Tactics dairy producers can use to reduce emissions and improve performance
As the dairy industry seeks ways to reduce its carbon footprint, nutritionists are finding ways to reduce emissions through precision feeding programs.
For example, dairy rations balanced for amino acids can reduce nitrogen intake and improve nitrogen efficiency through the reduction of urinary nitrogen emissions. In addition, changes to the ration’s ingredient composition and limits to the amount of imported feed proteins used in the diet also reduce its environmental impact. Overall, these actions decrease the carbon footprint per liter of milk.
According to Dr. Christophe Paulus, Adisseo’s European ruminant sales director, this method also improves the longevity of the cows, “as balancing amino acid levels has been shown to improve health and reproduction.”
In advance of his Feed Strategy Seminar session on November 16 at EuroTier 2022, Paulus joins the Chat to explore how precision feeding and amino acid balancing can improve dairy production.
How precision feeding, amino acid balancing can improve dairy production from Steven T Kilger on Vimeo.
Transcript: Feed Strategy Chat featuring Dr. Christophe Paulus, ruminant sales director – Europe, Adisseo
Jackie Roembke, editor in chief, WATT Feed brands/Feed Strategy: Hello everyone and welcome to Feed Strategy Chat. I am your host, Jackie Roembke, editor in chief of WATT Feed brands and Feed Strategy magazine.
This edition of Feed Strategy Chat is brought to you by Adisseo, one of the world’s leading experts in feed additives. Adisseo offers solutions that enhance the performance of animal feed, improve the digestibility of raw materials, sustain the normal metabolic processes of animal organisms, and incorporate other benefits that are essential for growth and maintenance in animal production.
Today we’re joined on Zoom by Dr. Christophe Paulus, Adisseo’s European ruminant sales director. He’s here to explore how precision feeding and amino acid balancing can improve dairy production.
Hi, Christophe, how are you today?
Dr. Christophe Paulus, Adisseo’s European ruminant sales director: Hi, Jackie doing well, and you?
Roembke: I’m doing very well. Thank you. Well, let’s get right into it. Briefly describe the current challenges that global dairy industry faces when seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.
Paulus: Well, around three-quarters of the carbon footprint of milk is coming from the dairy farms, and around half of those emissions is linked to the nutrition of dairy cows.
The first challenge at farm level is to understand these emissions and to measure important environmental parameters per liter of milk produced at the farm gate. That’s what we are looking at at Adisseo.
The carbon footprint is one, OK, but the other is efficiency in the use of nitrogen. As you know, protein is expensive and scarce, especially in Europe, and as well the release of phosphorus and minerals — all of these needs to be considered.
Roembke: How do nutritionists find the ideal balance between the dairy cows’ nutritional needs and the amino acid levels and their rations?
Paulus: Well, historically, balancing amino acid has been done by increasing nitrogen levels in dairy rations, and provides an excess of protein. This is leading to the waste of expensive protein and is also impacting the health and the reproduction of cows.
Reducing protein levels and balancing rumen bypass amino acids in dairy cows was established 20 years ago — that’s quite a long time ago. This technology is now becoming mainstream in modern dairy cows in the same way it did with monogastrics, where amino acid balancing is a standard technology.
There are many benefits of a more precise nutrition in dairy cows: more milk and milk solids, less health issue, better reproduction.
Join us on November 16 at EuroTier 2022 for Christophe Paulus’s presentation “Precision feeding and amino acid balancing for improved dairy production” | Hall 12 @ 16:00-17:00
Roembke: Please explain how balanced amino acid levels help reduce emissions.
Paulus: A better equation of the needs in metabolizable amino acid and their supplies is possible in dairy cows. Different rationing systems enable such an approach. The main ones are NRC (Nutritional Requirements of Dairy Cattle) and CNCPS (Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System) in USA, and INRA in Europe.
The aim is to optimize the fermentation of the rumen, including the production of protein by the microorganism, and to enable a balanced supply of metabolizable amino acids using raw materials and effective rumen bypass amino acid formulations.
Roembke: How will these strategies help downstream customers meet their net zero emission targets?
Paulus: While influencing dairy nutrition can reduce the carbon footprint per liter of milk at farm gate level, we estimate between 10% and 35% depending on how intensively you are approaching the system. The nitrogen efficiency can also be improved by up to 40%.
This approach will not only benefit the environment, but it could as well improve the profitability of the farm, the health and the reproduction of the cows, a step in the right direction for a sustainable future.
Roembke: Very good. Thank you so much.
If you’ll be in Hannover for EuroTier 2022, join us on November 16, 2022, from 4-5 p.m. in Hall 12 on the Dairy Forum Stage for the Feed Strategy Seminar session, “Feed additive solutions for reducing emissions in dairy production.”
Or for more information about the solutions discussed here today, visit www.adisseo.com.
Paulus: Thank you very much. Have a good day.
EuroTier 2022 Technical Session:
Feed additive solutions for reducing emissions
in dairy production
Nov. 16, 2022 | Hall 12 | 16:00-17:00
Precision feeding and amino acid balancing for improved dairy production
Speaker: Dr. Christophe Paulus, ruminant sales director – Europe, Adisseo
Description: Precision feeding in dairy cows requires a better balance between the nutritional needs and the levels in their ration, especially balancing amino acids, which affects dairy performance. Diets balanced for amino acids reduce nitrogen intake and improve nitrogen efficiency — therefore reducing urinary nitrogen emissions and the carbon footprint per liter of milk. The second benefit is the direct reduction of the carbon footprint of the ration due to a change in ingredient composition and less imported feed protein. This method also improves the longevity of the cows, as balancing amino acid levels has been shown to improve health and reproduction. Practical examples will be presented.
Sponsored by
