AAG Shur-Gain Ontario
Transcrição
AAG Shur-Gain Ontario
Fall 2010 Spring 2011 Freecopy copy Free ! Reports: Cnossen Holsteins, Cnossome Holsteins and Milglen Farms Andrew Hunt Ruminant Business Manager Shur-Gain Central Region Shur-Gain’s New Heifer Program The Power of Research Within your Reach Our focus at Shur-Gain is to make your herd more profitable, healthy and efficient. We continue to challenge ourselves to look for areas of opportunity where we can make a difference to both yourself and the animals you work with. Around the world our global research team is focusing on quantitative nutrition, functional nutrition and on-farm management tools to help you achieve your goals. Quantitative nutrition focuses on ensuring we are meeting the calf or cows needs accurately and not over or under feeding. Under or over feeding can stress your animals and cost you in terms of performance, health and ultimately the bottom line. Functional nutrition relates to products or nutrients that impact the health of your animals. An example of this would be increasing vitamin E levels past the cow’s requirements to help combat a mastitis issues. The requirement for vitamin E has not changed, but increasing this nutrient improves the cows ability to combat infection. These areas of focus are important, but equally important is making sure we execute these appropriately at the farm level and that we have the products and programs to help you. Milk cows and dry cows often get the most attention, but this edition of At A Glance focuses extensively on calves and heifers. Great calf and heifer programs can impact your herd significantly from both a health and economic standpoint, but recent research from around the world indicates a further future benefit from having a great calf and heifer program, more milk! IN THIS ISSUE Your comments are always welcome! 2 Send them to Andrew Hunt By mail: 600 James Street South St. Marys (Ontario) N4X 1C7 By e-mail: [email protected] By fax: 519 349-2675 “We now know that the first two months of a calf’s life is critical to optimizing future milk production performance.” We now know that the first two months of a calf’s life is critical to optimizing future milk production performance. Simply put, the higher the plane of nutrition in this time period the more milk potential the animal will have when she enters the milking line. OPTIVIA Calf and Heifer Program We believe so strongly in this research that we have dedicated the last several months to an exhaustive scientific review as well as conducting numerous experiments at our research facility in Burford, Ontario to create the OPTIVIA calf and heifer program. OPTIVIA combines everything we have learned into new products and programs to help you optimize the growth and health of your calves and heifers. The ultimate goal of OPTIVIA is to allow these animals to express their true potential when they enter your milking herd. 2 Editorial 3 OPTIVIA’S Milk replacers: 6 9 Rising Commodity Prices. Shur-Gain is 12 Ready to Take On the Challenge With You Cnossen Holsteins - Double Farm Report for an Optimized Future Performance 14 Intensified Milk Replacer: 16 Cnossome Holsteins - Double Farm Report a Profitable Choice! 18 Milglen Farms Ltd. Calf Starter: the Other Important Feedstuff for Proper Calf Growth 20 OPTIVIA and Development! Douglas F. Waterman, Ph.D. Director, Dairy Technology Application Nutreco Canada Agresearch OPTIVIA’S Milk Replacers: for an Optimized Future Performance Effect of Feeding Isocaloric Amounts of 22:20 CP:Fat and 28:15 CP:Fat Milk Replacers on Growth Under Identical Management – data of Tikofsky et al. 300 (136.36) 246 (111.82) 250 (113.64) 200 (90.91) 150 (68.18) 226 (102.73) 172 159.2 (78.18) (72.36) Weaning weight Courtesy of Mike VanAmburgh Remarkable Results The concept of “Intensified” Milk Replacer was introduced to the industry in the late 1990’s by Dr. Mike VanAmburgh. He showed that calves would consume significantly higher amounts of dry matter from milk than was recommended and that they would gain more weight, be taller and have more lean tissue growth. Tikofsky et al. 2001 showed that calves raised on a 28:15 versus a 22:20 milk replacer gained 13 lb (5.9 kg) and 20 lb (9.07 kg) more weight by weaning and the end of the transition period (Figure 1). Figure 1 Weight, lb (kg) How you feed and manage your herd replacements during the first 56 days of life has a significant impact on first lactation milk yield and this extra milk potential should carry through to subsequent lactations! Transition weight 22:20 28:15 3 Optimized Milk Performance However, did these animals maintain the advantage in growth and, more importantly, produce more milk? We now know that they indeed did produce more milk and the research now indicates that they produced approximately 1800 lb (818.18 kg) more milk in the first lactation. A summary of seven trials that compared cows raised conventional vs intensified milk replacer programs reported the milk yield advantage ranged from 1000 to 3000 lb (454.55 to 1363.64 kg) (Table 1). Figure 2 illustrates the benefit of higher average daily gains from birth to breeding on lactation milk yield. Table 1 Study Additional first-lactation milk Foldager and Krohn (1994) 3,092 Bar-Peled et al. (1998) 998 Foldager et al. (1997) 1,143 Ballard et al. (2005) 1,543 at 200 days in milk Rincker et al. (2006) 1,100 based on projected 305d milk Moallem et al. (2006) 2,500 Drackley et al. (2007) 1,841 The DCHA Gold Standards The DCHA Gold Standards are available via the DCHA website (calfandheifer.org). They provide an excellent overview of goals your herd replacement program should achieve, such as colostrum management, growth rates, mortality, morbidity, housing and nutrition. One key point made within the Gold Standards is that we need to supply these animals a higher plane of nutrition then is commonly being practiced, especially during periods of cold stress. OPTIVIA Milk Replacers: For the OPTIVIA Program we developed two different milk replacers. The 22-18 (protein-fat %) is our “High Performance” product. It was designed to provide adequate protein and energy to support lean tissue growth and a gain of around 1 lb (454 g) per day. The “Advantage” product is a 26-16 (protein-fat %). This product was developed to support 1.75 to 2.0 lb (600-900 g) of gain per day. The protein to fat ratio and feeding rates were based on the metabolizable energy (ME) and apparent digestible protein (ADP) requirements for the targeted ADG and intake (adapted from Davis and Drackley, 1998). This is Why in Our New We Recommend: Hoards Dairyman January 2011 