Amino acid use in practice

Amino acid (AA) nutrition will prevent many current problems, but it is also a long-term strategy to support dairy farm sustainability. It improves the N-efficiency of the overall farm, thus reducing the N-load to the environment, and has a positive impact on milk production, milk quality, animal health and feed costs. The latter is especially important because feed costs can be up to 50% of total farm expenses.

Two different ways of application

Nutritional models are now available to predict supplies of AA for dairy cows and methionine (Met) is accepted as being the most limiting AA. Two different AA strategies can be applied: On Top application or Reformulation. Rumen-protected AA (RP-AA) supplements are added on top of the feed formulation to improve animal performance. This strategy is usually applied with higher milk prices. In Reformulation, RP-AA are utilised to reformulate the diets to obtain the same or better animal performance at lower rumen undegradable protein (RUP) and CP levels with a less expensive raw material mix.

Practical cases and results

The following examples represent actual farm cases for both of the above-mentioned strategies and are meant to provide some practical cases for nutritionists to examine. Every diet was developed by a consultant or nutritionist, taking into account the local availability of raw material and prices. Moreover, farm characteristics vary significantly, not only within a country but between countries, and therefore responses to diet changes are different. As the data relates to commercial farms, it provides a good idea of the impact AA formulation has in dairy diets.

On Top application on a German farm

A farm in North-West Germany had 75 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. Average milk production was 11,714 kg of milk with 3.89% fat and 3.30% protein. The farm was equipped with a milking robot that allowed the individual administration of a specific mix. The feeding system of the farm followed a partial mixed ration (PMR) with two types of compound feed fed at the milking robot station according to the stage of lactation and milk yield. The PMR consisted of a combination of grass and corn silage, 3 kg/cow of protein concentrate and 200 g/ cow of mineral feed. A rumen-protected methionine (RP-Met) was included at a daily rate of 15 g/cow in the mineral feed for all lactating cows fed in the milking robot. The feeding of RP-Met started in September 2013, after one month of regular milk recording, and continued until April 2014. The test followed the OFF-ON approach. Results from the OFF period were taken from the last milk recording without RP-Met in September 2013. The ON period refers to the following months with the inclusion of RP-Met.

Maximum effect after three months

Feeding 15 g of the rumen-protected methionine in an On Top application increased milk performance during early and middle lactation. The maximum effect occurred after three months of treatment. After a few weeks of treatment, the early lactation cows responded with a greater milk yield, whereas middle lactation cows responded with greater milk protein content and with greater milk yield later. The delayed response from middle and late lactation cows can be explained by a better milk curve persistency in the cows that moved from fresh to later stages of lactation during the RP-Met feeding period. Under these conditions, it is recommended that RP-Met is fed to the cows for at least three months to observe the maximum effects.

Reformulation on French and Spanish farms

On a French dairy farm, a typical diet in the area was 15 kg DM/cow/day of corn silage, 2 kg DM/cow/day of grass silage and 3.5 kg of a protein concentrate. Reformulation of the protein concentrate was done using the SmartMILK matrix. The RP-Met source used is a product known for its stability during pelleting. The reformulated protein concentrate cost € 314 /tonne, compared with the original at € 327/tonne. Under the market conditions at the time of the trial, the reformulation approach provided savings of at least € 13 /tonne in the protein concentrate. Experience in the field over the past four years indicates the reformulated formula has become very competitive in the market and has also helped to reduce N load in the environment, while improving milk quality by about 0.3 g/kg of milk protein content. In Spain, the situation on an association of farms located in the North-West part of the country was studied. All of these farms had more than 800 dairy cows and the main common characteristic was that they fed the same total mixed ration (TMR). The TMR was produced by a feeding centre that took care of buying raw material and making silage. On average, the cows produced 10,000 kg milk/year with a milk composition of 3.65% fat and 3.25% protein. The objectives for the reformulation exercise were to maintain milk production during the summer heat and reduce feed costs, as at that moment prices for soybean meal were at a record high.

Reduction in feed costs

In the reformulated TMR, soybean meal was significantly reduced and other alternative raw materials, such as rapeseed meal and DDGS wheat, were included. A RP-Met source was used. The crude protein level of the diet declined by 1.1% units and the LysDi/MetDi relationship improved from 3.77:1 to 3.06:1 by keeping the grams of LysDi constant and improving the supply of MetDi. The first direct benefit was a reduction in the feeding costs by € 0.84 per cow per day. Although improved milk performance was not one of the key objectives when reformulating diets, in this case the average milk production went up by 2 kg and milk protein % and yield also increased. This resulted in a direct improvement on N efficiency by nearly 3 points.

References are available on request.