (26:50)
A concern with roasted beans compared to extruded products is the potential for higher variability with roasted beans. Dr. Davis gives some examples of considerations dairy farmers need to consider when roasting beans on-farm. (37:16)
Dr. Harvatine and Dr. Davis discuss how dairy producers may be able to take advantage of market volatility and be opportunistic in different settings regarding growing and feeding high oleic soybeans. Both guests agree that soybeans should be used in diets for all their nutrients, protein, RUP, and fat. They caution against pulling it into diets just as a fat supplement and not assessing what it’s doing for the protein side. (43:30)
We've seen a rapid increase in milk fat percentage in the US milk supply over the last few years. Why? Dr. Harvatine points out rapid genetic improvement, a better understanding of mitigating diet-induced milk fat depression, and better use of forages and fiber digestibility. Certainly, palm fat has helped, but it does not explain all of it. Dr. Davis adds that not only have genetics improved, but we have improved nutrition programs to support that genetic potential. (52:14)
In summary, Dr. Davis advises nutritionists and dairy producers to stay flexible as we’re still early on in the high oleic arena. Dr. Harvatine agrees there are great opportunities and lots of decisions to be made for each individual farm. Don’t forget the fundamentals of nutrition when considering this - view high oleic soybeans as a complete package, keeping in mind not only the protein, RUP, and fat but also quality control and roasting. (58:55)
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This journal club episode comes to you from the 2024 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference. The paper is “Assessing Transition Cow Health: Integrating Traditional and Novel Biomarkers” from the conference proceedings with Dr. Andres Contreras of Michigan State University.
What is a biomarker, and what makes a good biomarker? Dr. Contreras defines anything that can help assess a physiological response or pathological state. Two examples would be BHBA (beta-hydroxybutyrate) and NEFA (non-esterified fatty acids), both fat mobilization measures. (2:56)
Dr. Contreras structured the paper in three sections of biomarkers: (3:54)
Ones that can be measured by looking at cow records, like how many DAs or hypocalcemias occurred over a period of time.Cow-side measurements like BHBA in urine or blood.Samples must be sent to a lab to be measured. These generally cannot be used to make decisions immediately but can help assess how a transition program is working, for example.How many samples should be taken, and what cows should be sampled in a commercial dairy setting? Dairy size, pen size, and pocketbook size will all play a role in this decision. Experts usually recommend at least 10 head, and those 10 must represent the cows' population in your pen. If you have the ability to take more samples, Dr. Contreras recommends 10-12% of the cows in question. He then describes ideal times before and after calving to sample BHBA and NEFA for the most predictive value. (5:31)
Setting a target that integrates BHBA and NEFA the first week after calving with measures like body condition score and/or body weight is ideal. Cows will mobilize fat post-calving no matter what, so the goal is to moderate the degree and intensity of fat mobilization. (11:38)
Rumination and activity monitors are great for measuring biomarkers in real-time and are excellent tools for diagnosing problem cows early. Dr. Contreras has researched ultrasounds to measure fat mobilization, but this may not be practical in a commercial setting. Urine pH after calving might start to be a significant predictor of clinical ketosis. Healthy cows will have a higher urine pH than sick cows. (14:44)
A transition cow experiences several types of adaptations: lipid mobilization to address negative energy balance, skeletal muscle mobilization to address negative protein/amino acid balance, calcium mobilization to compensate for calcium loss, and oxidative stress due to generating energy. The goal is to target biomarkers that reflect the intensity of those adaptive mechanisms. Many of these require sending samples to a lab. A dairy’s nutritionist, veterinarian, and farm manager work together to create a targeted suite of biomarkers to assess their cows and reach their goals. (21:11)
Inflammation is often at the core of transition cow maladies. Measuring a panel of acute phase proteins the first week after calving and comparing the dynamics of how they occur through the year could help identify issues in closeup cows if those proteins are spiking. (26:03)
The group discusses the importance of using individual herds’ baseline data for prediction and assessment and focusing on closeup cows when fresh cow problems arise. They also discuss biomarkers for excessive protein catabolism and a liver functionality index. This leads to a discussion of whether creating an index might be a better overall measure than making decisions on just one diagnostic value. What if someday there might be one perfect predictive biomarker, and what might that look like? (27:50)
In summary, you should not rely on a single biomarker and start measuring early. Ideally, this would be in the dry period. If that’s too challenging, it would be at least a few days after cows go to the closeup pen. Cow-side biomarkers like BHBA, body condition score, and body weight can tell you a lot about transition cow health. Use all the biomarkers and herd records available to design your approach to transition cow health. (43:10)
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This journal club episode comes to you from the 2024 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference. The paper is “Major Accomplishments in Calf Nutrition and Growth” from the conference proceedings.
