As well as the collected data, farmers


will also be able to access management advice to mitigate the impact of heat stress before production is compromised. “This data collection will be on-going


FIRST UK PROJECT LAUNCHED TO PROVIDE REAL TIME DATA ON


HEAT STRESS IN COWS With limited UK data available on the impact of heat stress in indoor and outdoor herds, Lallemand Animal Nutrition and Dr Tom Chamberlain, founder of Chalcombe Ltd, are launching the first ever UK based, real time trial to support farmers this summer. “The biggest issue facing UK


farmers when it comes to heat stress is that our cows aren’t adapted for higher temperatures. Because of this, and the fact that most of the data we have comes from hot countries, the threshold could be significantly lower than what we currently think,” explains Mark McFarland, feed additive product manager at Lallemand Animal Nutrition. “This could mean that cows in the


UK could experience heat stress at lower temperatures and humidity levels than cows in Argentina or Spain for example. Consequently, the correlated drop in fertility and milk production could be happening much sooner than expected.” In this trial, unique monitors will be


fitted to a network of dairy farms in South England with the data being relayed to Lallemand’s website. This data will be streamed live so that farmers will be able to see the current level of heat stress risk, rather than basing management decisions on last year’s data. Temperature and humidity will be


recorded inside and outside the shed, which will be translated into updated graphs reflecting changing conditions and challenges, helping indoor and grazing herds. “Most farmers graze their cows in


the summer and there isn’t much known about the risks of heat stress at grass. We will be using work from Australia to help assess the live risk to UK grazing herds, and this information will be reported on the Lallemand website alongside the results for housed cows,” adds Tom Chamberlain. As reported by the Met Office earlier


this year, heat stress in cattle is likely to become a much bigger problem in England and northern Europe due to global warming raising average temperatures and making extreme events such as heat waves more common. On top of this, as dairy cow yields


increase, they become more prone to heat stress. “Our project will be the first to


measure and report heat stress risks in real time. This will allow farmers to take timely actions to reduce the impact of heat stress.”


to continuously provide an accurate picture of heat stress in this country. Over the next few years, we plan to expand our research to incorporate more farms across the UK,” says Mark. To access the data, visit: https:// lallemandanimalnutrition.com/en/united- kingdom-ireland/heat-stress-in-dairy- cows/


EARLY SIGNS ARE OF VARIABLE


FIRST CUT ANALYSIS Winter dairy diets will need careful balancing to make the most of variable grass silages in the light of considerable price volatility, particularly for protein sources. “The challenging weather this season


means some farmers went early while for other harvest was delayed,” comments Trouw Nutrition, Ruminant Technical Development Manager Dr Liz Homer. “These initial results reflect those crops taken early and could be very different from later harvested crops. There is also a considerable range within the crops analysed reflecting different grass growth.” Dr Homer says the results of the first


500 grass silage samples analysed show fermentation quality is good with moderate pH and lactic acid levels and mostly low sugars. Dry matter has averaged 33.7 % and D value ranges from 58-76%. While the average ME content is


11.7MJ/kgDM, a significant number of crops have ME levels closer to 10MJ/ kgDM. Crude Protein varies from 7.5-22% with an average of 14.6% which reflects low protein levels in pre-cut samples.


Nutrients Dry Matter


Crude Protein D Value ME


NDF


Lignin Ash


Fermentation Quality pH


Sugars


Lactic acid VFA


NH-3 of total N Acid Load Fibre Index


PAGE 56 JULY/AUGUST 2021 FEED COMPOUNDER % DM


g/kg DM g/kg DM % DM


Units %


% DM %


MJ/kg DM % DM


g/kg DM % DM


“There is a big range in NDF content,


from 29-63 %DM. The average of 41%DM is unsurprising given that NDF levels were low for a prolonged period in the early spring. Most samples in these results will have been cut before levels began to rise.”


She says low NDF is reflected in a low


fibre index, while acid load is high because of the increased digestibility of the crop. These should be a warning sign for rumen health. While there is less fibre, it is more digestible which will affect fermentation rates. Lower fibre levels mean that Total Fermentable Carbohydrates are lower as well.


“Acid load and fibre index, which are a


good indicator of how silages will perform in the rumen, and energy content, are all influenced by dry matter, digestibility and NDF content. We anticipate silages this year will behave very differently in the rumen and will need carefully balancing using more detailed descriptors than just ME.”


Dr Homer says rumen health will


be fundamentally important and advises farmers to consider fibre sources to promote better rumen function. Soya hulls, sugar beet pulp and straw could all have a role to play. Care should be taken with adding cereals if silage acid load is high. “Balancing the rumen will give the


best chance of maintaining margins next winter. By doing so it will be possible to optimise the supply of microbial protein which is the best and cheapest source of protein for milk production. “While data on national average


silage cuts give an overall impression of forage quality, they always mask a wide variation in actual crops. This year it is likely the difference from farm to farm will be even more pronounced making it vital clamps are analysed regularly and diets fine-tuned accordingly.”


Minimum


12.97 7.47


57.75 9.24


29.02 14.60 1.40


3.50 0.20 2.00 0.58 1.14


32.14 115.88


Average 2021


33.72 14.61 73.18 11.71 41.78 35.99 8.21


4.20 3.16


83.43 18.03 2.71


52.52 167.14 Maximum


54.52 22.44 76.08 12.17 63.13 60.61 13.73


6.29 10.39


180.77 62.14 34.15 68.43


260.09


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