No fat, less profit: the nutritional mistakes dairy farmers must avoid

News flash: if you are not feeding your herd supplementary dietary fats, you are missing out on revenue. It’s no overstatement to say that the right fats can transform your profits. And in this article, we will show you just how much more money you could be making by upping your herd’s fat intake.

Let’s get started.

Why wouldn’t you feed fats? 

Working in dairy farming isn’t an easy ride. Profit margins can be wafer thin and it’s essential to control costs. That can lead some dairy farmers to veer away from fat supplements. But when used correctly, fat supplements have been proven to improve milk yields. The best supplements can easily pay for themselves by increasing your productivity and profits.

Before we get started it’s important to note that even on the most basic basal diet, your herd will be taking in a certain amount of fat. Grass, for example, contains around 3.5% fat, whereas cereals contain around 2 to 2.5% fat. The problem is that high-yielding cows may need around 6-8% of fat in the dry matter to meet requirements.

The benefits of feeding fats  

Fat is a nutritional powerhouse. Pound for pound nothing is more energy-efficient. Fats have been proven to boost the immune system, improve fertility and certain fats can help improve body condition score - perhaps most importantly of all - improve milk yields.

The bottom line is that your cows will never be as productive and fertile as they could be without the right amount of fat in their diets. The knock-on effect on your profits is huge.

What are the best fats to feed?

In a moment we will show you how the right fats can transform your profits. But first, we need to take a scientific look at how cows digest fats. To the rumen...!

All fats are slightly different. But as they break down in the rumen, most natural fats release oil. In excess, this oil creates a gooey slick that coats the rumen and prevents a cow’s good bacteria from breaking down food. In turn, this slows digestion, reducing feed efficiency and can even cause serious health complications like acidosis, laminitis, and mycotoxicosis.

That’s where rumen-protected fat supplements like Megalac come in.

>> How to maintain a healthy rumen in dairy cattle

What is Megalac?

Unlike rumen-active fats, rumen-protected fats have no detrimental impact on regular rumen or digestive function. That gives you a safe way to enhance your herd’s fat intake, without the negative effects on digestion that can occur when you feed too much fat from traditional feed ingredients.

Megalac is a rumen-protected fat supplement that can bring multiple, research-backed benefits to your herd, such as:

• improved milk production
• promotion of egg development
• increased likelihood of embryo survival
• increased fertility

How does Megalac impact milk yields?

By now you are probably thinking something along the lines of: how does a rumen-protected fat supplement improve milk yields?

Here are some figures.

Over to you...

It’s understandable why some dairy farmers try to minimise their costs by ignoring dietary supplements. But doing so is likely to cost your business far more in the long run. The right rumen-protected fat supplements can improve fertility, boost the immune system and increase the amount of milk that each cow produces per day.

It’s worth considering the positive impact that could have on your bottom line.

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>> More fat, more profit: are you feeding enough fats to your dairy herd?
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