Figure 2 Milk Temperature Quantity High Performance 13 °C and 21 °C (55 °F and 70 °F) 600 g (1.5 lb) 0 °C ( 32 °F) 900 g (2 lb) 13 °C and 21 °C (55 °F and 70 °F) 900 g (2 lb) 0 °C ( 32 °F) 1,200 g (2.5 lb) y = 8240.6x + 1348 R² = 0.27622 25,000 (11,363.64) 20,000 (9,090.91) 15,000 (6,818.18) 10,000 (4,545.45) 1 (0.46) 1.5 (0.68) 2 (0.91) 2.5 (1.14) 3 (1.36) Average daily gain, lb/d (kg/d) Significant Weight Gain Based on work from Cornell, higher rates of gain resulted in more milk and 22% of the variation typically observed in first lactation yield can be explained by pre-weaning growth rate! “Intensified” milk replacer programs may cost more to implement upfront, but are more profitable from the standpoint of lifetime profitability. OPTIVIA Program: An Important Innovation With these facts in mind, Shur-Gain is introducing OPTIVIA - A new Herd Replacement Program. OPTIVIA incorporates the latest science based around the “Intensified Concept” and the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) “Gold Standards” in regards to the milk replacer products, calf starters and management. In this article we will outline the improvements we have made to the milk replacer product line, while starters will be addressed in a subsequent article. 4 Advantage *For temperatures below 0 °C ( 32 °F), a thirds feeding is recommended! Courtesy of Mike VanAmburgh Milk yield, lb/yr (kg/yr) First Lactation Milk Yield vs ADG Birth-Breeding 40,000 (18,181.82) 35,000 (15,909.09) 30,000 (13,636,36) OPTIVIA Program For the times of the year when the environmental temperature drops below 32 °F (0 °C), preliminary research would suggest that calves can not maintain a target growth rate of 2 lb (0.9 kg) at the above recommended feeding rates. At these extremely low temperatures it is highly recommended that a third feeding be provided if you want to continue growing your herd replacement. In addition, research has clearly shown that a higher caloric intake will have a positive impact on the animal’s immune function. 100% Milk Protein The key to formulating a high quality milk replacer is to start with the right ingredients. The best sources of protein and carbohydrates are from milk ingredients (whey, whey protein concentrate, skim milk, delactosed whey, casein, lactose). These ingredients are highly digestible and provide lactose which is an excellent source of carbohydrate to a young digestive system. Calves raised on milk replacers formulated with All Milk proteins consistently out perform those raised with alternate proteins. Tomkins et al. (1994) reported a trial that compared milk replacers formulated with varying amounts of alternative proteins and at different percentages to an all milk formula. Calves fed the all milk milk replacer gained significantly more weight in days 1-14, recorded lower mortality and lower morbidity (Figure 3). Figure 3 Results: Calves Included in Analyses 30 Number of Calves 30 29 28 28 27 27 26 25 24 Another feature of the O PTIVIA Advantage milk replacers is the addition of supplemental Amino Acids (lysine and methionine). The purpose of including additional lysine and methionine was to achieve levels similar to those present in whole milk. Hill et al. (2008), reported higher ADG days 1-28 for a 26% CP milk replacer with supplemental amino acids (AA) compared to a 28% CP milk replacer with or without supplemental AA. The overall benefit is that less total protein is being fed so the calf is more efficient and it is more economical for the producer. Figure 5 Amino Acids Reduce the CP Required in a Milk Replacer 2 SPC 3 4 Wheat 5 6 Plasma 7 8 Milk A typical alternative protein milk replacer will save $5-10 per bag, but if you loose one calf or more, have higher morbidity and/or lower growth rates, the alternate protein will not be more economical. Make sure your milk replacer contains only milk ingredients! Next to lowering mortality and morbidity the success of your calf program will be measured by how well they grow. The growth goal should be that the calves will double birth weight by 56 days. This can be achieved by providing more total nutrients as mentioned above. You can enhance your chance of success by also providing the highest quality milk replacer possible. Mildly Acidified Milk Replacer for Optimized Results Another feature incorporated into OPTIVIA milk replacers is mild acidification. Mild acidification was chosen over full acidification because the primary goal was to reduce the time the pH of the abomassum was elevated versus complete preservation of the milk replacer. Text books have shown that the bacteria that cause scours do not grow well below a pH of 4.5. A calf’s abomassum is generally around a pH of 3, but when sweet milk replacer is fed the pH increases to 6-7 which is optimal for many bacteria (see Figure 4). By mildly acidifying the milk replacer you lower the amount of time that the gut pH is above 4.5 thus reducing the optimal time for the bacteria to grow. Mild acidification will not reduce DMI and will not require additional mixing to prevent separation. Another benefit which can not be overlooked is that you do not have to handle dangerous acids yourself, as we have blended it directly into the OPTIVIA milk replacer line. 1.2 (0.55) No AA w/ AA 17% fat MR fed at 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) per day 1.0 (0.45) Adapted from Hill et al. (2008) 1 Gain, lb/day (kg/day) (0-28 days) 20 0.8 (0.36) 0.6 (0.27) 24 26 % Crude Protein 28 Please Read the Milk Replacer Tag! Other milk replacers may list supplemental lysine and methionine on their tag, but this may not necessarily mean extra amino acids or protein. Synthetics can be added just to meet a targeted crude protein. This method simply replaces some of the milk protein ingredients in the formula with synthetic amino acids, which lowers the overall amino acid balance and potentially makes it less expensive compared to a product with just all milk protein. It is always important to read the milk replacer tag to make sure you are comparing equivalent products. Look at more than just the protein, fat and mineral levels. Check the ingredient listing and make sure the product is made with all milk ingredients and don’t be afraid to ask your nutritionist to explain any differences. Figure 4 Milk Acidification Reduces Scour Producing Bacterial Growth in the Stomach 6 x x xx xxx x x Period of no bacterial growth xxx xx xx xx 2 xx xx x 4 Period during which bacterial growth could occur x x x x xx xxxx x x x xx x x pH Feeding xx x x x x xx Time O PTIVIA milk replacers are formulated too supply highly digestible sources of nutrients that