Dairy nutritionists constantly evaluate and adjust diets to optimise animal health, metabolic function, and milk production. Feed additives in dairy are crucial to this process, and ignoring them is like trying to drive your car with one of the more important parts missing.
Why use feed additives?
Feed additives serve specific purposes, such as improving immune function, reducing lameness, and enhancing reproductive or gut health, with the ultimate goal of boosting milk production. It is essential to clearly understand the reason for using each additive and consider the animal’s life stage. The approach for calves will differ significantly from that for lactating or transition cows.
Genetic improvements have led to a 60% increase in annual milk production per cow since the 1980s. These high-producing cows should be seen as athletes under considerable stress, making the need for additives potentially greater than in the past.
Common additives in the dairy market include buffers, essential oils, toxin binders, yeasts, trace minerals, and many others. It is crucial to understand how each of these additives works. For example, additives that improve gut health might enhance tight junctions, improve gut bacteria populations, or remove harmful bacteria. Similarly, if an additive aims to improve insulin sensitivity, its mechanism of action should be clear and trustworthy.
While many additives in dairy promise increased milk production, it is important to recognise that each additional litre of milk promised doesn’t actually equal another litre. The law of diminishing returns applies, where the initial benefits of additives decrease as the system becomes more efficient. Eventually, the cost may outweigh the return.
How to use feed additives: Key considerations
When evaluating research, the competition is fierce. Evaluate carefully and ensure research is conducted logically and scientifically. Dr Mike Hutchins from the University of Illinois recommends evaluating feed additives in dairy based on five key factors:
- Research: The additive should have solid research backing its efficacy. When reviewing research on feed additives, it is essential to be critical. Competitive research from different companies may be biased or poorly designed. Studies with small sample sizes or those that fail to show significant responses in competitive products should be approached with skepticism. It’s important to ensure that the research is trustworthy and not solely aimed at promoting a particular product.
- Mode of action: The function and mechanism of action should be well-defined and clearly understood. It is crucial to know how the additive works, e.g. whether as improving gut health by enhancing tight junctions or improving insulin sensitivity.
- Feed rate: There should be a clearly defined feeding rate, avoiding guesswork in determining the appropriate amount.
- Cost: The cost of the additive should be known, allowing for a clear understanding of the financial investment.
- Return on investment: The benefit-to-cost ratio should be evaluated. Common additives with high return on investment include methionine, bypass fats, calcium balancers, and organic zinc.
Let’s get practical: How bird flu increased focus on immune support
The recent outbreaks of bird flu (H5N1) in the United States have highlighted the importance of immune function in dairy cows. Management practices are the first line of defence, followed by additives that support the immune system. Organic zinc is of particular interest due to its potential to mitigate the effects of RNA viruses like bird flu by preventing cytokine storms, which are overactive immune responses that result in intensive inflammation.
There are over 150 Zn-dependent proteins that are involved with the prevention of RNA virus replication and improved immune response to RNA viruses. Zn improves the immune cell response to a virus. It is needed for Zn-dependent protein production that kill RNA viruses and it prevents RNA virus replication by displacing magnesium molecules needed for viral replication. However, it is important to use a highly available form of Zn to get into the cells while the host is sick. This has changed the way feed additives are being evaluated.
Dr Adam Geiger spent a week with our team earlier this year, and presented on this topic at this year’s Intelact Dairy Technical Conference. Press play to see Adam’s short summary of his presentation, and please reach out to your Chemuniqué expert for more information on this topic.