Buckeye Dairy News: VOLUME 26: ISSUE 5

  1. Milk Prices, Costs of Nutrients, Margins, and Comparisons of Feedstuffs Prices

    Andie Majewski, Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

    My name is Andie Majewski. I began pursuing a Master of Science degree in the Department of Animal Sciences at The Ohio State University this fall of 2024. I completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in dairy cattle management at the University of New Hampshire in spring of 2024. At OSU, my research will center around dairy cattle nutrition, with a focus on rumen health. My faculty advisor is Dr. Kirby Krogstad on the Wooster campus.

    Milk Prices

    In the month of September, the ending Class III milk price was $23.42/cwt. September’s milk butterfat and protein prices were $3.56 and 2.18/lb, respectively. Butterfat remained about the same as it did in the previous month, only increasing $0.02/lb, while protein increased from its prior price of $1.95/lb in July. The Class III milk price is predicted to drop slightly in the next month to $23.30/cwt.

    Updated Corn Silage Prices

    The corn silage price used in this report is updated each year around the time of harvest. The updated price for corn silage in Ohio was used in this report’s calculations. The updated price of the 32 to 38% dry matter (DM) corn silage is $4.14/bu or $50.68/ton. This price is lower than the 2023 price, which was $56.40/ton making a total of decrease of $5.72/ton since last year.

    Nutrient Prices

    To put Table 1 into greater context, it is helpful to estimate the profitability of a herd using the nutrient prices listed. The NEL decreased about 33% from the previous month of July. The cost of metabolizable protein (MP) increased by 10.63%, and the cost of physically effective fiber (e-NDF) increased by about 33%. Previously, the NEL has progressively increased for the past 6 months of 2024. Despite this, with the new price of corn silage factored in, the NEL has decreased.

    The profitability of these nutrients is estimated using the Cow-Jones Index. The prediction formula uses a 1500 lb cow, producing milk with 3.9% fat and 3.2% protein. This month, the income over nutrient cost (IONC) for cows milking 85 and 70 lb/day is about $15.10/cwt and $14.62/cwt, respectively. Both estimates are expected to be profitable, despite not including factors such as replacement and cull cows in the herd.  

    Table 1. Prices of nutrients for Ohio dairy farms, September 24, 2024.
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    Economic Value of Feeds

    Presented in Table 2 are the results for the 21 reported commodities for Ohio. These results were produced by the SESAMETM analysis for the central Ohio region on September 24, 2024. Listed in Table 2 are the actual and predicted prices for each feed commodity, in addition to the upper and lower limits generated by the 75% confidence interval. The appraisal set predicts the prices for the commodities that did not have a current local price. These commodity prices were predicted by SESAMETM and represent the commodity prices at one specific point in time and are therefore subject to change.

    Table 2. Actual, breakeven (predicted), and 75% confidence limits of 21 feed commodities used on Ohio Dairy Farms, September 24, 2024.A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generatedA screenshot of a computer screenDescription automatically generated

    To more comprehensively interpret the above values, Table 3 uses the outcome from the SESAMETM analysis to compare the economic classification of the listed feedstuffs. The feedstuffs that are priced above the upper limit of the predicted prices are overpriced. Those that fall within the upper and lower limits of the predicted prices are breakeven feeds. The feedstuffs that are priced below the lower limit of the predicted price are considered a bargain. Since the prices of feedstuffs are frequently changing, these columns do not represent these historical values, but rather their temporary economic classification. The feeds included in the Appraisal set from Table 2 are not included in Table 3.

    Table 3. Partitioning of feedstuffs in Ohio, September 24, 2024.

    Bargains

    At Breakeven

    Overpriced

    Corn grain

    Alfalfa hay- 40% NDF

    Blood meal

    Corn silage

    Whole cotton seed

    Canola meal

    Distillers grain

    Feather meal

    Cottonseed meal

    Gluten feed

    Meat meal

    Solvent extracted canola meal

    Gluten meal

    Soybean hulls

    44% Soybean meal

    Hominy

     

    48% Soybean meal

    Soybean meal expellers

     

    Soybean seeds

    Wheat middlings

     

    Wheat bran

    While it is important to consider income and the costs of feedstuffs when forming a dairy cattle ration, the prices listed in the table above are not the only thing that should be considered. While some of the “bargain” priced commodities may have a place in a dairy cattle ration, it is important to know the investment opportunity that may exist with some feedstuffs in the “overpriced” column.

    Appendix

    Table 4 shares the values of the estimated nutrient costs for those who consider rumen degradable protein (RDP) and digestible rumen undegradable protein (digestible RUP) instead of the metabolizable protein that is presented in Table 1.