will support higher rates of gain, support lower mortality and morbidity by • Using all milk proteins • Being mildly acidified • Containing supplemental amino acids • Providing a higher plane of nutrition • Adopting DCHA Gold Standards 5 Douglas F. Waterman, Ph.D. Director, Dairy Technology Application Nutreco Canada Agresearch Fred Lundy, y, M. Sc. Dairy Sales Advisor Shur-Gain Central Region Intensified Growth Program: a Profitable Choice! BEWARE OF FALSE PERCEPTIONS Rather than label a calf raising program as “conventional” or “intensified”, we should be focused on what the calf requires to grow efficiently and through these increased efficiencies we may get a healthier animal of proper size and weight that potentially gets into the milking stream at an earlier age and produces milk to her genetic potential. This is a win-win... raising heifers that will make more milk and have a lower mortality and morbidity rate. In addition. calving at a younger age means that less replacements will be required to maintain your herd size or allow for greater internal herd growth if you are in fact growing your herd. YOU CAN CALCULATE IT: INTENSIFIED GROWTH PROGRAM IS PROFITABLE Dr. Galligan illustrates in Figure 1 the time required for a heifer to cover her raising costs... basically how long before she is profitable. We all know that a heifer isn’t considered “profitable” until the amount of money she generates (milk in the bulk tank) is greater than the amount of money invested (feed, medicine, vet costs, etc.). The average heifer will be 40 months of age and into her second lactation before she starts becoming profitable. 6 Figure1 Animal Age Versus Dollars Spent or Gained per Month 5,000 250 4,000 200 3,000 150 2,000 100 1,000 50 0 0 -50 -1,000 -100 -150 -2,000 0 10 Daily 20 30 40 Cow age 50 60 70 Cumulative Chart courtesy of David T. Galligan, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Total dollars THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER: THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT So how does lowering the AFC impact her profitability? With the current cost of raising a heifer from birth to calving ranging from $1600-1800 the sooner an animal is introduced into her lactation the sooner she can start paying you back. In addition, the younger she calves the more productive days she will potentially have or in other words the greater her productive life will be, assuming the same age of leaving the herd. Dr. Alex Bach at the 2010 Shur-Gain Seminar reported that the younger a heifer calves, as long as she is at least 22 months old, the greater the probability of her completing her first lactation compared to older heifers. Dollars per month For years now, you as producers have heard the debate between conventional and intensified calf programs. Some disregard the intensified program because the initial input costs were greater due to increased milk replacer powder being consumed. Others might say, “What difference does AFC (Age at First Calving) make, as long as she makes it into the milking stream at some point in her life-time.” Perhaps we (nutritionists and producers) have been thinking about this the wrong way. BENEFITS ON CALVING AGE AND HERD REPLACEMENT AND ABOVE ALL: INCREASED MILK PERFORMANCE! Another important point to take into consideration when assessing AFC is the impact it can have on the number herd replacements needed to maintain your herd size. Table 1 illustrates the impact on the number of herd replacements required per 100 cows based on cull rate and AFC. As you would expect as the cull rate increases it will require more replacements to maintain the herd, but for every month that the AFC is above 22 months the farm will need 1.0 to 1.5 more heifers per 100 cows, depending on the specific cull rate. So there are three direct benefits of lowering the AFC to 22 months... higher probability to complete the first lactation, less herd replacements to maintain the current herd size and a higher number of productive days. Dr. Overton illustrates the potential income that can be generated with an intensified program versus a conventional program by comparing input costs and the extra income from milk (Table 2). In addition, you could add another $1600-1800 in savings for every animal not raised by simply lowering your AFC. As mentioned in an earlier article, Dr. Van Amburgh has been an advocate for intensified growth programs and a summary of data suggests that an intensified growth program increases milk production in a heifer’s first lactation by as much as 1800 lb (818.18 kg) and this extra production should continue into future lactations. At $18 milk, that equals an additional $324 in milk income for that first lactation alone. Leonel Leal summarized numerous papers on intensified milk replacer programs in a recent literature review and some of the data is listed in Table 3. The literature supports significantly higher ADG at weaning for 9 of the trials listed for an average increase of 160 g/c/d (0.35 lb/c/d). That is 19.8 lb (9 kg). Table 1 Number of Replacement Heifers Required for 100 Dairy Cows Age at 1st Calving Herd Cull Rate % 22 24 26 28 30 20 40 44 48 51 55 25 50 55 60 65 69 30 61 66 72 77 83 35 71 77 83 88 93 40 82 88 94 100 106 45 92 97 102 107 112 Table 2 Based on the Assumptions Used in this Model: Net Results: (Intensive vs Conventional) Feed costs $74.29 Labor costs $(14.66) Health/ vet med $(14.65) Interest cost $(15.50) Reproductive culls Seven of the 11 trials recorded AFC with 4 reporting less days to calving for heifers raised on an intensified program compared to conventional. The differences were not significant but calves raised on the intensified program were numerically younger at first calving. In addition, the first lactation milk yields were significantly higher for 6 of the 11 trials while all the trials reported numerically higher milk yields (+1077 lb or 488 kg) for heifers raised intensively. HEALTHY HEIFERS WILL COVER THEIR RAISING COST, AND EVEN MORE! While at the Shur-Gain Seminar this fall, Dr. Van Amburgh detailed the importance of adequate nutrition for the first few days of the new-born calves’ life. Calves are born with only 3 to 4% body fat, much lower than other animals. If calves do not consume enough calories to meet their maintenance requirements, they will begin to use body fat. With such little fat reserves, they will ultimately begin to use body protein as an energy source, and this has substantial long term delays in growth and leads to a weakened immunity system. Calves that have a weaken immune systems are more prone to sickness which can slow or