Reaching 7 pounds of components

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Milk component yields reflect genetics, feeding and management of the herd said Michael Hutjens, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. They are also the basis of the dairy farm’s income.

Hutjens presented “To 7 Pounds and Beyond — Maximizing Milk Components for Profitability,” at Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls. He focused on how farmers can get per cow production to 7 pounds of components each day, regardless of overall milk yield. Hutjens focused on feeding and management knowledge.

“It is feasible,” Hutjens said. “You can do this with a 40-cow herd, you could do a 400-cow herd, and probably even a 4,000-cow herd.”

Hutjens said it is challenging to get 7 pounds of components per day if a herd is only milked twice a day. He said once a herd starts reaching 75-80 pounds of milk, there are issues with leakage, cow comfort and somatic cell counts.

Using April prices, fat is worth $2.64 a pound, protein is $2.17 per pound and other solids are $0.31 per pound.

“All you dairy farmers, unless you’re from Southeastern states, are being paid for pounds of fat, pounds of protein,” Hutjens said. “That’s what writes the check.”

Hutjens said a farm can reach 7 pounds of solids several ways. They can do it if they have 100 pounds of milk with tests of 4% fat and 3% protein. They also can reach 7 pounds with 90 pounds of milk and tests of 4.5% fat and 3.2% protein. Or a herd with a 70 pounds per day average could also reach 7 pounds with tests of 5.6% fat and 4.3% protein.

“One hundred pounds of milk is going to get you there a lot faster than if you’re at 70,” Hutjens said.

Overall dry matter intake sustains milk yield. One way to boost DMI is through feeding sugar. Sugar increases feed palatability and reduces sorting. It increases neutral detergent fiber digestibility, leading to lower fill factors and an increased rate of passage. It also shortens the lag in rumen microbial growth compared to starch and pectin. Hutjens recommends 7% total sugar in a diet.

Feed efficiency is important for components, Hutjens said. This connects milk yield with DMI. Other factors contributing to milk yield are body condition scores and transition management.

“There’s no question a fresh cow program is going to do some really neat things for you in terms of milk components,” Hutjens said.

A cow’s lactation curve and peak milk are set early in the lactation. Hutjens said farmers should look at the changes in milk that occur between the 2-week lactation mark and the 4-week lactation mark. Mature cows should peak in milk around 4-6 weeks.

“Milk yield sets the lactation curve,” Hutjens said. “(There are) additives that you really only have to feed for the first 40 or 50 days, and then you aren’t going to need them anymore.”

He said this sets the milk curve high and it stays there over the lactation period.

Hutjens said it is important to optimize DMI early in lactation. A cow with high butterfat in the first few weeks after calving is in a bad situation because she is using body reserves to produce that milk fat.

“You’re challenging the cow,” Hutjens said. “The last thing you might want her to do is take that extra energy and put it in the pail because she needs that energy to avoid ketosis and other energy needs.”

Factors affecting milk butterfat levels include genetics, the season, stage of production, forage quality, the level of fat fed and rumen efficiency, Hutjens said.

High oleic soybeans can be a good source of fat for cows, Hutjens said. These soybeans are rumen-friendly and, if raised on the farm, can reduce the amount of protein purchased in the diet. He said oleic soybeans can comprise as high as 10%-15% of DMI.

“If you raise soybeans (already) and the (high oleic) seed is about the same price, no yield drag, that’s almost a no-brainer,” Hutjens said. 

He said roasting soybeans increases rumen-ungradable protein compared to raw soybeans.

Hutjens said the milk protein to milk butterfat ratio should be at least 0.80. If the ratio is over 0.9, producers are losing out on fat potential. If it is below 0.75, producers are missing protein potential.

“These ratios, to me, are helpful to see if I’m missing (components),” Hutjens said.

Hutjens said producers should look at their milk records and circle any cows where butterfat is a full point lower than the herd average.

Looking towards the future, Hutjens expects protein to be more important than fat, he said.

“The world is wanting animal protein, beef, pork, turkey and dairy products,” Hutjens said.

Two-thirds of amino acids needed for milk protein can be produced by rumen microbes, Hutjens said.

“Those rumen bacteria are your friends,” he said.

The rumen bacteria are economical protein sources with optimal levels of sugars, starches and protein compared to purchased protein sources, Hutjens said.

Hutjens said cows do not have a protein requirement, but they do have an amino acid intake requirement. He said farmers should ask their nutritionist whether their ration is being balanced using a rumen model, which considers all sources of amino acids.

The advantage of feeding rumen-protected amino acids such as lysine and methionine includes milk protein increase, milk yield increase and/or milk butterfat increase, Hutjens said. Rumen-protected amino acids are amino acids that are protected in the rumen and go to the small intestine, where they can be used for milk production and other requirements. Hutjens recommends feeding a lysine to methionine ratio of 2.65:1.

Hutjens also encouraged producers to look at their energy efficiency, component efficiency, protein efficiency, and milk yield to find their way to 7 pounds of components.

“Look at your records of lactation, days in milk, and see if you (find opportunities),” Hutjens said. “(Go home) and say, ‘We better get our nutritionist out and try and figure out what’s going on.’”