Feeding for effi ciency! By Jamie-Leigh Douglas, Ruminant Technical Sales Manager, Techna
Striving to be as efficient as possible benefits the farm no matter the situation. A feed efficient animal should eat less whilst maintaining production or eat the same with increasing production. We must achieve feed efficiency whilst maintaining the health of the cow and emitting fewer emissions. With an improvement in feed efficiency fewer nutrients should be wasted and it should lead to less land and resources required for feed production. For example, for a 30 L dairy cow, improving feed efficiency from 1.4 to 1.5 (l/Kg DM) would mean that we save around 1.4 Kg DM intake /cow/d. To improve feed efficiency in ruminants’ nutrition is one of the
main focuses. Of course, other factors come into play such as breed (selecting genetically more efficient animals), days in milk, weather, and management. When it comes to nutrition, feedstuffs should be chosen for their digestibility and nutrient bioavailability, but they should also be cost effective and more environmentally friendly. There are several strategies that can be taken to improve feed
efficiency and subsequently reduce methane. Feed additives can be part of that solution. Feed additives have been developed to directly influence the rumen microbial population and improve fermentation. They can work in different ways depending on the feed additive, such as:
• Increasing total VFA and reducing acetate to propionate ratio • Improving rumen stability
• Improving feed efficiency or feed cost • Improving nutrient absorption • Improving protein efficiency
Additives such as essential oils (EO) are one of many solutions
that can be used to help feed become more efficient. EO are the aromatic volatile fraction of plant secondary metabolites. They can be considered as modulators of rumen fermentation. Selecting specific blends of EO allows for a targeted antimicrobial approach with regards to controlling rumen fermentation, for example reducing proteolytic activity in the rumen or increasing VFA production. Different scientific publications have shown the potential of essentials oils and other natural active ingredients to improve performance in ruminants. Numerous studies have demonstrated the ability of EO and their main active components to shift rumen microbial fermentation to participate in improving rumen metabolism of protein (NOVATAN) and energy (ELENSIS). Energy is one of the major nutrient requirements for ruminants
and it is also one of the most limiting in dairy diets. The efficiency of energy utilisation is significant for helping ensure optimal performance, on average, only 30 to 35% (ranging from 23 to 45%) of the digestible energy is exported into milk. Some of the loss in digestible energy is unavoidable, but we can influence the rumen environment by targeting specific microbes to make it more energy efficient. This can be done by changing the VFA balance such as reducing the acetate to propionate ratio. Propionic acid has the best energy efficiency (glucose precursor), and by increasing its proportion in the rumen you are subsequently making the rumen more energy
Milk Protein Yields Comparison
Figure 1 Milk protein content of a diet containing protected SBM vs a diet containing unprotected SBM with the addition of blended essential oils with the targeted action of reducing protein breakdown in the rumen. Ref: Techna Internal Trial Data, (2017).
Protected SBM Unprotected SBM + Essential Oils
PAGE 36 MARCH/APRIL 2023 FEED COMPOUNDER
Milk Protein (g/L)
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