inhibit growth, delay AFC, or die. These so called “poor performers” may make it to calving but a high percentage fail to complete the lactation. Animals that don’t make it to calving (die or culled) or don’t complete their first lactation are never able to cover their raising costs, thus loosing the producer money. $(7.45) Other costs $(20.36) Total “dead calf” costs $(21.49) Net Result (Savings): $(19.81) • Add in value of additional milk - $170 – and the advantage for Intensive Rearing ˜$190 Mike Overton, AABP 2010 courtesy of Mike VanAburgh 7 Table 3 Reference Ballard et al. (2005) Bar-Peled et al. (1997) Davis Rincker et al. (2006) Drackley et al. (2007) (1) Drackley et al. (2007) (2) Moallem et al. (2006) Morrison et al. (2009) Morrison et al. (2010) Raeth-Knight et al. (2009) Shamay et al. (2005) Terre et al. (2009) Liquid feed Starter feed composition, composition, %CP : %CF %CP : %CF Liquid feed intake, kg/DM day Total DMI, kg/day 27:20 vs 27:15 − − − − − −NS 6,803 vs 6,014* 23:15 vs ...:...3 16:... − − 61.9 vs 73.4 0.56 vs 0.85** 700 vs 669* 9,171 vs 9,624† 22:22 vs 31:16 20:... vs 24:... 0.45 vs 0.68 − − − ... vs −17* − NS 22:20 vs 28:20 − − − − 0.56 vs 0.69** 762 vs 795NS 9,226 vs 10,555** 22:20 vs 28:20 − − − − 0.59 vs 0.67† 720 vs 729NS 8,778 vs 9,119** 24:13 vs 26:293 18:... 1.19 vs 1.09** 1.36 vs 1.27** 82.7 vs 85.8 0.73 vs 0.81** 751 vs 745† 23:... vs 30:... 22:2 0.6 vs 1.2 − 66.3 vs 73,2** 0.45 vs 0.54** − 23:16 vs 26:17 23:2 0.463 vs 1.1** − 69.5 vs 75.4† 0.47 vs 0.61** 723 vs 729NS 20:20 vs 28:18 20:3 vs 25:3 0.49 vs 0.91* 0.93 vs 1.13* 64.0 vs 73.7 0.56 vs 0.79* 744.5 vs 717* 23:12 vs 27:293 18:... 0.45 vs 0.99* 1.1 vs 1.21* 69.5 vs 84.0 0.59 vs 0.88* 700 vs 684NS 25:19 21:4 0.41 vs 0.9** 1.20 vs 1.19 NS 55.9 vs 60.7 0.8 vs 0.9* −NS 9,272 vs 10,340* 3,967 vs 4,041NS 6,508 vs 6,267NS 12,962 vs 13,680NS 10,784 vs 12,104* 9,888 vs 10,512NS 1 Weaning occurred between 42 and 56 days of age. 2 305-day production, but for Ballard et al. (2005) 200 DIM (days in milk) and Morrison et al. (2009) 160 DIM. 3 Wholemilk. † P < 0.10; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; NS No significant; FIN FINALY, HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS YYOU OU SHOULD ASK TO YOURSELF: Reg Regardless of what type of calf raising program yyouu are using the most important questions yo t answer are these: 1.) am I meeting the to nnutritional requirement of the calf, 2.) am I nu m meeting those requirements under times of eenvironmental stress, 3.) am I maximizing m my milk income profit by having heifers ccalve in a timely manner at an appropriate we size and weight, and 4) have I provided her every opportunity to cover her raising costs? Now it’s your turn to decide what feed strategy you want. Your Shur-Gain Dairy Nutrition Advisor is there to help you find the right plan based on your needs and objectives. 8 BW around ADG until Age at first First weaning1, kg weaning, kg calving, day lactation milk prod.2, kg Brian Tarr Ruminant Nutritionist Shur-Gain Central Region *HSM:[HY[LY! [OL6[OLY0TWVY[HU[ -LLKZ[\MMMVY7YVWLY*HSM .YV^[OHUK+L]LSVWTLU[ In the previous article we discussed the importance of feeding your calves a higher plane of nutrition. Calves raised on an intensified program, grew faster, were healthier, calved earlier and produced more milk in their first lactation. However, to grow a calf correctly and economically a calf starter must also be fed along with the milk replacer. From Milk Replacer to Dry Calf Starter Figure 1 Figure 2 The calf is totally dependent on the protein and energy supplied by milk replacer for the first 14 to 21 days of age. At this point in time the calf will require more nutrients than the milk replacer or milk alone can supply. To correct for this you must feed more milk replacer or dry calf starter. Starter is much more economical and it is necessary for the development of the rumen. Adequate calf starter intake is essential for volatile fatty acid production, particularly butyrate, which enables early rumen development and enables the calf to be transitioned off of milk (Figure 1 and 2). Only Milk Milk and dry starter When Should we Offer Dry Calf Starter? As early as 5 days of age calves should be offered calf starter and free choice water. The most important factor for the successful feeding of the pre-weaned calf is the early acceptance and high intake of the calf starter ration. There are many factors that affect the calf starter intake but the two main factors are free-choice water and a starter that is palatable. Kertz (1984) conducted a trial that showed calves consumed significantly more dry starter and recorded higher average daily gains (ADG) when they had access to free choice water compared to no water (Graph 1, page 10). 9 Graph 1 *HS]LZ5LLK>H[LY 400 (0.88) 300 (0.66) Source: Kertz, et al., JDS, 1984 Gain / Intake, g (lb) 500 (1.1) 200 (0.44) 100 (0.22) 0 ADG Blue is ad lib water Intake Red no water Trials and Studies on Ingredients for Palatability Palatability generally means the feed “tastes good” but in the context of the calf that may be more difficult to define. Several researchers have examined different ingredients for palatability to calves. Quigley, for example, suggests that soybeans and molasses improve palatability, soybean meal and corn don’t appear to have any effect either way, while canola meal, and urea will reduce palatability. Some ingredients, such as fats and bicarbonate may enhance palatability at low inclusion rates but depress intake at higher inclusion levels. Work reported by Montoro et al. (2010) in a preference trial showed that wheat was highly palatable while gluten feed was not. Choosing the best ingredients is important, but equally important can be the inclusion level of these ingredients. products for appearance and “smell”, the calf starter that we deemed to be best based on these visual criteria, was not the one the calves ate the most of! OPTIVIA Textured Calf Starters, for Optimized Palatability and Intake The Shur-Gain 22% Express Textured Calf Starter out performed the other textured products on trial based on early acceptance and overall intake by the calves. These studies have been used to further refine our calf starter formulations and we are confident that the ingredients selected and inclusion levels used in the OPTIVIA rations optimize the palatability for the young calf and thus ensure maximum intake. Textured vs Pelleted Calf Starters Shur-Gain has conducted several trials looking at ingredient palatability and followed these up with preference trials to determine which feeds the calves actually prefer or would consume