efficient. An added benefit of reducing the acetate: propionate ratio is that propionate requires more hydrogen when compared to acetate, therefore, methane (CH4) will be reduced due to limited supply of hydrogen for conversion to CH4. Production of CH4 represents a substantial loss of digestible energy of up to 12%, this loss can be minimised by reducing the acetate: propionate ratio. The more efficient a cow is at converting energy from the feed consumed to energy for milk, the better the feed costs and environmental output will be. An energy deficient diet significantly reduces milk and milk solids production in dairy. Another way of helping towards improved efficiency is to become


more protein efficient. Protein is possibly one of the most important nutrients in ruminant diets, for production, milk quality, but also particularly with the current and future environmental pressures. Ensuring protein efficiency and reducing excreted N is becoming a topic of increasing interest. Blended essential oils with a targeted action of reducing protein breakdown in the rumen offer a sustainable way to improve protein efficiency. Reducing proteolytic breakdown in the rumen offers an interesting opportunity in UK diets which are often high in rumen degradable protein, such as, diets high in grass silage or grazed grass. With many cows going out to grass, an essential oil like NOVATAN can help in utilising protein from grass more efficiently, meaning reduced wasted protein. It can reduce protein break down in the rumen, allowing for more protein and peptides to bypass the rumen and be absorbed as amino acids in the small intestine —leading to an increase in milk production, milk protein and can contribute to improved fertility. As well as improving protein efficiency, modulating rumen


proteolytic fermentation by using blended essential oils offers the possibility to use unprotected meals, achieving the same level


of bypass protein and reducing the cost of the diet. This is an interesting approach when looking to reduce/remove soya from diets. In a commercial trial where diets with protected soya bean meal (SBM) were compared to diets with unprotected SBM + added blended essential oils (NOVATAN) found the same milk production, with both diets giving an average production of 38.2 L/cow/day. More interestingly, the same trial found that the diet that included unprotected SBM with the addition of blended essential oils had a higher (+1.8g/L) milk protein content (Figure 1). Numerous studies have demonstrated the ability of essential


oils and their main active components to shift rumen microbial fermentation to participate in improving rumen metabolism of protein and energy. They can be included into diets through top feeding or in diet optimisation, to increase performance or decrease the feed cost of diets without degrading animal performance. A lower diet cost due to optimisation is very interesting, especially in situations of high feed costs and low milk prices. Feed additives such as ELENSIS offer a cost-effective solution whilst being subject to less price volatility (Figure 2). However, whatever the strategy is, it is important to formulate the diet according to the animal’s need and secure the quality of energy and protein whilst being cost effective. As ever, maintaining a good income over feed cost while keeping


an eye on the environmental impact of ruminant production is a difficult task. Science-led advances in the understanding of how to modulate rumen fermentation and working with the microbiome, allow for possibilities to improve efficiency. It is through improvements in efficiency that the nutritionist will drive on farm profitability in the face of the future challenges of the agri-food industry. For further information please contact Techna UK at +353 494380355


Figure 2 Cost of ELENSIS against % of total feed cost


FEED COMPOUNDER MARCH/APRIL 2023 PAGE 37


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