New rationing system will bring major benefits

For the first time, dairy farmers can now ration their cows with a system which will allow increased precision in diet formulation, leading to improved production and better rumen health.

The NutriOpt system is the result of extensive research by Trouw Nutrition and according to Technical Director Dr John Allen, it offers several major advantages over the systems currently in use.

“The NutriOpt system uses extra information on the rate and extent of fermentation of feed ingredients in the rumen to better predict the impact on rumen pH and health.

This also allows more accurate balancing of energy and protein supply to optimise rumen performance and feed efficiency.

“Unique among rationing systems, it calculates the end products of digestion available to the animal, the volatile fatty acids from rumen fermentation, the nutrients that bypass the rumen and can be used in the small intestine and energy sources produced from fermentation in the large intestine. This means the system can more accurately calculate the energy available to the cow and more closely match supply and demand to produce more cost-effective rations.

“This includes more effectively determining the supply of glucogenic and ketogenic energy which drive fertility, milk yield and milk quality.

“Together these mean NutriOpt represents a major development in dairy rationing systems which will help farmers develop more cost-effective diets to boost margins.”