first given a choice. The preference trials conducted at our Nutreco Research facilities demonstrated a wide range of preference by the calves for several products on the market today. We brought in calf starter products manufactured across the company as well as the best competitive products on the market to evaluate the preference and acceptance by new born calves. Interestingly, when our group examined all the 10 Both textured and pelleted calf starters are fed to pre-weaned calves and they both can provide equivalent nutrients. However, numerous research trials have demonstrated that feeding textured starters helps prevent parakeratosis (keratin build up on the papillae) in the developing rumen. Keratin build up on the papillae permanently reduces their ability to absorb nutrients. Both textured and pelleted forms of calf starter produce the Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) necessary for rumen development but textured starters provide the scratch or abrasiveness that prevents the build up of keratin on the papillae. EXCLUSIVE *(3-:;(9;,9 ^P[OH:WLJPHS-SH]V\Y,UOHUJLTLU[! -3(=6<9)<9:; Palatability or what we perceive as “taste” can also be enhanced in a number of ways, including flavours and sweeteners. The simplest of these and most common is molasses. Calves and other small ruminants show a distinct preference for starter rations that have molasses added “on the outside” of the feed. The research reviewed indicates that 4 to 5% molasses is ideal. It is not entirely clear if this is simply enhanced palatability or if there is an olfactory role as well. To gain the highest intakes, Shur-Gain has developed a special flavour enhancement that will only be available with O PTIVIA Calf Starters. This flavour enhancer when combined with our carefully selected ingredients led to a significant improvement in intake. Keratinization can be partially mitigated in pelleted calf starter formulations by supplementing the starter with chopped straw or hay. Recent studies reported by Dr. Alex Bach from Spain showed that feeding straw along with pelleted calf starter rations provided sufficient “scratch” to help reduce parakeratosis. However, the straw intake should not exceed 10% of the total daily feed intake. The advantage of a pelleted starter is it can be stored in bulk bins and attracts fewer flies in the summer compared to textured feeds with molasses. Optimum Protein Level When selecting a calf starter which crude protein level is best? In reality the crude protein level should not matter - the key parameter is the amount (grams/lb) of protein consumed. The most important factor in optimizing protein consumption is intake. More palatable calf starters promote higher intake and supply more total nutrients. Key Points for a Good Start High calf starter intake is the most important factor determining the success and outcome of the calf feeding program (higher growth rates and better health). There have been many studies looking at nutritional composition of the diet in an effort to find the optimal diet for growing calves efficiently andd costt effectively. This is likely more difficult to determine than it appears as it is confounded by palatability and intake. In addition, cold and heat stress have important effects on the nutritional requirements of calves, as do the environmental conditions that they are raised in. We need to feed well balanced, highly nutritious diets to calves that can be easily adjusted to suit the prevailing conditions. 11 Dave Crossan Dairy Nutrition Advisor & Automatic Milking System Specialist Shur-Gain Central Region U 6 L R H ; V [ ` K H L 9 Z P :O\Y.HPU UNL>P[O@V\ L S S H O * L O [ As variable corn and soybean prices have reached new highs in recent years and quota purchases have become more difficult, dairy producers are rethinking how they feed their cattle. To reduce the costs of purchasing energy and protein, dairymen are striving to produce high quality forages and are working with nutrition advisors to utilize a variety of ingredient sources available today. The main goal of dairy nutrition is to match the nutrients provided by feed ingredients to the nutrient requirements of the cows to optimize cow health and production, maximize forages in the ration, improve cost efficiency, and meet the individual needs of the dairy farms. Older feeding strategies such as utilizing one or two commodity sources on farm are no longer cost effective. This strategy worked well from a cost perspective when commodity prices were low and over feeding them was not an issue. Over feeding any product causes three issues: 1. Increased cost; 2. Valuable rumen space is lost to accommodate the overfeeding and leads to higher percent concentrate diets; 3. Wasted nutrients with a negative impact on the environment. 12 On a regular basis our Dairy Nutrition Advisors are hearing the following question, “What can I do to minimize cost, while maximizing production and cow health”? To answer this question we need to focus on efficiency and to maximize efficiency we need to examine a circular interaction between three different areas, the rumen, ration balancing and manufacturing. The rumen is truly amazing to us and is an extremely complex eco system that works with the rest of the cow to allow these animals to produce increasingly larger amounts of milk. A rumen that is optimized provides numerous benefits to the cow and ultimately to the producer. With high producing cows we are always working to maximize the amount of nutrients we can get the cow to eat while maintaining a healthy forage based diet. To free up valuable space, you must feed to the basic requirements of the cow and must minimize over feeding as much as possible. This moves us into discussing the importance of the ration balancing tool that is being utilized to design your high performance ration. Different ration balancing tools have different capabilities in terms of the level of nutrients they can balance for. As an example, many older ration balancing tools such as Spartan, are only capable of balancing to the crude protein level, other newer tools are able to balance to a finer level of detail, but only a few including NEWTON are able to balance to the amino acid level. In fact, Shur-Gain has been able to balance for amino acids for numerous years and this is in part due to the fact that we have intensively researched this area of nutrition for decades and over that time have been able to develop our models to this intricate level. Why does this matter? It matters because we are able to meet the requirements of the cow while minimizing waste and space at the