The Importance of B Vitamins in Enhanced Precision Nutrition of Dairy Cows: The Case of Folates and Vitamin B12

Dairy cow diets are generally balanced for energy and major nutrients with B vitamins generally assumed not to be limiting, in spite of their role as coenzymes, essential to many metabolic reactions in protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Assuming adequacy of B-vitamin supply may explain some of the discrepancies between the outcomes of metabolic prediction models and measured cow performance. In lactating dairy cow, the amount of B vitamins from the diet and synthesized by the ruminal microbiota is generally sufficient to prevent deficiency symptoms and, as such, is assumed to fulfill requirements. However, reports of beneficial effects of B-vitamin supplementation on dairy cow performance suggest that B-vitamin supply is sometimes lower than its needs, as an insufficient B-vitamin supply decreases metabolic efficiency by driving a shift towards alternative metabolic pathways with greater energy cost. Using information on folates and vitamin B12 illustrated how meeting dairy cow needs for B vitamins should not be overlooked in formulation of rations for lactating dairy cattle. The present review discusses current knowledge and indicates areas presently impeded by the lack of research results, especially the limitations on the ability to estimate B vitamin need and supply.

Inclusion of Direct-Fed Microbials in Lactating Dairy Cow Diets

This report summarizes the information relating to the usage of direct-fed microbials, such as their modes of action and effectiveness in lactating dairy cows. Written by S. L. Bennett and A. P. Faciola, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Animal Sciences, December 2021.

Income analysis of integrated farming system of dairy cow breeding farm, earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus), and citrus sinensis Valencia farm. Case study in Dau District, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia

The integrated farming system between dairy cow breeding, earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus), and citrus (Citrus sinensis valencia) plantations provides regular income for farmers and sustainable farming. This research aims to analyze farmers’ income based on the integrated farming system that has been done on these three commodities. This study utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze data. Data were collected through questionnaires to 15 farmers who are members of Gading Kulon Farmer Group in Dau District, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia followed by in-depth interviews with key respondents. The study showed that dairy cow breeding provided annual income which contributed up to 58% of household income. Meanwhile, earthworm farming provides weekly income and twice a year income for citrus farming. Depending on the land area, Earthworms farming contributed up to 10% of household income, and citrus plantation was 33%, depending on the land area owned by farmers. The average income of Dairy cow breeding was Rp. 163,308,000 per year; the Average Income of earthworms was Rp. 27,058,000 per year, and the average income of citrus plants was 92,480,000 per year. However, integrated farming of these commodities does not work well in the community due to farmers’ lack of land and capital. Moreover, most respondents indicated that they were interested only in citrus farming because it is easier compared to dairy cow breeding and earthworm farming. Good cooperation from various parties is needed to increase the importance of integrated farming with these three commodities for sustainable farming in Indonesia.

Diet optimization for dairy cows to reduce ammonia emissions

Feeding livestock a balanced diet with a differentiated crude protein (CP) content, depending on the lactation phase can reduce nitrogen emissions from livestock excrement and urine. A higher content of non-starch polysaccharides in livestock diets improves feed absorption in the livestock body and, consequently, nitrogen is emitted more from protein present in livestock manure than from urea acid present in livestock urine. The aim of the study is to calculate the ammonia emission reduction potential in Latvia by optimizing the feeding of dairy cows and ensuring life longevity, as well as provide justification for ammonia emission reduction in dairy farms. Calculations made by using the NorFor Model for optimization of dairy cow (Bos primigenius f. taurus) diets revealed that compared with lowyielding cows, a higher CP content diet fed to high-yielding cows at the beginning of lactation increased the amount of nitrogen (N) in their excrement and urine by 90–180 g d-1. Reducing the CP content in the cow diet by an average of 10 g kg-1 dry matter (DM) during mid-lactation resulted in the same trend. Reducing the CP content in the cow diet during late lactation and the dry period by another 20–30 g kg-1 of DM, N emissions from excrement and urine significantly decreased. Increasing the lifespan of dairy cows also means reducing ammonia emissions from the farm. By increasing the number of lactations per cow on dairy farm, it is possible to reduce the number of heifers per cow. The total reduction of ammonia emissions in Latvia was calculated based on a long-term projection of a decrease of 0.1 heifer per dairy cow. Ammonia emissions could be reduced by 0.051 kt by decreasing the number of heifers by 12.54 thou. at the planned increase in the lifespan of dairy cows by 2030.

