Dairy special: How to get late summer feeding right to safeguard winter production

Dr Anna Sutcliffe, a nutritionist with KW, says as milk yield potential from grazed grass drops towards zero around mid-September, it is easy for cows to lose an extra 0.5 body condition score (BCS) if buffer feeding does not adequately make up the shortfall.

She says: “Not only will summer milk production potential be compromised, but cows will also prioritise replacing lost condition over milk production once fully housed.”

According to figures from Trouw Nutrition, the energy needed to replace 0.5 BCS equates to a daily milk yield loss of 1.9 litres/cow for the first three months of winter. That is worth about £9,000 for a 200-cow herd, even at 26ppl.

Dr Sutcliffe says offering a buffer feed will help avoid many knock-on effects of losing excess BCS during early lactation. These include poor fertility and greater risk of lameness.

She says: “It has been shown that as much as 50 per cent of the lameness risk in early lactation is due to BCS loss, for example.

“This is likely due to a thinning of the fat pad in the foot, the digital cushion, that protects against pressure injuries, such as those that lead to sole ulcers.”

According to Dr Sutcliffe, the priority for buffer feeding should be cows that will provide a good return over additional costs of feeding.

Focus on cows that have calved since the start of June and minimise costs per litre by choosing feeds that provide the best value, rather than price per tonne.

She says: “Maintaining nutrient intake is key and that comes down to a combination of dry matter intake [DMI] and ration nutrient density.

“The best value feeds tend to be those that are nutrient dense, which has the added advantage of requiring a lower DMI for a given nutrient supply.”

Moist feeds such as wheat-gluten moist feed, brewers’ grains and draff will add considerable palatability and intake potential to high fibre buffer feeds.