However, component yields should not be overlooked. Milk yield per cow tends to receive the most attention by producers.

The priority placed on each genetic trait depends on its economic or profit impact. Heritability estimates for yield are relatively low at about 0.25, while estimates for milk composition are fairly high at 0.50. A change in milk composition using traditional breeding techniques occurs fairly slowly over many years. The table below contains the breed averages for percentage of milk fat, true protein, and fat-to-protein ratio. Normal Sources of Variation in Milk Composition We will discuss the main factors that impact milk components. There are also many non-nutritional factors that can affect milk components such as genetics and environment, level of milk production, stage of lactation, disease, season, cow comfort, facilities, and age of the cow. The concentrations of lactose and minerals, the other solids constituents of milk, do not respond predictably to adjustments in diet.

Dietary manipulation can result in milk protein concentration changing approximately 0.60 percentage units. Fat concentration is the most sensitive to dietary changes and can vary over a range of nearly 3.0 percentage units. The impact of nutrition and nutritional changes in the ration can readily alter fat concentration and milk protein concentration. Please check this link first if you are interested in organic or specialty dairy production Nutritional strategies that impact milk components include adequate rumen-degradable protein and adequate pounds of forage NDF in the diet especially for early lactation cows. Utilization of herd and individual cow records allows identification of groups of animals, lactation number, days in milk, and economic assessment of these groups that contribute to loss of dollars when milk protein and/or milk fat is reduced in the herd. For example, producers who use information from their dairy records can more critically evaluate their nutrition and feeding management programs. However, there are several strategies that producers can use to enhance rumen function and the resulting milk components. Nutritional strategies that optimize rumen function also maximize milk production and milk components. 6.1 Improvements in Nitrogen Efficiency Impacts Milk Componentsįeeding management practices on the dairy farm can have a major impact on the levels of milk fat and protein concentration in milk.6 Applied Nutritional Strategies for Feeding Dairy Cows That Can Impact Milk Components.5.3 Effects of Acidosis on Milk Components.5.1 Limiting the Products That Inhibit Milk Fat Synthesis.4 Nutritional Influences on Milk Protein.3.7 Feed Intake and Peak Milk Production.

3 Normal Sources of Variation in Milk Composition.

Protein elements