Oct. 21 2021 04:01 PM

Sponsored content created by Katie Boesche, Ph.D., Senior Technical Support Consultant at Purina Animal Nutrition

The search for feed efficiency is a journey. When margins tighten, many dairy farmers take a magnifying glass to their herds to find cost-saving opportunities. Focusing on feed efficiency can help your dairy cows reach key milestones more effectively and help you get the most out of purchased or on-farm feeds.

Purina Animal Nutrition is committed to helping dairy producers achieve their productivity, quality, and profitability goals. The recommendations we make in the field often start with thoroughly tested and proven results from our own research facilities. Our research facilities allow us to study thousands of mixtures and ingredients quickly and seamlessly so we can take a product from testing to commercial production as soon as it meets our standards for producers.

EfficienZ® supplement is a fermentation product recently launched by Purina Animal Nutrition that helps to deliver more of what you need to succeed in today’s competitive market. Our goal in bringing this product to market was to help dairy producers from a wide variety of farms support optimal digestion of various feed types in their dairy rations. By doing this, we support volatile fatty acid production and in turn support both milk production and milk component yield, resulting in optimal feed efficiency and the increased return on investment potential they need in challenging times.

Initially started at the Purina Animal Nutrition Center in Gray Summit, Missouri, we began our investigation using in vitro trials before taking the product to lactating cow studies. Through in vitro trials, we were able to mimic different rumen conditions by harvesting rumen fluid from animals and evaluating the effects of EfficienZ® supplement across several different feeds and diet types. Our findings show the inclusion of EfficienZ® supplement in the diet supports:

• Digestion, which was measured by increased gas production . 1

• Total volatile fatty acid production (VFA), which included both acetate and propionate1, demonstrating a beneficial shift in rumen fermentation.

From here, we evaluated the product in lactating cow trials at the Purina Animal Nutrition Center, and then went to the field to conduct demonstrations with our ambassador herds, working closely with their nutritionists to include EfficienZ® supplement in rations. In these trials, it was found that EfficienZ® supplement supports:

• Feed efficiency2

• Energy-corrected milk2

• Milk yield2,3,4

As demonstrated in Figure 1, when improving rumen fermentation and feed efficiency with EfficienZ® Supplement, a positive increase in milk response was observed. Additional field trials were conducted across different stages of lactation and a wide range of rations on 24 farms from across the country.

We’re proud to provide this industry-driven research into insights shown to support optimal feed efficiency and help make operations more successful, all while providing an increased return on investment potential.

To find out if EfficienZ® supplement is right for your herd, talk with your Purina Animal Nutrition dairy feed representative.

Legal:

EfficienZ is a registered trademark of Purina Animal Nutrition LLC. Because of factors outside of Purina Animal Nutrition LLC’s control, individual results to be obtained, including but not limited to financial performance, animal condition, health or performance cannot be predicted or guaranteed by Purina Animal Nutrition LLC.

References:

1 PIV2019_3, PIV2019_7, PIV2019_11, CBF2020_2, CBF2021_2 Purina Animal Nutrition Center, 2019-2021.

2 DC591, Purina Animal Nutrition Center, 2019

3 Ohio Field Trial, Mature Cows, 2020

4 Ohio Field Trial, 1st Lactation Cows, 2020