Accelerated milk feeding of calves results in about a thousand-pound first lactation production increase. The mechanism is unclear: it could be isolated to the mammary gland or related to the functional ability of the digestive tract and liver to support lactation. Economic analyses have shown an advantage of $205 per calf. (6:04)
Regarding amino acid requirements of dairy calves, whey-based milk replacers require additional methionine; lysine is also common. Threonine can be limiting in soy-based milk replacers. Establishing amino acid requirements was beyond the scope of what the NASEM committee could do, and more data is probably needed for calves. However, CNCPS has amino acid requirements defined, so it’s possible to get in the ballpark for amino acids. (12:00)
What about feeding hay to young calves? The latest research has shown calves only over-consume alfalfa out of all the common forages. A study in Spain showed when offered alfalfa, calves consumed 14% of their total dry matter from alfalfa, decreasing the amount of starter they consumed. When offered grass hay or straw, calves only consumed 4-5% forage and they actually boosted starter intake and overall feed efficiency. Dr. Drackley recommends starting grass hay, wheat straw, or similar forages at 2-3 weeks of age. It should be just a sprinkling top dressed on their starter, or about 5% of the total if you’re feeding a mixed diet. (15:08)
Dr. Drackley covers five major accomplishments in this paper. (18:06)
Knowledge of colostrum, highlighting the establishment of different categories for passive transfer (excellent, good, fair, and poor) rather than just a yes or no. The four categories relate very well to the mortality and morbidity associated with young calves. Feeding more milk to young calves, highlighting a 2001 paper from Dr. Mike Van Amburgh’s lab that was the eye opener for the industry. The publication of the NRC in 2001, which had a separate chapter for calves, was perhaps the first time people started to think seriously about calves.Major growth in behavior research, particularly related to feeding behavior, shows calves fed conventional, limited amounts of milk are hungry as demonstrated by vocalization and increased restlessness.Publication of NASEM 2021.From a welfare research perspective, Dr. Drackley thinks cow-calf separation and group vs hutch housing will continue to be issues of concern for consumers. In Europe, there’s demonstration research keeping calves with cows during the milk-feeding period. (20:44)
What about the post-weaning slump? The big issue is weaning too early before starter intake has increased adequately. Weaning at eight weeks instead of six weeks results in an improvement in total nutrient intake. A gradual step down in the amount of milk provided will also stimulate starter intake. Starter quality and composition is critical, and water availability can be an issue for many farms. (23:29)
Concerning colostrum, a big advancement has been a better understanding of what colostrum does in addition to establishing passive immunity. The nutrition aspects of high protein, vitamins, minerals, and growth-promoting ingredients like hormones, growth factors, and cytokines all play a major role in calf health and development. Measuring colostrum quality is better and easier with the use of refractometers. Recent emphasis on how easily colostrum can be contaminated and how that negatively affects the calf has also been crucial. As much as we know about milk synthesis, we know very little about colostrum synthesis. Adequate metabolizable protein is important for quality and quantity, and immune-related vitamins and minerals are important. Beyond that, we do not have a good understanding of what regulates colostrum, particularly volume. (25:50)
What’s next in calf nutrition? Establishing a good amino acid model and trying to minimize both costs and nitrogen excretion, colostrum quality and quantity from the cow side, continued research into workable systems for accelerated milk feeding with a smooth weaning transition, and post-weaning feeding programs are areas where Dr. Drackley predicts fruitful research opportunities. (31:36)
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This journal club episode comes to you from the 2024 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference. The paper is “Practical Aspects of Reducing Carbon Footprint by Dairy Farms Through Feeding” from the conference proceedings.
