MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF DAIRY ENTERPRISES.

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1017193
• Multistate No.: NC-_old2042
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907

Performing Department
Animal Sciences

Non Technical Summary
The costs of feeding dairy cattle and raising dairy heifers represents two of the largest costs for a dairy producer. Our hypothesis is that nutritional and management strategies can be identified and implemented for dairy cattle that will increase the efficiency of dairy production. This will have long term impacts not only on the profitability and sustainability of individual dairy farms but also on the sustainability of the US dairy industry. Our first specific aim is to develop best management practices in calves and heifers that will improve first lactation performance. We expect to indentify nutrition products and and management strategies that can be implemented in early life that will have long term effects on growth and performance of animals, leading to reduced cost of milk production. Our second specific aim is to evaluate the effect of nutrition and management strategies on tissue mobilization and accumulation in lactating dairy cattle. In the first few months of lacation cows lose a considerable amount of body weight, from both muscle and adispose, this likely has health consequences for dairy cattle that leed to reduced productivity. Additionally in later lactation there can be a considerable amount of body weight gain which may also have negative health consequences. Evaluating the effects of nutrition and management strategies on nutrient mobilization in the cow will allow for more efficient use of nutrients and reduce negative health outcomes for dairy cattle. Ultimately we are trying to develop nutrition and management strategies for dairy farmers to implement that will increase their productivity.

Animal Health Component

80%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

20%

Applied

80%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
302	3410	1010	75%
307	3410	3100	25%

Knowledge Area
302 - Nutrient Utilization in Animals; 307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3410 - Dairy cattle, live animal;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 3100 - Management;

Keywords

dairy calves

dairy heifers

dairy cattle

feed efficiency

lactation

Goals / Objectives
Optimize calf and heifer growth and development by improving feeding strategies, management systems, well-being, new technologies, and environmental impacts for productivity and profitability. Optimize dairy cow performance and well-being by improving nutrition, forage utilization, technology, and management.

