Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on feed additives and supplements. Click here to read the second part of series (Additives and supplements: What are they supposed to do for me?) If you read any of the dairy magazines, attend any conferences or spend any time on dairy sites on the Internet, you know feed efficiency in dairy cows has become a common topic.

To its credit, within recent years, the dairy industry has finally begun to take a serious look at feed efficiency in a manner other food animal and poultry industries have for a long time.

The challenge to the utilization of feed efficiency as a performance measuring stick lies in many variables on-farm as well as how the cow synthesizes the end product. As a biological system, the typical dairy farm has more than its share of things that vary on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

As the dairyman and the nutritionist know well, feed composition and a host of other factors affect milk volume and components, which affect the actual value of the salable product. Even small dietary, environmental or management alterations or modifications can create variation in production that ultimately affects feed efficiency measurements and, more significantly, affects profitability.

Given that feed cost is number one in production expenses, making up anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of total daily expense, obviously it makes sense to develop a better understanding of how to go about generating the most revenue and profit per feed input unit.

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Books could be written on all the factors that come into play affecting feed cost, feed efficiency and, ultimately, milk and component production and resulting value. All factors that must be managed by the best means possible, even those largely beyond our control.

As countless studies, reports, papers and articles have reported, improvement of feed efficiency starts with good management, production and feeding of quality ingredients, particularly forages, and the control of as many of the variables as possible in an effort to create a stable, consistent production environment.

This is the absolute foundation for achieving optimal feed efficiency and requires a significant degree of commitment on the part of the dairyman and his support team (employees, nutritionist, vet, etc.).

Even before the dairy industry switched its focus to using and improving feed efficiency, an entire industry had been built on an ever-growing number of products designed to be fed to the animal. Initially, the goal of the use of such products was to improve the milk and component production by the cow, improve animal health and reproduction and to ultimately increase on-farm profitability.

Now we look at these products and what they can do to improve our measurements of feed efficiency, but the end game is to improve farm profitability (more specifically, income over feed costs). These tools, both individually and in combination, can have a marked effect on herd and farm performance – but remember, there are no magic bullets and there is no replacement for sound management.

Additives, supplements or management?

Before any of these products are added to a feeding program, take these points into consideration:

1. Is everything being done from a management perspective to address the basics?

  • Sound day-to-day management of all farm activities (and the all-important attention to detail)
  • Production or purchase of high-quality, consistent, digestible forages and feed ingredients
  • Minimizing animal stress
  • Maximizing cow comfort

2. Accurate development and delivery of a properly balanced diet that focuses on maintenance of rumen stability and timely delivery of nutrients necessary for optimal production, good herd health and reproductive performance

3. Dietary additives should be reviewed and screened based on what can and should be delivered – is it cost-effective? What are the expectations?

4. Understand there is a difference between a nutritional supplement and an additive. Supplements (amino acids, fats, vitamins, etc.) are used to fill in a gap or make up a nutrient deficiency in the diet caused by its lack of availability in the basic ingredients, inadequate digestibility or known animal response to specific supplemental levels.

Additives are generally considered non-nutritive and are designed to create a specific response either in the rumen (rumen fermentation modifier) or at some other location in the digestive tract.

In general, we are well versed in the many additive-type products at our disposal. In general, we have an idea of what most of these products are used for and what the expected responses are. Products such as:

  • Yeasts
  • Yeast derivatives (cell wall components)
  • Direct-fed microbials such as bacteria and fungi cultures
  • Essential oil/plant extracts
  • Enzyme sources
  • Antibiotics (i.e., Rumensin)
  • Dewormers
  • Toxin binders

These can all play a specific role and produce a specific response in the animal and in the feeding program. However, as more of these products are developed and come onto the market, we struggle to keep up with what they do (or are told they do). But another factor also comes into play: What is the result when these products are used in combination?

Are the combinations complementary or antagonistic? Do they simply cancel one another out? For the most part, there is very limited research into how the various products act in combination.

Sifting through the ‘story’

A complicating factor is that virtually every additive type now enjoys a substantial list of products and manufacturers each with their own “story” and substantiating research. But since there is very little comparative data, having a clear understanding of which product within a given additive type is the “best” is elusive.

Take yeasts, for instance: At this point in time, there are somewhere around 50-plus companies selling some type of yeast product in the U.S. Not all of these are “conventional” yeasts, and not all of these are targeted at the dairy cow, but a great many are. For the dairyman and his nutritionist to effectively compare all of these products is impossible (or at the very least, highly improbable).

The same situation exists with the other additives as well. The microbial product market is even more convoluted, with almost 70 companies making or selling a bacteria, fungi or something related.

Essential oils, also known as plant extracts, are a relatively new additive to the dairy industry shown to have some efficacy in modifying rumen activity for more efficient performance. The complicating factor with essential oils is: There are many individual types and, for the most part, the products actually sold in the market are combination products made up of two or more (generally more) individual essential oils that have been shown to have some effect on the rumen microbial population.

While how these products have been developed is based on research, finding an effective combination is challenging.

Again, there are numerous manufacturers and distributors for all of these products, and the number is growing as more companies either jump on this bandwagon or come here from other countries, introducing their products. In many cases, new products are introduced and marketed under the guise of “just like product XYZ.”

The purpose of this article has not been to create confusion for the dairyman or complicate his decision-making process – or that of his nutritionist. It is to bring to light the fact that the field of additives available for the enhancement of feed efficiency is exceptionally large and diverse, even within a given additive type.

In Part 2 of this article series, we will dig into the additive types in more detail, discussing what these products can do and what the dairyman should expect for his investment.  PD

Steve Blezinger is a management and nutritional consultant with an office in Sulphur Springs, Texas. He can be reached at Email Steve Blezing or call him at (903) 352-3475.