The amount of milk Canadian dairy farmers produce is limited to a production quota expressed in milk fat. Because milk economic value is primarily based on fat and protein, it can be advantageous to decrease the milk fat to protein ratio. Monensin sodium has been suggested to reduce milk fat proportion and outputs, but not milk protein. Publications using lactating dairy cows were utilized to assess predictability of production responses to monensin feeding based upon their base production characteristics and diet composition. Predicted animal output changes due to monensin had poor fits with low r2 (0.31–0.44) and unevenly distributed residuals. Further assessment revealed that cow characteristics, and diets, were not independent of monensin feeding level. Thus, the 43 comparisons were clustered into levels of 10–12, 14–18, or 20–24 mg kg-1 of diet dry matter (DM). Milk fat yield reductions due to monensin differed (P < 0.05; 10–12 and 14–18 mg kg-1 DM), or tended to differ (P = 0.057; 20–24 mg kg-1 DM), from zero (i.e., no change). Monensin addition to total mixed rations of lactating dairy cows negatively impacted milk fat yield to a greater extent than milk protein.
How to translate text using browser tools
17 July 2020
Impacts of feeding monensin sodium on production and the efficiency of milk production in dairy cows fed total mixed rations: evaluation of a confounded literature
P.H. Robinson
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
dairy cattle
milk fat
monensin