In the U.S., livestock competes with oil and gas for the top source of methane emissions. While “carbon-neutral” agriculture may be easy for modelers to show, Dr. Hristov feels this is misleading and probably impossible in practical dairy farming. However, mitigation can be addressed in several directions, and nutrition can have perhaps the largest impact. Management practices, genetic selection, and manure management can be added to achieve large reductions in total methane from an intensive dairy production system. (2:43)
As forage digestibility increases, methane yield and intensity will decrease. A forage with higher digestibility may gain a 10-15% improvement in methane intensity compared to a lower digestible forage. In addition, starch makes less methane than NDF does. Feedlot cattle produce half the methane of a normal dairy cow due to the increased starch in the feedlot diet. We know fats and lipids can decrease methane, but anything higher than 5-6% in the diet will disturb rumen function and lead to poorer performance. Comparing different forages, corn silage produces the least methane, with alfalfa in second place. (6:41)
Feed additives have the potential to deliver compounds for methane mitigation. One of these is 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), the commercial version of which was developed in Europe. It is approved in Europe and Latin American countries. Australia and New Zealand are also working through the approval process. This compound inhibits the MCR enzyme (methyl coenzyme M reductase) which catalyzes the last step in methanogenesis. Dr. Hristov’s lab has consistently shown a 30% reduction in methane yield when diets containing 3-NOP are fed, with no impact on milk production and a slight increase in milk fat. 3-NOP is quickly metabolized, so it is most useful in a confinement system where it can continuously enter the rumen. The compound is stable in a TMR for up to 24 hours, and the optimum inclusion rate is 60-80 milligrams per kilogram of diet (60-80 ppm). (14:41)
Regarding regulatory approval in the U.S., the FDA has indicated that 3-NOP must be approved as a drug, not as a feed additive. Dr. Hristov has concerns about an adaptation of the cows to the compound. One study in Holland fed 3-NOP for a year, and there was a definite decrease in efficacy over time. Furthermore, efficacy may depend on diet, as 3-NOP is less effective with high NDF diets. It’s unclear if the decrease in efficacy over time is because the microbes break down 3-NOP before it affects methane synthesis or if the microbes shift to a different pathway of methane synthesis. (22:04)
Bromoform, a compound found in red seaweeds, is also a powerful methane mitigator. Dr. Hristov’s lab has observed 60-65% decreases in methane production early in the feeding period, dropping to 20-25% after 200 days. Other issues include the practicality of growing and transporting seaweed, the instability of bromoform, and the fact that bromoform is an ozone-depleting compound and a carcinogen. Seaweed extracts tend to decrease dry matter intake, and thus milk production and milk iodine increase dramatically. (25:54)
In the U.S. dairy system, where manure is usually handled as a liquid, methane emissions from manure and from the cow are equal. Methane digesters and flaring of methane are common mitigation methods. Acidification is another method whereby decreasing pH can decrease methane emissions and ammonia and nitrous oxide losses. Dr. Hristov predicts a lot of additives to decrease methane emissions from manure will eventually be available on the market. (31:16)
3-NOP has little effect on rumen dynamics but may increase butyrate. Dr. Weiss asks if different feed additives have synergistic effects, and Dr. Hristov thinks much more work is needed in this arena. (33:19)
While methane mitigation probably has no silver bullet, many little interventions can add up to a big impact. Looking forward, so many people are working in this area; we will have solutions for methane mitigation. (43:56)
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This journal club episode comes to you from the 2024 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference. The paper is “Methane in the context of circular dairy farming” from the conference proceedings.
