‘Beating the drop’ in East Cork
John Dunne is milking 216 spring calving cows with his wife, Noreen, and son, Billy, at Ballyhimikin, Ladysbridge, County Cork (pictured below).
“Traditionally, we would have milked around 100 cows,” John explained. “This increased to 183 in 2021, further increasing to 216 cows last year.”
In the past, John found that as grazed grass became a significant component of the diet offered to the cows, the levels of butterfat and protein in their milk started to drop off significantly in springtime. Fortunately, this changed five years ago, when he specified the inclusion of Yea-Sacc® in his fresh calvers’ diet.
“The business plan is a very simple one: produce as much milk solids as possible from the grass and crops grown on the farm,” John continued. “It was frustrating when milk solids began to drop during the spring months. Thankfully, this is no longer the case. The addition of Yea-Sacc in the cows’ diet has made all the difference.”
In 2018, the Dunne herd averaged 462kg MS at 4.25% butterfat and 3.52% protein. In 2022, the herd averaged 498kg MS at fat at 4.42% and protein at 3.64%. The plan is to further increase Milk solid production in the herd this year.
John uses Alltech’s InTouch nutrition service. “It was the InTouch advisors who made me aware of the Yea-Sacc option in the first place,” he commented. Based on this recommendation, John decided to include Yea-Sacc in the concentrates fed to the cows in-parlour. InTouch nutritionist Bernard Stack regularly visits the Dunne farm to give nutritional advice.
InTouch nutritionist Bernard Stack recently visited the Dunne farm
“As cows return to grass, farmers face the issue of a drop in milk solids, both in butterfat and protein,” Bernard explained. “Cows grazing lush grass can be at risk of a drop in butterfat as this grass will be low in fibre and very high in soluble sugars.”
“Grazing conditions of this nature predispose cows to ruminal acidosis. This, in turn, leads to a significant depression in milk butterfat and protein levels.”
According to Bernard, including live yeast in the cow’s diet can combat both of these issues.
“Live yeast helps promote healthy digestion and utilisation of nutrients, allowing for more solids in the milk,” he added. “In doing so, yeast acts to stabilise rumen pH. Research, backed up by repeated on-farm trials, confirms that Yea-Sacc® will reduce acid build-up in the rumen. This is why it is so successful in helping farmers to beat the drop in milk solids when cows are at grass.”
Bernard also pointed out that Yea-Sacc® should be included in cow diets as soon after calving as possible and certainly before the animals go out into very lush paddocks as the spring period progresses.
InTouch nutritionist Bernard Stack recently visited the Dunne farm
“As cows return to grass, farmers face the issue of a drop in milk solids, both in butterfat and protein,” Bernard explained. “Cows grazing lush grass can be at risk of a drop in butterfat as this grass will be low in fibre and very high in soluble sugars.”
“Grazing conditions of this nature predispose cows to ruminal acidosis. This, in turn, leads to a significant depression in milk butterfat and protein levels.”
According to Bernard, including live yeast in the cow’s diet can combat both of these issues.
“Live yeast helps promote healthy digestion and utilisation of nutrients, allowing for more solids in the milk,” he added. “In doing so, yeast acts to stabilise rumen pH. Research, backed up by repeated on-farm trials, confirms that Yea-Sacc® will reduce acid build-up in the rumen. This is why it is so successful in helping farmers to beat the drop in milk solids when cows are at grass.”
Bernard also pointed out that Yea-Sacc® should be included in cow diets as soon after calving as possible and certainly before the animals go out into very lush paddocks as the spring period progresses.