Project Methods
Objective 1: Optimize calf and heifer performance through increased understanding of feeding strategies, management systems, health, and environmental impact for profitability or productivity. Data will be collected from a commercial dairy farm that has robotic calf feeders including daily intake of milk and feeding behavior. Additional data from DairyComp 305 herd management software will be collected including body weights, serum total protein, disease incidence, reproduction information and first lactation milk production. We will evaluate if relationships exist between health, milk consumption, growth and first lactation milk production using multiple regression analysis. Additionally research studies looking at the impact of early calf life nutrition and health status impacts future growth and production performance of dairy cattle. This includes testing of nutritional products to determine if they have effects on growth and health status. These studies will include health measurements including ultrasound scans of the thoracic cavity, respiratory scores, and fecal scores. Growth data will be recorded for the duration of the experiment and as many times as feasible after the trial to determine if treatments in early life have long term impacts on growth. Milk production for first lactation will be measured for each calf on treatment to determine long term impacts of early life on future production.Objective 2: Improve dairy cow management decisions through nutrient utilization, well-being, and profitability.Research trials will be focused on the effects of different nutrition and management strategies on tissue mobilization in early lactaiton and nutrient partitioning throughout lactation. Body weights, body condition scores, backfat and muscle depth ultrasounds will be performed to see macro-level tissue mobilization. Blood samples will also be used to measure blood metabolites and hormones related to fat and muscle mobilization and accretion. Milk yield will be recorded and milk samples will be collected throughout the treatment periods to quantify energy output through milk. Health events will be recorded to determine if treatments impact health status of animals.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences include dairy farmers, herd managers, veterinarians, extension educators, dairy scientists, and agribusiness. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training for 4graduate students, 5undergraduate students, and 1internin dairy nutrition and management. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Journalpublications and presentations at Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, the Florida Ruminant Nutrition Symposium, and the Virtual Dairy Nutrition and Management Series, as well as popular press articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Complete journal articles, student presentations and theses, and popular press articles to disseminate information.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Under Objective 1: a.) Partnering with a commercial dairy farm in Indiana, we obtained birth weights, serum total protein values, health records, total milk consumption, weights throughout life, genomic information, and milk production for 10,000 dairy calves fed through an automated calf feeding system. The data was collected from the auto feeder software, DairyComp305, CLARIFIDE program, and AfiMilk system. Data was combined from these sources to determine the effects of early life milk consumption on growth, reproductive success, and future milk production. One journal article accepted and one journal article submitted realated to the impacts of early life on future growth and performance. Continuing to work with this dairy farm on data integration to better understand management recommendations in early life that have long term impacts on animals. b.) Holstein bull calves were blocked by birthweight and serum total protein and assigned to one of two treatments, Control and Direct Fed Microbial. Intake of milk replacer (1 - 56 d) and grain (1 - 112 d) was measured. Health events and biweekly growth data was recorded and fecal samples were collected for fecal microbiome analysis. Towards the end of the preweaning period, calves were given an immune challenge to determine if the DFM has an impact on immune status of the calves. Results presented at American Dairy Science Annual Meeting in 2020 and manuscripts in preparation. Objective 2: a.) Cows were blocked by previous milk production and previous disease incidences and assigned to one of two treatments. Cows were monitored from 7 weeks prior to calving to 60 DIM. Feed intake was monitored throughout the study and milk yield was recorded from 1-60 DIM. Body weight, body condition score, blood samples and ultrasound scans of the longissmus dorsi muscle were taken at 8 time points throughout the study. Muscle biopsies of the longissmus dorsi muscle were anlayzed for proteomic analysi. Journal articles are in preparation as well as follow up studies to determine if nutritional intervention can alter tissue mobilization. Objective 3: a.) A video camera system was installed at a dairy farm to record cows walking through a dairy system. Working with faculty specializng in video analytics, we are designing systems that will allow us to extract usable information from video files to improve dairy farm management. One journal manuscript published and another in preparation.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Hurst, T. S., N. Lopez-Villalobos, and J. P. Boerman. 2020. Predictive equations for early life indicators of future growth in Holstein dairy heifers. J. Dairy Sci. Accepted.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Liu, H., J. P. Boerman, and A. R. Reibman. 2020. A cow structural model for video analytics of cow health. Computer and Electronics in Agriculture. Accepted.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: McCabe, C.J., A. Suarez-Trujillo, K. Teeple, T. M. Casey, and J. P. Boerman. 2020. Chronic prepartum light-dark phase shifts in cattle disrupt circadian clocks, decrease insulin sensitivity and mammary development, and associate with lower milk yield through 60 days postpartum. J. Dairy Sci. Accepted.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: McCabe, C. J., and J. P. Boerman. 2020. Invited Review: Quantifying protein mobilization in dairy cows during the transition period. Applied Animal Sci. 36:389-396.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Boerman, J. P. 2020. What have we learned about fatty acid digestibility in dairy cattle? Proceedings of the Florida Ruminant Symposium, Gainsville, FL. USA, 3-5 February, 2020. Editor: Santos, J.E.: 67-76.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Hurst, T. S. 2020. Early life events alter future Holstein heifer growth, survivability, reproduction, and first lactation milk production. M.S. Thesis in Animal Sciences. Purdue University.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences included dairy farmers, herd managers, veterinarians, extension educators, and agribusiness. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training for 3 graduate students, 10 undergraduate students, and 2 interns in dairy nutrition and management. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extension publication and presentations at Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference and the Discover Conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Complete journal articles, student presentations and popular press articles to disseminate information.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Under Objective 1: a.) Partnering with a commercial dairy farm in Indiana, we obtained birth weights, serum total protein values, health records, total milk consumption, weights throughout life, genomic information, and milk production for 10,000 dairy calves fed through an automated calf feeding system. The data was collected from the auto feeder software, DairyComp305, CLARIFIDE program, and AfiMilk system. Data was combined from these sources to determine the effects of early life milk consumption on growth, reproductive success, and future milk production. Journal articles are in preparation as well as a tool to combine phenotypic and genotypic information to improve culling decisions on commercial dairy farms. b.) Holstein bull calves were blocked by birthweight and serum total protein and assigned to one of two treatments, Control and Direct Fed Microbial. Intake of milk replacer (1 - 56 d) and grain (1 - 112 d) was measured. Health events and biweekly growth data was recorded and fecal samples were collected for fecal microbiome analysis. Towards the end of the pre-weaning period, calves were given an immune challenge to determine if the DFM has an impact on immune status of the calves. Journal articles are in preparation. Objective 2: a.) Cows were blocked by previous milk production and previous disease incidences and assigned to one of two treatments. Cows were monitored from 7 weeks prior to calving to 60 DIM. Feed intake was monitored throughout the study and milk yield was recorded from 1-60 DIM. Body weight, body condition score, blood samples and ultrasound scans of the longissmus dorsi muscle were taken at 8 time points throughout the study. Journal articles are in preparation as well as follow up studies to determine if nutritional intervention can alter tissue mobilization.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: McCabe, C. J., and J. P. Boerman. 2019. Quantifying protein mobilization in the transition dairy cow. Applied Anim. Sci. In Review.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Boerman, J. P. Quantifying tissue mobilization in transition dairy cows. Proceedings of the Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, Fort Wayne, IN, USA, 22-24 April, 2019 Editor: Eastridge, M.:67-74.