What is circular dairy farming? The concept is that instead of extracting or using natural resources and then discarding the wastes in a linear kind of fashion, economies should try to be increasingly circular. This would include the concepts of reusing, recycling, upgrading, upcycling, etc. Traditionally, the focus on methane was about the inefficiency and leakage of energy and finding a way to minimize that from the perspective of energetic efficiency and productivity. More recently, the focus on decreasing methane has been the environment. (3:19)
Dr. Newbold talks about the trade-off between circularity and methane. High fiber diets produce more methane than high starch diets. Adding fat to diets can also decrease methane production. However, starch and fat are human edible so if we leave starch and fat in feeds to decrease methane in dairy cattle, that leaves less starch and fat for human consumption. The concept of “local” also plays into circularity, whether that be feed production or milk processing. (7:01)
What are the metrics of circularity? Two approaches to this present in the literature. The first is human edible efficiency: how much human edible food are we producing? In a dairy setting, the measurement would be how much human edible food are we putting into the cow compared to the amount of human edible food coming out of the system? The second metric is the alternatives for land use. (10:45)
What is the best way to express methane production? Dr. Newbold shares three, and they are generally used in different contexts. First is methane production, usually presented as grams per cow per day. This is an easily scalable measurement, but may not be the best or easiest way to manage interventions on-farm. The second common metric is methane yield which is generally expressed as grams per kilogram of dry matter intake. Lastly, methane emissions intensity is grams of methane per kilogram of milk. (12:26)
When considering the human edibility equation, the denominator consists of the human edible content of the feed. In principle, depending on how hard you worked and how much money you spent, you could extract some of the starch, fat, and protein and use it for human food. However, there's no consensus in the literature about this kind of edibility coefficient. In other words, what proportion of the protein in soybean meal or the proportion of starch that's left in wheat middlings or distillers grains is human edible? Greater consensus about what is and what is not human edible would actually be quite useful in allowing for better and more consistent calculations. (18:29)
Dr. Newbold gives examples of relative efficiency comparing U.S. dairy production, a grass-based system, and a tropical grass based system. Each of these have a different human edible efficiency and a different amount of methane produced. (19:59)
When it comes to lowering the environmental impact of milk production, don't focus on one metric in isolation of the rest of them. If you're setting off in a particular direction, whether that's trying to drive methane down or milk production up, think about the potential trade offs and unforeseen consequences. (32:12)
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This episode comes to you from the 2024 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, where Balchem sponsored a Real Science symposium titled “New Discussions in Amino Acid Nutrition.” Each of our guests presented at the symposium, and their presentations can be found at balchem.com/realsciencemedia
Dr. Van Amburgh presented “Amino Acid Nutrition for Maximizing Milk Component Yield.” When considering nitrogen efficiency, we generally compare intake nitrogen, which includes non-protein nitrogen, against milk nitrogen. In high producing cows, aggregate amino acid values are running about 70 to 73% efficiency. But when we work that up to total intake nitrogen, then we're down to 30 to 35% efficiency range. How do we reconcile ruminal nitrogen requirements to a point where we can optimize the capture of recycled nitrogen and reduce the amount of nitrogen that's being excreted in the urine? (2:27)
Dr. Hanigan presented “Understanding Amino Acid Bioavailability.” Our current methods for measuring bioavailability don’t all have the same precision. One of the classic methods, intestinal disappearance, has very low precision. Methods that rely on dilution of a marker or a label in blood or milk have much higher precision. Dr. Hanigan’s lab has worked to modify a carbon-13 labeled amino acid method to allow for evaluating changes in the supply of amino acids in the diet. (5:01)
Dr. Lee presented “Current Understandings of Lysine Nutrition in Dairy Cattle.” Rumen-protected lysine has more variable responses than rumen-protected methionine or histidine. Amino acid requirements were developed based on the role of amino acids as the building blocks of protein. But there are many roles of amino acids which may influence their requirements. Dr. Lee suggests including that type of information in our modeling may increase the consistency of responses to feeding rumen-protected lysine. (11:24)
Dr. Hristov presented “Histidine: A Limiting Amino Acid for Dairy Cows.” His group has worked with rumen-protected histidine to develop a dataset to define requirements. Microbial protein has considerably less histidine than methionine yet they are secreted at about the same level in milk and are metabolized similarly. All this together points to a higher histidine requirement. (18:02)
The panelists agree that the advent of genomics have resulted in a rapid change in high producing cows and with that, their amino acid requirements (and other nutrients) are also changing. It’s a challenge for feeding and nutrition programs to keep up with rapid genetic change. (21:02)
A question was posed by the audience about how Dr. Van Amburgh used amino acids to increase butter fat. In the research he presented, the diets did not overfeed fat and fed a blend of fatty acids, and also increased the sugar and pulled back the starch. (28:35)
