Milk quality’s a winner with Mylo

Including a probiotic in a dairy herd’s feed could help almost a third of Australian milk producers reduce their herd’s bulk milk cell count by up to 38 per cent, according to recent research.

This research, by the University of Queensland’s School of Veterinary Science, indicated the biggest milk quality gains from feeding a probiotic and optimising the herd’s mastitis control could be found in herds with a BMCC of 250,000-300,000cells/ml or more.

According to Dairy Australia’s 2018 Countdown Report, this BMCC level is the industry average and accounts for at least 30 per cent of Australian dairy herds.

The probiotic used in the most recent study was Mylo, a live microbial liquid feed supplement designed to support and aid the digestive health of cattle.

Former University of Queensland researcher and current Veterinary and Animal Sciences Head at Terragen Biotech – the creators of Mylo – Dr John Alawneh said the study showed there was potential for health and economic gains, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.

The 24-week study compared a group of mid-lactation cows fed Mylo with a control group which ate the same feed without the supplement.

Some of the highlights included:

An average milk production increase of 0.79 litre/day/cow based on a partial mixed ration.

• A liveweight gain of 5kg or 1 per cent across the study period for the group fed Mylo, compared to a weight loss of 12 kg or 2.1 per cent for the control group.

• An average reduction of up to 38 per cent in the herd BMCC.

• Dr Alawneh said the drop in BMCC was viewed as a “surrogate” for mastitis control as Mylo improved the herd’s health, cow’s energy reserves and its udder “defence mechanisms”.

“When the cow is healthier – has higher energy reserves due to the higher feed efficiency – the cow will mobilise more energy, boosting milk production and enhancing local defence mechanisms of the udder,” he said.

“This means they are better and more efficient at fighting pathogens from within the udder. Theoretically, the teat canal could be more capable of producing a better-quality seal around the external orifice, which prevents microbes – in general – coming into the udder, causing disturbances which results in an increase in BMCC.”

Feeding Mylo to dairy herds with a BMCC of less than 100,000 cells/ml, would most likely result in a stabilisation of their milk quality, Dr Alawneh said.

For more information visit: www.terragen.com.au