optiMilk – Nutrition

Because we ask a lot from the current dairy cow, it is necessary to feed a well-balanced ration. There must be sufficient structure in it, among other things, to keep the rumen functioning optimal. But also the energy requirements of the cow must be covered by the ration, without the animal increasing too much in condition (ie at the end of the lactation). Also, rumen acidity is lurking when there is hard feeding, with all the negative consequences that entails.

Ration and nutrition efficiency

An increasingly important indicator is the feed efficiency or, in other words, how much milk is produced from one kilogram of dry matter feed. This largely determines the profitability of a company, especially now that the milk quota has been abolished for a number of years. With all this, it is possible to perform optimally when the vitamin and mineral balance is in order. Every vitamin and mineral has its own function in the body. A mineral check can help to gain insight into the mineral intake of the dairy cattle, in order to assess whether too few or perhaps too many minerals are being fed.

Table 1 below shows the requirements for minerals and trace elements for adult dairy cattle in grams or milligrams per animal per day (Veeteelt 2016).