A discussion of histidine follows, including its unique body reserves, its role in hemoglobin concentrations, and its potential impacts on metabolic energy efficiency (34:08)
Dr. Zimmerman asks about plasma histidine in very early lactation cows. Dr. Hristov is currently conducting a fresh cow experiment to assess this. His hypothesis is that because of low dry matter intake and high metabolic demand for amino acids, there will be a response to histidine supplementation. Dr. Lee agrees and feels that the fresh cow stage may be one of the most practical ways we can utilize rumen-protected histidine (39:39)
A question from the audience about the use of blood meal in lower protein diets sparks a spirited discussion among the panelists. (41:55)
In closing, each panelist provides a takeaway. Responses range from bioavailability of rumen-protected products to challenges to progress for ruminant amino acid research to comparing biological potential and economic response. (46:58)
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While Dr. Jardon only had milk in his glass for this pubcast, he did share about his bottle of “wheyskey” (whiskey made from whey) from Wheyward Spirit Distillery in California (https://www.wheywardspirit.com/). Iowa State Dairy Extension is offering a webinar, “Fermentation and Distillation of Whey to Produce Spirits at Copper Crow,” on May 15 at noon Central. Curtis Basina of Copper Crow Distillery in Bayfield, WI, will be the speaker. You can sign up for the webinar at https://go.iastate.edu/WHEY (4:13)
Dr. Dhuyvetter presented a March 5 webinar on dairy economics, which can be found at balchem.com/realscience. Key consistent data across time indicate that more profitable dairies tend to be larger. This doesn’t mean that all dairies must be large, but more the reality of the large number of fixed costs in dairying. Diluting costs by having high production per cow is also a mark of a profitable operation. Kevin reminds the audience that he’s talking about averages and there are exceptions to every rule. The key message is that you need to strive to get better. In the long run, profits are equal to zero in a competitive industry, and dairying is no exception. Dr. Dhuyvetter includes all economic costs in his analyses, recognizing all assets, including skills and capital, such as land, facilities, and time. (8:08)
Dr. Jardon suggests that exceptional operations emphasize efficiency and ensure they dilute maintenance costs well. Everything is fine-tuned: feed's always pushed up, stalls are full of bedding, and the time budget of the cows is usually spot on. Dr. Tully echoes this sentiment from his consultant experience. Phil also underlines the importance of focusing on how much it costs to make a unit of milk or income over feed costs rather than concentrating solely on saving money. Kevin agrees that all the little things done right and done consistently often make the difference in profitability. Further, if cutting costs negatively impacts production, then saving money is counterproductive in the long run (15:14)
Dr. Dhuyvetter reminds producers not to automatically assume they have lower costs because you raise your own feed. More often than not, the opportunity costs of producing that feed haven’t been evaluated. If you can produce nutrients more efficiently and cost-effectively on your land, then home-raised feed is a very good thing. But if you produce low-quality home-raised feed, it might be better to purchase feed elsewhere. In addition, growing high-quality feeds takes time and energy away from dairying. Phil saw this when he was a practicing veterinarian. Jim suggests that those larger operations can have a field crew and a herd health crew who aren’t the same individuals. The panelists discuss the shift from getting paid for protein in milk to getting paid for fat in milk and what that means from a cow nutrition and profitability perspective.
(22:51)
Dr. Dhuyvetter then discusses how culling practices impact profitability. He expects successful operations to have very low cull rates because they have healthy, well-managed cows doing all the little things right. On the other hand, unsuccessful operations may also have very low cull rates because they struggle to produce heifers, get them pregnant, and keep them in the herd, leading to keeping cows longer than one should. Jim and Kevin emphasize that the culling rate is individualized and will vary by operation. Phil suggests that perhaps some of the available software tools to help with culling decisions may be underutilized. (35:10)
Many dairies want to know if they should wait longer into lactation before rebreeding cows. Because production is up and reproduction has improved over the last 10-15 years, dairies are drying cows off while still giving a lot of milk. Dr. Dhuyvetter’s analysis of the data for Holstein herds in second- and greater-lactation cows suggests getting them pregnant as fast as possible and getting them back to peak milk sooner. (43:07)
Phil, Kevin, and Jim then touch on comparative advantage and revealed preference and how those relate to shifts in the dairy industry away from some states and toward others. (50:29)
In closing, Dr. Dhuyvetter suggests that the days of being very successful with gut-feel decisions are probably behind us. Making decisions based on the best information from data and analytics is the way forward. Constantly strive to get better, and don’t worry about what your neighbor’s doing. Control what you can control. (58:29)
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Dr. Penner describes two primary factors of gut health to be absorption and barrier function or permeability. His lab’s work on permeability is suggesting that intestinal regions really drive total gut permeability to a much greater extent than ruminal permeability in dairy cows. (7:06)
