Feed into Milk: A New Applied Feeding System for Dairy Cows

Strategic research in ruminant nutrition has greatly improved our understanding of the processes involved in the conversion of feed to milk. However, the lack of an up to date framework to incorporate this knowledge into support systems has meant that much of the technology has not been transferred into practice in a way that can aid the sustainability of milk production systems.The aim of Feed into Milk (FiM) was to develop this framework in close collaboration with the dairy support industry so that an improved nutritional model could be applied with immediate effect. The project comprised reviews and evaluations of current relevant information on feeding systems, a joint modelling, animal experiment and feed evaluation approach to deriving an improved diet formulation system and the construction of an improved applied nutrition model to meet the future needs of the dairy farmer and the feed industry. This advisory manual is one of the main outcomes of the project and is aimed at consultants, research workers, academics and students of animal nutrition.This manual explains the background and principles involved in deriving the FiM system and provides the rationale and the equations for the prediction of intake and the calculation of the requirements and supply of energy and protein. In addition the manual recognizes that an applied feeding system is only part of the process of diet formulation and provides a series of decision support systems (DSS) to assist in building rations for dairy cows. The accompanying CD explains the principles of diet formulation and provides examples on the use of the DSS. The complete set of equations is listed in software format and this together with an extensive feed database enables the user to begin formulating diets with almost immediate effect.