Special diets (infant formulations, the maintenance of muscle amongst the elderly and infirm, weight loss drugs like Ozempic), and body building supplements, are all major market drivers. In addition, proactively engaged consumers (Prosumers) demand a diversity of food options, environmental concerns, animal welfare, ethnic diets, and the influence of social media on consumption is pervasive on the food shelves of supermarkets and convenience stores.
Visiting the supermarket to buy food is as much about entertainment and storytelling than about the actual nutritional needs of the consumer.
Milk processors have struggled to keep up as grocery store shelves fill with a diverse range of low-fat, high-protein, flavoured, live-culture, nutrient-enriched milks, cheeses, yoghurts, and ice cream brands. What can dairy producers do?
Genetics
The recent and dramatic advances in reported milk components in the US dairy herd have been nothing short of extraordinary. Co-Bank reports the 2024 US butterfat levels reached 4.23% and proteins now at 3.29%, a record by historical standards. This has been driven by better genetic selection, particularly in Holsteins, and feeding and managing those genetics for optimal performance. While European herds have not kept up, it is reasonable to expect further improvements in bovine genetics will continue these trends over the coming decade.
Feeding for milk components
Traditionally, nutritionists have used least-cost feed formulation software to achieve the most cost-effective milk production. In ruminant diets, formulation decisions were made based on single ingredient digestibility and not on how the total diet affects rumen fermentation, ruminal biomass, and the absorption of those nutrients in the lower gastrointestinal tract. The use of by-pass proteins and anionic salts have shown what is possible when ingredients can avoid degradation by rumen micro-organisms. The use of yeast cultures is another approach, enhancing rumen fermentation of fibres, and acidity (pH) to produce more microbial protein, and eventually increased milk components.
Precision feeding for milk components through encapsulation
The last 10 years have seen an explosion in the use of encapsulated ingredients to by-pass the rumen, allowing this concept to go from niche to mainstream. The most obvious example of this has been Adisseo’s Smartamine & Meta-Smart, and protected forms of methionine are now said to be used in over 70% of the top-producing dairy herds. As one New York dairy farmer said to me: “When my nutritionist forgets to put it in the feed, I see the changes in the milk tanks within days.” Globally, another dozen companies have entered the fray.
The other challenge is that for decades, the feed industry has focused on enhancing nutrition through the simple addition of high-quality ingredients such as grains, proteins, fat, vitamins and minerals. While this approach has improved productivity, asynchrony of digestion and absorption, it has also fueled an unintended consequence: an open buffet for opportunistic pathogens and other competitive enteric microbes in the rumen and hindgut of the cow.
As such, the new entrants are all looking beyond methionine to a range of nutrients that increase milk production, enhance milk components, and improve intestinal health. Jefo (b-vitamins, essential oils), ADM, Kemin, Alltech (non-protein nitrogen), Balchem (lysine, choline), are just some of those leading in this field. The excitement of using microencapsulation is that it allows these feed ingredients to by-pass rumen degradation, effectively turning the ruminant into a monogastric, in other words feeding a cow as though she was a pig. Clearly the next frontier is rumen and abomasum protected nutrition to optimise hind gut nutrition.
The last 10 years have seen an explosion in the use of encapsulated ingredients to by-pass the rumen, allowing this concept to go from niche to mainstream. Photo: Twan Wiermans
A demonstration of the scale of excitement around how encapsulation is seen as a game changer is that Jefo recently opened a new US$100 million factory in Canada just to meet the needs of their customers. This facility focuses on delivering combinations of ingredients through Matrix technology to improve cow health, productivity and fertility. Jefo is collaborating with a number of leading US universities to reshape the way to think about nutrition – moving beyond traditional methods that over-supply critical nutrients to compensate for the risk poor bioavailability and stability issues.
Jefo has moved to a new era of what they call ‘Synchronised Intestinal Nutrition’ or Matrix technology, where nutrients are delivered with precision at the right time, place and bioactive form, without feeding unwanted microbes. The aim is to reduce pathogens, support beneficial gut microbes, minimize biological activity losses, and lower the risk of physical losses and dust emissions during feed manufacturing, which can compromise worker safety.
So, what’s next? As always, artificial intelligence will most likely increase the pace of change in our cow’s nutrition. Understanding how to influence the ruminal microbiota through nutrition, more precisely and in real time, will move science forwards. Traditional rumen models such as the artificial rumen simulation systems (e.g., Rusitec), predictive models such as the Cornell CPCPS Model and INRA Systali (PDI) in Europe, are being supplanted by AI-based systems.
Equally, using sensors in the rumen (digital boluses, Smaxtec) and in-line and individual cow milk sensors (e.g., Labby), will give farmers the ability to see the benefits of delivering nutrition in real time. Feeding precisely means in the right place, in the right form, and at the right time. Already Canadian farmers have reported dramatic benefits of encapsulating all the micro-nutrients (premix) fed to their cows in a single delivery, on milk components, somatic cells, and fertility. In this way, the future of feeding cows is now transforming traditional thinking to reimagine how we feed our cows.