rumen level and this allows us to utilize more of your home grown forages and feed the rumen protozoa, bacteria and fungi as efficiently as possible. Another feature of NEWTON that helps with efficiency is its ability to incorporate the digestibility of your home grown forages and truly account for the nutrients the cow is going to gain from those forages. Many older models are not capable of doing this at all and a few new models can be manipulated to do this to a certain degree via NDF-d. However, NEWTON is the only model that can incorporate whole plant digestibility. The last feature of ration balancing efficiency is the utilization of rumen modifiers and incorporating their benefits into the ration. Rumen modifiers such as Rumensin or Levucell Yeast change the rumen environment which ultimately changes the outputs of the rumen. Many models simply formulate a ration and then add the rumen modifier on top of the created formula. NEWTON has the capability to incorporate the benefit of the rumen modifier in the formulation process and this can have a dramatic impact on the ration created. The last aspect of improving efficiency is manufacturing and or on-farm ingredient selection. It is in your best interest as a producer to work with a company that has a large number of available ingredients. Remember, cows do not have an ingredient requirement but a nutrient requirement, so the more ingredients there are available, the more cost effective the final product is. Quality control and assurance is also critical in this aspect. Do the nutrient numbers in the ingredient database match the specs of the ingredients in the bin? Shur-Gain analyzes all incoming ingredients and frequently updates our database to ensure that your animals are receiving exactly what they need. How much does ingredient selection save you? Each option below is balanced to the same cow definition to provide the same level of nutrient density. All three options were balanced for a herd producing an average of 36 l/cow/day at 3.7% butterfat and 3.2% milk protein. The same ingredient pricing was used in all three scenarios. The only difference between these three scenarios was the selection of ingredients used in each option. Option #1: This option utilized the full selection of ingredients available from the Shur-Gain Mill. • Cost for Option 1 was $3.49/cow/day. Option #2: This option utilized the full selection of ingredients available from the Shur-Gain Mill except animal proteins and tallow. By removing the animal protein options, the cost to balance for the same cow parameters as in Option 1, above, increased. • Cost for Option 2 was $3.66/cow/day (+$0.17/cow/day over Option #1). Option #3: This option utilized the typical ingredient selection from a more traditional small mill. The cost to balance for the same cow parameters as in Option #1 and #2, above, increased. • Cost for Option 3 was $4.04/cow/day (+ $0.55/cow/day over Option #1, and +$0.38/cow/day over Option #2). As you can see the savings and gains inn efficiency from simply working with the number of ingredients is substantial. Add this to the other opportunities discussed and the savings become even more substantial without compromising health or production. Speak with your Shur-Gain Nutrition Advisor to evaluate the opportunities for your operation and how you can improve efficiency and your bottom line. 13 AT A GLANCE, SPRING 2011 Cnossen Holsteins & Cnossome Holsteins: two generations of passionate producers! Special: DOUBLE FARM REPORT (See the next page) Cnossen Holsteins: Where it all Began... Rudy and Hinke Cnossen have always dreamed about creating a strong family dairy farming operation. These strong family values and goals have led to the creation of two impressive Southern Ontario dairy farms that continue to excel in production. Farming in the Netherlands Rudy Cnossen had his start on a small family farm on a 400 acre island near Heeg in the Netherlands. This small agricultural island supported 13 families with a variety of mixed farming operations. Recognizing the limitations of the small island farm and the need to expand, the Cnossen family moved to Parrega, where Rudy farmed with his father and brother for 10 years on a 35 hectare farm. Rudy married Hinke in 1979 and started a family. The children soon arrived – Symen, Harry, Gerrie and Janny! Rudy and his brother took over the family farm and formed a partnership in 1987. Their Dream But Rudy and Hinke still had a dream of owning their own dairy operation and developing a farm that would support their family. Rudy and his brother decided to dissolve the partnership to allow this dream to prosper. Rudy and Hinke moved the family to a 70 acre farm near Gronigen, built a new freestall and started milking 35 cows. As the family grew, Rudy and Hinke recognized that another move might be inevitable so that the family could build an operation that was positioned for the future. In 1998 Symen worked in PEI, Canada on a pure-bred Holstein operation with Dutch roots. Symen was intrigued by Canadian genetics and this two month sabbatical on a Canadian dairy farm was great way to study genetics and get a flavour for Canadian dairy farming. It also planted an idea for Rudy and Hinke – what about moving to Canada? Moving to Canada Rudy and Harry made the first foray into the Canadian marketplace in the fall of 2000 with a 10 day “holiday” in which they looked at 14 potential dairy operations! Two weeks later, the whole family came over to make a key decision – which farm best suited their dreams and goals? The Cnossen family had found a picturesque farm perched on a hill at the edge of Elora in Wellington County that seemed perfect! The dairy barn, a former free-stall operation, needed some work but the family was excited about the possibilities and what the future would bring. They purchased a small tie-stall herd from Sunderland and started milking 35 cows in December 2000. 