The impact of mycotoxins on dairy cow health and milk production

В статье представлены материалы о влиянии микотоксинов на здоровье и продуктивность молочного скота. В настоящее время наибольшую опасность для здоровья животных представляют яды микроскопических грибов — микотоксины, что требует разработки методов их устранения по всей цепочке — от поля до потребителя. Известно, что споры грибов, продуцирующих токсины, живут в почве и оттуда передаются растениям, а затем зёрнам. Микотоксины — это вторичные метаболиты грибов, такие как афлатоксины (AF), продуцируемые видами Aspergillus, фумонизины (FUM), зеараленон (ZEN), токсин T-2 (T-2) дезоксиниваленол (DON), продуцируемый видами Fusarium, охратоксин A (OTA), продуцируемый видами Penicillium, и многие другие. Потребление кормов, загрязнённых этими токсинами, вызывает у животных микотоксикозы, которые характеризуются рядом клинических признаков в зависимости от вида токсинов. У животных снижается продуктивность и поедаемость кормов, увеличивается восприимчивость к различным заболеваниям. Существует две формы микотоксикозов: острые микотоксикозы, возникающие из-за потребления высокой разовой дозы микотоксинов, и хронические микотоксикозы из-за постоянного потребления низких уровней микотоксинов в течение продолжительного времени. Хронический токсикоз, вызванный низким уровнем воздействия микотоксинов в течение продолжительного времени, представляет собой более распространённую проблему для здоровья животных и качества пищевых продуктов для людей. В целом объёмистые корма и зерновые компоненты, входящие в состав рациона, подвержены загрязнению афлатоксинами на всех этапах производства кормов, таких как сбор, транспортировка, хранение, переработка и упаковка. В последнее время учёные стали уделять больше внимания загрязнению кормов микотоксинами и механизмам борьбы с разными группами токсинов. Основной задачей при производстве кормов является снижение концентрации токсинов на всех этапах — от поля до рациона животных. This article focuses on the effect of mycotoxins on dairy cow health and productivity. To this day toxins produced by various fungi are one of the most serious dangers for cattle. It is known that spores usually contaminate plant and later grain material from soil. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites such as aflatoxins (AF) produced by Aspergillus spp., fumonisins (FUM), zearalenone (ZEN), T-2 (T-2), deoxynivalenol (DON) produced by Fusarium spp., ochratoxin A (OTA) produced by Penicillium spp., and many others. Toxin-contaminated forage causes mycotoxicoses of different severity depending on toxin type. Livestock shows low productivity and appetite but high susceptibility to diseases There are two types of mycotoxicoses: acute mycotoxicoses, caused by high concentration of toxins and the chronic ones, occurring due to constant long consumption of low toxin levels. Chronic toxicosis is a more common problem for animal health and food quality. Bulk and grain feed are highly affected by aflatoxins at such production stages as harvesting, transporting, storage, processing and packaging. Lately scientists drew more attention to toxin contamination issue and methods controlling their accumulation. The main task when producing forage is to reduce toxin concentration at all the production stages.

Data-Based Variables Used as Indicators of Dairy Cow Welfare at Farm Level: A Review

During the last years, the interest in data-based variables (DBVs) as easy-to-obtain, cost-effective animal welfare indicators has continued to grow. This interest has led to publications focusing on the relationship between DBVs and animal welfare. This review compiles 13 papers identified through a systematic literature search to provide an overview of the current state of research on the relationship between DBVs and dairy cow welfare at farm level. The selected papers were examined regarding their definition of animal welfare and classified according to this definition into three categories: (a) papers evaluating DBVs as predictors of animal welfare violations, (b) papers investigating the relationship between DBVs and animal-based measurements, and (c) papers investigating the relationship of DBVs to scores of welfare assessments like the Welfare Quality protocol or to overall welfare scores at farm level. In addition, associations between DBVs and indicators of animal welfare were extracted, grouped by the type of DBV, and examined for replications that may confirm the associations. All the identified studies demonstrated associations between DBVs and animal welfare. Overall, the first indications of a possible suitability of DBVs for predicting herds with animal welfare violations as well as good or poor animal welfare status were given. The evaluation of relationships between DBVs and animal-based measurements (ABMs) found mortality-based DBVs to be frequently associated with ABMs. However, owing to varying definitions of animal welfare, the use of different variants of DBVs, and different methods used to assess DBVs, the studies could only be compared to a limited extent. Future research would benefit from a harmonisation of DBVs and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare. Data sources rarely investigated so far may have the potential to provide additional DBVs that can contribute to the monitoring of cow welfare at farm level.