    Table 4. Prices of nutrients using the 5-nutrient solutions for Ohio dairy farms, September 24, 2024.
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  2. B-vitamins Basics in Dairy Cattle Nutrition – Part I

    Dr. Kirby Krogstad, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

    B-vitamin 101

    B-vitamins are water soluble vitamins that are essential nutrients for metabolism of mammals. Ruminants, like dairy cattle, are provided B-vitamins by their rumen microbes. Since the rumen microbes provide B-vitamins to the animal, they are not supplemented in their rations because we assume that microbial sources meet the animal’s B-vitamin requirements. As dairy cattle continue to increase their milk production, additional B-vitamins may be helpful. Revisiting B-vitamin’s role in the dairy cow is necessary as we continue to enhance efficiency of dairy cattle.

    There are 8 vitamins in the “B-vitamin complex”. They, and some of their primary functions, are listed in Table 1. Clearly, this class of vitamins is essential to some of our most critical metabolic reactions in the body. Choline is not listed but is often considered a “B-vitamin like” molecule, but it won’t be included in this discussion.

    Table 1. List of B-vitamins with important functions they fulfill. Adapted from NASEM (2021).

    Name of Vitamin​

    Function​

    Thiamin (B1)​

    Carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, branched-chain amino acid catabolism, and fatty acid oxidation.

    Riboflavin (B2)​

    Essential component of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide. Involved in more than 100 metabolic reactions.

    Niacin (B3)​

    Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). Involved in critical pathways like glycolysis, lipolysis, ketogenesis, and the Krebs cycle. ​

    Pantothenic acid (B5)​

    Essential component of Coenzyme A which is involved in energy metabolism (i.e. Kreb’s Cycle). Component of enzyme required for fatty acid elongation.

    Pyridoxine (B6)​

    AA metabolism and glycogen utilization.​

    Biotin (B8)​

    Component of carboxylase enzymes (pyruvate carboxylase, propinyl-CoA carboxylase, others)​ involved in energy and amino acid metabolism.

    Folate (B9)​

    DNA replication, damage, repair, and methyl donor.​

    Cobalamin (B12)​

    Essential for two enzymes: methylmalonyl CoA mutase and methionine synthase. Critical for methyl donation, propionate metabolism, and gluconeogenesis.

    Rumen Supply

    How many B-vitamins do the rumen microbes supply to the cow? Very, very small amounts, which demonstrates that these molecules are very potent. For a cow eating 55 lb/day of dry matter (DM), she will be supplied between 1.3 and 6.6 g/day of total B-vitamins (Figure 1).
     

    Figure 1. Estimated B-vitamin supply from rumen microbes of a dairy cow consuming 55 lb/day of DM. Estimates were calculated from NASEM, 2021. Image created with BioRender.com.

    To further complicate matters, a recent meta-analysis has demonstrated that the basal diet fed to the cows will change the amount of these B-vitamins that flow out of the rumen and get taken up by the cow (Brisson et al., 2022). Generally, increasing rumen fermentable carbohydrates will increase the amounts of B-vitamins that exit the rumen. One exception to that generality is cobalamin (vitamin B12) which is reduced when increasing the amount starch in the diet. For example, a 10% increase in dietary starch would increase thiamin by 3%, riboflavin by 5%, and folate by 6%, while reducing cobalamin by 2%.

    Dairy and B-vitamins for People?

    Since the rumen provides cows with B-vitamins, the cows deposit some of these B-vitamins into their milk. One cup of bovine milk can provide approximately 10% of our thiamin needs, 40% of our riboflavin needs, 1% of our niacin needs, 20% of our pantothenic acid needs, 7% of our pyridoxine needs, 4% of our folates, and 50% of our cobalamin needs (Graulet and Girard, 2017). Clearly, dairy is an excellent source of these essential nutrients for humans.  

    Conclusion

    One of the rumen’s superpowers is to synthesize B-vitamins for the cow. We’ve long assumed that these B-vitamins meet the cow’s requirements. The diet fed to the cows changes the amounts of B-vitamins that exit the rumen each day. Increasing dietary starch increases B-vitamins except for cobalamin; increasing starch slightly reduces the amount of cobalamin that exits the rumen. Also, the B-vitamins in milk can provide a significant portion of the B-vitamins that humans require, which demonstrates some of the benefits of dairy product consumption by humans.

    References

    Brisson, V., C.L. Girard, J.A. Metcalf, D.S. Castagnino, J. Dijkstra, and J.L. Ellis. 2022. Meta-analysis of apparent ruminal synthesis and postruminal flow of B vitamins in dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 105(9):7399-7415. 10.3168/jds.2021-21656

    Graulet, B., and C.L. Girard. 2017. Chapter 15 - B Vitamins in Cow Milk: Their relevance to human health. Pages 211-224 in Dairy in Human Health and Disease Across the Lifespan. R. R. Watson, R. J. Collier, and V. R. Preedy, ed. Academic Press.

