Milk Components
Milk Fat: Keep Up with Genetic Potential
Milk fat yield continues to rise year on year thanks first to better genetics, which results in ongoing diet design challenges.
Penn State’s Dr. Kevin Harvatine highlights nutrition factors to keep up with the current and future dairy cows.
Targeted Fatty Acid Supplementation
Get Results with Targeted Fatty Acids
“A bag of fat is not just a bag of fat,” says Michigan State’s Dr. Adam Lock.
“You cannot know what to expect from feeding it without — at minimum — knowing its fatty acid profile.”
Recent research shows positive results in the transition period and carry-over into peak lactation with targeted feeding of palmitic (C16:0) and oleic (C18:1) acid blends.
Cow Data That Keeps Coming
Cows themselves can inform diet formulation on an ongoing basis. One result is rethinking crude protein as a metric for diet formulation, says Cornell’s Dr. Mike Van Amburgh.