14 14 Always in Evolution The Cnossens’ made numerous improvements to the operation over the next few years gradually building the herd to a 100-milking cow operation. The rapid growth in herd size strained the capacity of the older barn. The Cnossens’ needed to make a decision to expand the facility. A new 82 stall freestall that included large straw pens for dry cows was attached to the older building in 2008 to give the operation more room and potential for expansion. A Family Business The remarkable story behind the Cnossen dairy operation is the strong family work ethics and the ability to maximize both production and profitability from their operation. Both Symen and Harry worked off the farm on freestall operations owned by close neighbours. Symen and Harry worked at both operations to allow the home farm to prosper during the expansion phase. Harry comments that “this was a great experience for Symen and me. It allowed us to experience different ideas and work ethics; making us more independent, there and on the home farm”. Part of the growth of the Cnossen family throughout the last 40 years was the dream of building a sustainable and profitable family operation. This dream has also become the dream of both Symen and Harry and their families. Symen and his wife Andrea (ne:Tschudi) have purchased a productive tie-stall operation in Perth County near the town of Brunner while Harry and his wife, Hanneke (ne: Bouwman) and Rudy and his wife Hinke continue to operate Cnossen Holsteins. Harry met Hanneke in 2004 on the Bouwman dairy farm just north of Guelph. Hanneke and her family immigrated from Holland to Guelph, Ontario in 1999. Sharing the Same Passion Harry and Rudy, who currently operate Cnossen Holsteins, both love what they are doing! They enjoy working with the dairy cows and recognize that a high production herd can be a highly profitable herd. Harry comments that “there is a great deal of satisfaction working with the cows and seeing improvements in the dairy herd. My number one goal is maximize both milk production and profitability.” Great Performance Cnossen Holsteins’ DHIA information has the herd producing 38-40 litres of milk/cow/day (2x milking) at approximately 4% MF and 3.2% MP. This high production herd has extremely high milk value at over $8000 value for 305 days. The herd ration consists of haylage, corn silage, wet brewers’ grains, chopped straw and a custom complete feed formulated on Shur-Gain’s innovative NEWTON program. The complete feed is manufactured at the Nieuwland’s Elora Mill. Cnossen Holsteins The Cnossen Family: standing left to right - Harry and Rudy and seated left to right - Hanneke, Ruben, Ronella, Hinke. nce Farm profile: Cnossen Holsteins, Elora, Ontario Th d Owners: Rudy and Hinke Anna Cnossen, eS h ur- G ain Harry and Hanneke Cnossen Average herd size: 220 Cows in milk: 110 Production average: 38-40 litres milk/cow/day (2x milking) Average annual components: 4% MF − 3.2% MP BCA: 254-263-249 Herd classification: 17 VG, 57 GP and 31 G Types of crops: Haylage, corn silage, wet brewers’ grains and chopped straw Available land: 200 acres owned and 30 rented Centre of Excellence: Nieuwlands Elora Mill Dairy Nutrition Advisor: Colin MacMillan ere The Future Rudy Cnossen has always dreamed about being a farmer – it’s in his blood! He has seen tremendous change over the last 40 years in dairy farming and big changes in his family! He is now a grandfather with six grandchildren that keeps him quite busy. He has always looked to the future with his dairy operation and his family. Rudy took a calculated risk when he moved to Canada – it was a challenging experience with a new language, a new country and a new farming operation. Rudy is thrilled to be the catalyst for a new generation of dairy farmers! “Rudy Cnossen has always dreamed about being a farmer it’s in his blood.” iff The Cnossens’ are constantly making improvements and modifications on their dairy operation to improve cow comfort, performance and ultimately profitability. A recent change was a move to a new TMR mixer. The Cnossens’ carefully evaluated a number of mixers but settled on a paddle mixer that has made improvements in dry matter intake. The paddle mixer has helped to reduce particle size and prevent sorting plus the TMR mix is “fluffier”. This has improved dry matter intake (DMI) by over 1 kg of intake. 15 15 AT A GLANCE, SPRING 2011 Cnossen Holsteins & Cnossome Holsteins: Special: two generations of passionate producers! DOUBLE FARM REPORT Cnossome Holsteins: the Pursuit of a Dream Symen and Andrea Cnossen first met at Cnossens Holsteins when Andrea was a sales trainee with Shur-Gain in 2002. Andrea remembers Symen on this first meeting as a quiet, young man with a big smile! Their paths didn’t cross again until five years later when they decided that they were meant for each other! The Next Generation Both Andrea and Symen have a similar love for dairy cows and for farming! Andrea (ne:Tschudi) arrived in Mitchell, Ontario from Switzerland in 1992 with her family. Her father, Joe Tschudi, with her brother Thomas run a very successful dairy operation in Mitchell. Andrea developed a deep affection for dairy farming from her parent’s operation in Mitchell. Andrea comments that “I have always loved the idea of farming – I love the lifestyle and running our own business. The long hours and hard work are rewarding especially when the dairy cows improve in production and the operation is successful.” Strong Partnership Andrea developed a keen sense of nutrition and management from her career with Shur-Gain – plus a love for good cows. This closely matches with Symen’s ideals for genetics and cow management. Symen comments that “I love everything about farming. It’s all of the little things such as the smell of the 1st cut haylage that makes it worthwhile. Every season is new and different – I definitely get a kick out of dairy farming!” Living their Dream Symen and Andrea had a dream to develop their own dairy operation much like the dream that Rudy and Hinke had to develop Cnossen Holsteins and the family farm. Symen and Andrea purchased a 65 cow tie-stall operation in Perth County to allow them the opportunity to produce quality Holsteins with high production and type characteristics – Cnossome Holsteins was born! 16 16 About the Farm Performance... Symen currently works for a genetic company, GenerVations, while farming with Andrea full-time. The dairy herd is currently at 35 milking cows with production between 37-38 litres/cow/day. They have a definite goal of maximizing the output from the barn and would like to see all the stalls full in the future as the herd expands. This well-balanced dairy herd is currently fed haylage, corn silage, dry hay, HM Corn, wet brewers’ grains, chopped straw and a custom dairy supplement that is formulated on Shur-Gain’s innovative NEWTON program. The BCA for milk has moved from 214 points when they started to 244 points currently – a great start to a tremendous operation! Their Goals for the Future Symen comments that “Andrea and my goals are very similar – we would like to develop the herd genetically so that we can maximize production on the current dairy operation.” Symen and Andrea find that the management decisions on such things as forage quality and genetics are similar to the