Grazing in the spring often leads to a loss of production in dairy cows. Grass tetany may be the cause. The disease causes a decrease in appetite, milk production and milk fat content. The cause: a lack of magnesium, often associated with a drop in ruminal pH.
QLF have a range of molasses products available with varying protein levels and sources, in this article QLF look at ration options to ensure livestock farmers take the maximum benefit from the increase in maize availability, for their stock.
Early detection is key for dairy farmers to stay on top of lameness cases and prevent the impact being seen in the bulk tank, particularly those milking on a robotic system.
Despite being a top priority to reduce cases in UK herds, including industry initiatives such as ‘Lameness Month’ this July, Wynnstay dairy specialist, Beth May, says lameness is still one of the highest costs to a dairy business.
With the spiralling costs of fertiliser this year, more dairy farmers are looking at ways of increasing slurry or manure utilisation and growing more forage from less. Most farms appreciate the value of slurry and use it efficiently, but it is possible to further improve utilisation whilst increasing your farms forage utilisation or milk from forage figure – which is where the true value lies.
The UK is experiencing more frequent heatwaves each summer, with temperatures reaching the highs of 30°C in the day and evening in-shed temperatures staying above 20°C, as a result cows will struggle and performance and fertility may be effected.
One of the most effective ways to prevent grass tetany in dairy cows is magnesium supplementation during the risk period. Choosing the supplementation source is quite challenging in practice, magnesium oxide being commonly used to prevent Mg deficiency, but the solubility and therefore the bioavailability varies greatly in practice (1).
80% of disease and animal losses in the dairy herd occur from 21 days pre-calving to 60 days post-calving. Here are 3 main check-points for drying off, to ensure a more successful transition:
Dry matter – Is grass providing enough dry matter intake to support the energy requirement for milk production and getting cows back in calf?
Protein – Grass is high in rapidly degradable protein; this needs to be utilised by the rumen microbes in order for them to produce microbial protein. Poorly utilised protein can have a negative impact on fertility and limit milk yield.
Rapidly fermentable carbohydrates – Early season grass is high in sugar (and digestible fibre), this can be an issue for rumen health. A consequence of this can be milk fat depression and a reduction in milk value. It is important to understand the nutrient content of grass. Fresh grass analysis throughout the grazing period will provide useful information about the points above.
Quantifying the level of mycotoxin contamination in your feeds is always difficult, as there are >400 different species of mycotoxins, all with varying levels of toxicity, and they may not be in every part of the silage clamp or TMR that we sample! Generally speaking, any plant with a flowering head (such as maize or wheat) could have developed fungi in the field, under stress conditions such as drought or wet weather, which produce the ‘in field’ mycotoxins on the plant. When harvested, the mycotoxins remain in the silage, and in some cases, further mould/fungi growth in the clamp can lead to more ‘storage’ mycotoxin production.
Recent silage analysis from across the country has show variation in nutrient analysis, this may pose feeding challenges to farmers this Autumn and consideration needs to be given to balancing the ration to optimise rumen health and maintain performance