Ms. Bertens is Dr. Penner’s Ph.D. student and explains some new methodologies she developed for measuring gut permeability using chromium EDTA and cobalt EDTA. It’s common to use an oral dose of chromium EDTA as a marker to measure total tract permeability. Claire’s work, using cannulated cows, used a ruminal dose of chromium EDTA for total tract permeability and an abomasal dose of cobalt EDTA for post-ruminal permeability. Both of these markers are indigestible, non-metabolizable and have no transcellular transport mechanisms. Claire is working to publish the new method as a complete validation study has been completed. (9:15)
While this method is currently limited to using cannulated animals, Greg and Claire could envision a less sophisticated and more applied on-farm technique to assess permeability. Until then, there are still a lot of management observations that can identify potential issues with gut permeability. The appearance of feces and the presence of mucin casts can both be indicative of gut issues. Certainly dry matter intake is a major influencer on gut health, and Claire also sees potential in new technologies like rumination collars or rumination ear tags. (13:47)
Are there certain time points in a dairy cow’s life when she is at risk for increased gut permeability? Dr. Penner describes research suggesting if weaning is implemented too abruptly, that really increases the risk for decreased barrier function of the gut. Erratic feed intake patterns resulting from withholding feed for any reason at any age can also increase the risk of leaky gut. For example, depressed intake during the transition phase, along with anything that drives a response through an underlying systemic inflammatory response, probably creates risky situations for leaky gut. Claire is currently running a study looking at the impacts of intramammary LPS infusion on gut function. Greg envisions that learning more about gut function could create a new philosophy for treating sick animals. In the past, only antimicrobials were used to treat mastitis, but now it’s common to also treat with a NSAID for pain. Perhaps in the future, we will also provide treatment to accelerate the recovery of the gut to prevent secondary disorders. (16:15)
How long does an off-feed event have to last to cause an issue in the gut? It seems a fairly acute time period is all that is needed. Most studies are trying to replicate what happens on-farm, for example during mastitis, heat stress or the transition period. Greg indicates that not only will permeability be impacted, but ruminal absorptive capacity can also decline rapidly in these conditions. In Claire’s LPS challenge study, cows’ rectal temperatures peak around six hours after the LPS infusion and usually resolve within 12 hours. But most cows do not eat for a solid 12 hours during the challenge, and they are slow to recover feed intake over the next few days. In cows that aren’t sick but experience feed restriction in experimental protocols, they tend to overeat when they are allotted the full ration and this can lead to ruminal acidosis. (21:57)
Increased incidences of liver abscesses in beef-on-dairy calves are being reported in the industry. Dr. Penner speculates that perhaps these calves are not always achieving adequate passive transfer, and may not be receiving high enough levels of milk replacer to support a more robust immune system. It may be the increased beef cattle genetics in the calves are putting an added requirement on growth or muscle development that may not be met by lower levels of milk replacer or even lower colostrum feeding levels. (34:40)
In closing, providing cows with a consistent environment where they can meet their needs by their own behavior such as free access to feed when hungry and to a comfortable stall when it’s time to rest. Cows reward consistency with health and production. Gut health in a commercial setting is a relevant issue and it might go undiagnosed or undetected. Research into where in the gut permeability is occurring will help define strategies to modulate response. While off-feed events for individual animals might be harder to recognize in a large dairy environment, new technology may allow for earlier diagnosis. (40:43)
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Guests: Dr. Bill Weiss, The Ohio State University; Dr. Marcia Endres, University of Minnesota
Dr. Endres begins with a description of a dataset she collected containing individual body weights from 34 robotic milking herds. Weights were collected for every cow; every time that she came into the robotic milking station. Dr. Endres’ team was interested in the relationship between the amount of body weight change in the first 21 days of lactation and subsequent production. (7:34)
The team chose to use the first 90 days of production as their production measurement to make sure they had as many cows as possible in the dataset - the longer into lactation, the more likely to lose cows due to culling. Their results showed that 90-day production was extremely highly correlated with total lactation production. Drs. Weiss and Endres discussed the implications of young cows’ requirements for growth in the first and second lactation, which were easily observed in this dataset (13:13)
Dr. Endres’ team found a quadratic relationship between body weight loss in the first 21 days and milk production in the first 90 days of lactation. This suggests that if cows don’t lose enough, they aren’t productive. Or, if cows lose too much, they aren’t productive. The optimum amount of weight loss for cows in their second or greater lactation was around 5%, while for the first lactation cows it was 7.4%. Dr. Endres hypothesizes that cows who lost more than the optimum may have been sick because they’re probably not coming to the bunk if they’re losing that much weight. And cows who gained weight might be animals who just do not have as much genetic potential to produce milk. (17:15)
Dr. Weiss and Dr. Endres emphasize that today’s dairy cows are designed to mobilize body weight early in lactation. They are not able to eat enough to compensate for the amount of milk they are producing. Intake is going up as they move through early lactation, and cows can lose some weight and not have issues. The guests discuss the importance of an aggressive fresh cow management plan and designing diets specifically for the fresh cow group. (22:09)