home farms in Elora and Mitchell. The tie-stall facility works very well with their current lifestyle and allows them to focus on individual cow needs and development. The future is looking bright for Cnossome Holsteins as they continue to develop their dairy herd with the support and encouragement from their families. Cnossome Holsteins Andrea, Symen, Ella and Ben. iff ere Farm profile: Cnossome Holsteins, Brunner, Ontario Th d eS h ur- G ain Owners: Symen and Andrea Cnossen Herd size: 80 Cows in milk: 35 Production average: 37-38 litres milk/cow/day (2x milking) Average annual components: 4% MF − 3.2% MP BCA: 244-236-238 Herd classification: 9 VG, 26 GP and 5 G Types of crops: Haylage, corn silage, wet brewers’ grains, HMC, hay and chopped straw Available land: 100 acres owned and 100 rented Centre of Excellence: Nieuwlands Elora Mill Dairy Nutrition Advisor: Colin MacMillan nce “Symen and Andrea had a dream to develop their own dairy operation much like the dream that Rudy and Hinke Anna had to develop Cnossen Holsteins and the family farm.” People Devoted to Their Profession “Excellent managers, forward thinkers and success driven are just a few words I would use to describe these two exceptional farm families. They love what they do and it shows in the results they achieve. Working with both Cnossen operations is certainly rewarding and a privilege.” Colin MacMillan, Dairy Nutrition Advisor 17 AT A GLANCE, SPRING 2011 Milglen Farms Ltd. A Successful Family Operated Business Milglen Farms is a family dairy operation located in St. Marys, Ontario. The owner, Linda Mills, and her son Jeff look after all aspects of the business, along with the help of Linda’s other children, Mandy, Melissa, and Jamie. Together they care for a herd of 68 Holsteins, 60 of which are in milk. The Mills are very proud of their ability to run the business as a family. Basic Assets The farm sits on 400 acres of land, which are used to grow corn, hay, wheat, edible beans, and soybeans. The Mills have a quota of 60 kg and would like to purchase more. The herd’s current BCA is 227-234-223 with an average of 32 litres at 3.88% butterfat and 3.24% protein. Their cows include 13 VG, 42 GP and 10 G. These are the basic assets that fuel the accomplishments of Milglen Farms. A Focus on Growth The Mills have focused their energy on growth for the last few years. To achieve their goals, they decided to build a new barn with a robotic milking system. This would give them the ability to increase production as well as the flexibility to grow their business without the need for additional labour. The Transition to the New Barn In July 2009, the new double alley free stall barn was ready, complete with a new Lely A3 milking robot and a Lely Calm Calf Feeder. The entire herd was moved there from the old 60-cow tie stall barn. “The transition was easier than anticipated,” Jeff was happy to report. “Most of the cows were going through the robot within the first two weeks.” As for the calf feeder, not only is it helpful for feeding, but it is also great for weaning the calves and ensuring that their nutritional requirements are met right from the start. Using the Right Feed – The Key to Success To prepare adequately for the move to the new barn, the Mills started feeding their herd 19% Pro-Biotic pellets while the animals were still housed in the old tie stall barn. This made the cows more comfortable with the robot because they were already familiar with the feed when they moved on to the automatic milking system. The cows are fed a NEWTON designed TMR averaging a total of 3.4 kg of 19% Pro-Botic pellet per cow per day. “Using the right feed at the right time was clearly one of the keys to our success,” asserts Jeff. 18 Lely A3 milking robot. Lely Calm Calf Feeder. Proud of Their Achievements With an average of 2.6 milkings per day, a milk speed of 2.7 litres/min and only 3 cows to push up every day, the Mills family is very satisfied with the results they have obtained since the cows have moved to the new facilities. The herd’s BCA has also been consistanly increasing. All this, together with working as a tightly knit team on troubleshooting, improving artificial insemination and feeding, and maintaining the technology on the farm is a great source of pride for the Mills. Gearing Up for Further Growth Now that the right structures have been put in place, the Mills family would like to gear up for further growth by purchasing more quota. This has been an objective for some time. As the future of Milglen Farms clearly hinges on growth, the Mills would like nothing better than to be able to fill their barn to capacity. A Knowledgeable Partner The Mills moved their herd from a regular tie-stall barn to an ultramodern robotic free-stall facility in July of 2009. Since then Jeff has worked with Shur-Gain Dairy Nutrition Advisor Mark Ross in reviewing information that is provided by the Lely software, based on Shur-Gain’s AMS “know-how”. As far as feeding the herd is concerned, Stephen Hutton and the Hitching Post team have been a valued supplier and an integral part of Milglen farms. They look forward to working with the Mills family for many years to come. Milglen Farms Ltd. Jeff , Linda, Jamie, Melissa and Mandy. ere nce “To achieve their goals, they decided to build a new barn with a robotic milking system.” iff Farm profile: Th d Milglen Farms Ltd., St. Marys, Ontario eS h ur- G ain Owners: Linda Mills and her son Jeff Herd size: 68-cow Cows in milk: 60 Production average: 32 litre/cow/day Average annual components: 3.88% BF − 3.24% P BCA: 227-234-223 Herd classification: 13 VG, 42 GP and 10 G Types of crops: corn, hay, wheat, edible beans and soybeans Available land: 400 acres Centre of Excellence: The Hitching Post Dairy Nutrition Advisor: Mark Ross A Great Example of Motivation “It’s a privilege to work with motivated people who do everything they can to get the best out of their herd and do so with great respect for the animals they make a living from.” Mark Ross, Dairy Nutrition Advisor 19 Give it a try and measure is Shur-Gain’s brand new program for heifer development. It includes highly palatable products, from milk replacer through to growth supplements because the proper development of your heifers starts at birth and is critical for their future dairy performance. Based on the science of NEWTON, O PTIVIA facilitates nutrient intake for health and optimum growth with no waste. O PTIVIA enables heifers to calve and begin producing milk more quickly, at the right weight and height and optimizes peak milk. THE POWER OF RESEARCH WITHIN YOUR REACH SGO110148 O PTIVIA the difference.