  3. Footbath Practices for Lameness Prevention

    Jason Hartschuh, Assistant Professor, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension

    Whether you are milking cows in a traditional parlor or through an automated milking system, a cow's locomotion is important. She needs to make a minimum of 2 trips to the parlor and 9 to 14 trips to the feed bunk to eat. When a cow has a sore foot, she doesn’t feel like walking anywhere and will eat less frequently. While in a conventional parlor, she will still be herded with the rest of the cows to get milked. A cow with a sore foot will make fewer trips to the robotic milker and often appears on the fetch list. Each case of lameness costs approximately $336.91 in lost milk production, treatment of lameness, reduced reproductive performance, and increased culling. Also for each additional week a cow is lame beyond the first signs of clinical lameness, this cost goes up $13.26. Barn hygiene practices, such as preventative hoof trimming and regular alley scrapping, are critical for hoof health, but these practices also need to include the regular use of a footbath with a disinfectant to control foot rot and digital dermatitis.

    The more regular your footbath practices, the easier it will be to get the cows to walk through the footbath. While many locations can work for a footbath, it needs to be in a location that all cows will walk single file through it and be easy for setting it up.  A cow needs to step in a foot bath a minimum of 2 times with each foot. For this to happen, the foot bath should be a minimum of 10 feet long with no additional benefit for footbath lengths being over 12 feet. The solution depth in the foot bath should be 4 inches deep, with a recent study showing that the step in height can be up to 10 inches which will retain the chemical solution better and not impede cow flow through the footbath. The higher step-in height maintains the appropriate chemical depth of at least 3.5 inches after 300 cows pass through the footbath. The minimum width a cow will pass through is 20 inches, but 24 inches for the footbath is better. Cows will move better through a footbath with solid walls at least 3 feet above the footbath and tapered outwardly at a 70° angle. These high walls ensure cattle are getting their feet in the treatment. One side should be removable in case a cow goes down in the footbath. 

    Proper footbath management includes the selection of an effective disinfectant, determining the number of times a week to use the footbath, and the number of cows passing through the footbath before too much manure has caused the disinfectant to be ineffective. Footbaths are effective for approximately 150 to 350 cow passes. Barns with automated manure removal and cleaner hooves will be at the higher-end, but barns that are only scraped 2 or 3 times a day will be at the low end. The number of times a week a cow needs to pass through a footbath solution varies, but on average, each cow should pass through a footbath 3 times a week. When an outbreak of digital dermatitis is experienced, increase the number of times a cow passes through an effective footbath to 4 or 5 times per week.

    While there are multiple products available to use in a footbath, only three of them have multiple scientific studies conducted on them. These three are copper sulfate, formalin, and zinc sulfate. No matter what antibacterial product is used, the solution pH should be between 3.5 to 5.5 so that it doesn’t damage the skin with a normal pH of 4.0 to 5.5. Copper sulfate is the best option due to its antibacterial properties and the hardening effect on the claw horn at a cost of about $42 per cow per year with 4 uses per week. Unfortunately, organic matter rapidly neutralizes copper sulfate, so dirty footbaths are less effective. Copper sulfate concentrations should be maintained between 3 to 5%. The biggest issue with copper sulfate is the environmental concern of copper accumulation in the soil leading to plant toxicity. If manure applications are appropriately managed so that other nutrients are applied at crop removal, copper build-up will be slow, but soils should be monitored.

    Formalin also kills bacteria and hardens the claw horn but is a suspected carcinogen. Over time, formalin breaks down into water and carbon dioxide. Treatment concentrations of formalin should be maintained at 3 to 5%, with caution to not exceed 5% due to risk of chemical burn. Formalin is not as effective at temperatures below 50° F, and open claw lesions may heal slowly after walking through formalin, making it a better product for control than treatment. If using formalin, be sure to store and use in a well-ventilated area.

    Zinc sulfate is not as widely researched but has efficacy in controlling digital dermatitis at a concentration of 5 to 20% zinc sulfate. Unlike the other antibacterial products, zinc sulfate is less soluble, making it harder to get into solution. Some companies offer premixed solutions that are much easier to mix into the footbath. When using these premixed products, be sure to follow the product mixing directions.  

    When the foot bath needs to be changed multiple times each day, it can be beneficial to have a premix tank for the footbath solution. This allows the old footbath to be drained, and the new solution quickly pumped into the footbath. This allows one person to mix up the day’s footbath solution using the proper personal protective equipment to handle the full-strength chemicals, and others would only need to handle the diluted solution.

    Utilizing proper footbath practices will help keep cows walking to the feed bunk and milking parlor. Lowing the number of clinical and subclinically lame cows on the farm also boosts employee morale as they have fewer cows that don’t want to move causing them to be frustrated.   

  4. USDA Publishes Final Rule on Animal Disease Traceability in Regards to Use of Electronic Identification Eartags

    Dr. Maurice L. Eastridge, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University

    The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the final Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) rule on the Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison on May 9, 2024. Beginning November 5, 2024, all official ear tags sold for or applied to cattle and bison must be readable both visually and electronically. This applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age and older, all dairy cattle (including dairy-beef crosses), and all rodeo and exhibition cattle moving interstate.

    This final rule does not change the categories of animals that are exempted from official identification requirements, including beef feeder cattle under 18 months, direct to slaughter cattle (including cull cattle), and cattle or bison that do not move interstate.

    Additional Resources: