The popular TV show "Hell's Kitchen" positions emerging chefs against one another in a winner-take-all competition. This is the analogy Rick Grant, Miner Institute, used to describe the exact opposite of what we should be trying to attain at the feedbunk.
"You can do a lot of things to change the diet the cow gets, but maybe the most effective is changing her environment," he said during a recent presentation at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin annual conference. According to research discussed during Grant's presentation, nondietary factors related to nutrition accounted for as much as 56 percent of variation in milk yield.
Although Grant acknowledged the natural tendency of cattle to group feed, he also emphasized the importance of limiting excessive competition that encourages slug feeding and nutritional inefficiency.
Some of the environmental changes Grant suggested during his presentation include feeding for 3 to 4 percent refusals and pushing up feed regularly following feedings and throughout the daylight hours. Improved bunk management has been shown to reduce cow displacements and cushion digestive rates.
Additionally, Grant recommended carefully managing stocking density and the cow's time budget to allow for adequate resting time. "Hungry cows will make up for lost resting time at the expense of dry matter intake every single time," he said.
(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2016
March 21, 2016
