Martine Côté, Agr., Dairy Nutritionist, Trouw Nutrition Canada
How is nutrition different with a robotic milking system? Part of the grains are fed through the robot. This motivates the cow to go to the robot to get milked. After, we need to balance the diet according to the herd’s needs while considering your farm’s economic goals and performance. The NEWTON® formulation program is the ideal tool to help you reach those goals.
Now, how can NEWTON® help you? It formulates rations based on the dynamic energy principle. It calculates the needs of the cows according to their production, components and lactation stage. For example, a cow more effectively uses the energy supplied by the ration at the beginning of lactation than at the end of lactation.
The concentrates are calculated based on forage quality to maximize their use. The better the forages are, the less you need concentrates. Certain parameters are integrated in NEWTON® to allow us to evaluate the nature of the ration. We can, for example, see the level of unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen, and it’s impact on fermentation, the efficient fibres, and the excess carbohydrates and rumen available protein.
Also, NEWTON® formulates according to precision nutrition by calculating exactly what the cow needs to maximize its production. Therefore, we avoid any waste caused by overfeeding. This allows for sustainable farming and appropriate feeding cost. It also takes rumen modifiers* into consideration by incorporating their effects in the calculation of the ration. This lets you reduce your feeding cost and increase your profits.
Please contact your Dairy Nutrition Advisor or Shur-Gain dealer to talk about your feeding strategy.