Dr. Endres explains at the extremes, the highest producing cows produced around 30-35 pounds more milk each day than the lowest producing cows. But even halfway in between, it was 10-15 pounds of milk per day and those are not small numbers! Monitoring and managing body weight change has tremendous management potential, particularly with the increasing technology available to dairy herds. Identification of poor performing cows could happen sooner and appropriate interventions could be identified earlier. (26:37)
Is there any reason this can’t be extrapolated to conventional farms that are not using robots? Dr. Endres thinks it would carry over, even though the conventional farms are feeding differently and can’t supplement individually like the robot systems. These results point to feeding fresh cows in their own group while paying close attention to access to feed and limit overcrowding. If Dr. Endres could do the study over, she would like to have reproduction and health records to compare with the milk production and weight loss data. (28:22)
Each panelist summarizes their takeaways from this research. Dr. Morrow suggests that the industry is probably not managing fresh cows nearly as intensely as they should. Their needs for calories as well as amino acids in early lactation are probably greater than we know, and we must do a better job supplying those nutrients and allowing cows to be comfortable, eat, and reach their peak potential. Dr. Weiss agrees and adds that female mammals are designed to mobilize body reserves. The idea that cows should not lose condition in early location is wrong. We don’t want them to lose too much, but losing some is perfectly normal. We need to work around that balance and include it in our formulation goals. Dr. Endres emphasizes the focus on fresh cows and suggests technology is going to allow for more and better data that will help monitor fresh cows and intervene as needed. (33:38)
Dr. Endres wraps up with a brief description of the upcoming Four State Dairy Nutrition Conference in June and Balchem’s Amino Acid pre-conference symposium on the first day to open the conference. (35:40)
The paper can be found here: https://www.jdscommun.org/article/S2666-9102(23)00041-8/pdf
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This episode is from a webinar presented by Dr. Clay Zimmerman, Director of Technical Services at Balchem. To view the full webinar and access the slides referenced during this podcast, visit balchem.com/realscience and scroll down to the webinar presented on December 12th, 2023.
Dr. Zimmerman begins with an overview of Balchem’s microencapsulation technologies in both human nutrition and health and animal nutrition and health businesses. (0:31)
Encapsulation is a generic term, and huge differences can exist between products that protect the same compound. Balchem’s microencapsulation technology consists of packaging a substance in a lipid capsule for protection. Encapsulates can differ in design, technology, and performance. When it comes to performance in ruminant encapsulates, stability in feed mixing and TMRs and animal performance are evaluated. (6:50)
Lipid encapsulation usually comes in one of two forms, a matrix encapsulation or a true encapsulation. A good analogy for matrix encapsulation is chocolate chip cookie dough, where some active compound is always at the surface. In the rumen, this leads to reduced protection and stability. True encapsulation, often called single-layer or multiple-layer encapsulation, is analogous to an m&m where there is no active compound at the surface, and this leads to greater protection and stability in the rumen. (12:00)
So why do we encapsulate nutrients for ruminants? In general, for targeted delivery within the gastrointestinal tract of the animal because rumen fermentation often results in massive breakdown of most of these important compounds. For example, choline chloride is almost completely degraded in the rumen. (18:30)
When developing or improving rumen-protected products for nutrients such as choline chloride, methionine, lysine, or niacin, the primary goal is to protect them as much as possible from ruminal degradation while achieving post-ruminal absorption. Once prototypes have good ruminal stability and good intestinal release, the next step is feed and mixing stability. Dr. Zimmerman goes on to showcase different research techniques for evaluating encapsulates in these three areas as well as in animal performance. (20:39)
In summary, there are many differences in encapsulated products for dairy cows, due to the design of products; types, amount, and composition of coatings; manufacturing differences; and differences in nutrient content, bioavailability, and feed stability. True encapsulates, or multi-layered coating products, are preferred for ruminant applications due to their higher levels of ruminant and feed stability. Four really important features of a good ruminant encapsulate are good ruminal stability, good nutrient bioavailability, feed and TMR stability, and ultimately biological performance. (47:05)
Dr. Zimmerman then answers questions from the webinar audiences about in vitro techniques and bioavailability, coating ingredients, the importance of base diet for rumen fluid donors in in vitro techniques, variation in products from in vitro to in vivo results, how long it takes to develop a new encapsulated product (Balchem spends years and even decades researching before a product release), and why nutrient contents differ so much in similar encapsulated products on the market. (49:58)
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This episode is from a webinar presented by Dr. Sandra Godden from the University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. To view the full webinar and access the slides referenced during this podcast, visit balchem.com/real science and scroll down to the webinar presented on November 8, 2023.
Dr. Godden begins with the reminder that despite decades of research and definite advances in colostrum management, there's still a lot to learn and research. Her goal is to give an update on new findings that can be utilized in your colostrum management program. (0:21)
Promoting calf health and growth is a balance between maximizing immunity and minimizing infectious disease challenges. Colostrum is one aspect of maximizing immunity and provides passive immunity in the form of immunoglobulins. It also contains bioactive compounds, immune factors, growth hormones, leukocytes, and nutrients. (1:09)
We can measure adequate transfer of passive immunity via serum immunoglobulin G levels, where anything greater than 10 grams per liter is a pass. Passive transfer of immunity is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality, especially in the first 2-3 months of life. Successful passive transfer has many other intermediate and long-term benefits, including improved growth rate and feed efficiency, leading to even longer-term benefits of decreased age at first calving and potentially improved milk production in the first and second lactation. (4:18)
When building a comprehensive colostrum management program, Dr. Godden distills it down to the five Qs: quality, quantity, quickness, squeaky clean, and quantifying. Starting with quantifying passive transfer, in a perfect world, we would have a quick, inexpensive, on-farm serum IgG test that could be run on whole blood. Unfortunately, that test does not exist. In research studies, we send serum samples off to reference labs to have serum IgG tested. On-farm, we use indirect tests such as serum Brix or serum total protein. Historically, the literature has said that a serum total protein of somewhere between 5.0 and 5.2 grams per deciliter most accurately predicts that IgG value of 10 grams per liter. If greater than 10 g/L IgG is a pass, is a higher concentration better? Yes. A good goal would be for 90% of the calves to have serum IgG higher than 10 g/L. More specifically, goals are around 40% of calves in the excellent zone of 25 or greater, roughly 30% of calves in the good zone of 18-25, and around 20% in the fair zone of 10-18. Dr. Godden references the corresponding Brix and total serum protein readings in her slides. (7:24)
Quality refers to the concentration of IgG in the colostrum, and experts have suggested that be at least 50 grams per liter or higher. This corresponds to a Brix reading of approximately 22% or higher. Several factors influencing colostrum quality are under our control, including the dry cow vaccination program, feeding a balanced dry cow ration, avoiding stressors during the dry period, avoiding excessively short dry periods, and milking cows out as soon as you can after calving. (16:18)
When it comes to quantity, a larger volume at first feeding will result in higher IgG concentrations in the calves. One study compared feeding two or four liters at first feeding with a second feeding of two liters at 12 hours. The higher volume first feeding showed better results. (29:23)
As for quickness, IgG absorption efficiency is optimal in the first couple of hours after birth but is then slowly reduced as gut closure occurs. Ideally, we want to feed the calf as soon as possible, hopefully within one to two hours of birth when possible. (30:35)
The last Q is squeaky clean or cleanliness, specifically the level of bacterial contamination in colostrum. Obviously, we don't want to feed colostrum that is laden with pathogens that can cause disease. However, high bacteria counts in colostrum have also been associated with reduced absorption of IgG. Dr. Godden details a number of critical control points that can be assessed if colostrum cleanliness is an issue of concern. (38:19)
Dr. Godden finishes the episode by taking questions from the webinar audience, ranging from average colostrum volume collected at first milking to what temperature colostrum should be frozen at to heat stress impacting quality and quantity of colostrum. (49:20)
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