Feeding the fresh cow: Fiber Considerations

Transition Period: Drastic Change in Nutrient Requirements Feeding the fresh cow: Fiber Considerations S. E. LaCount, M. E. Van Amburgh, and T. R. Overton Uterine or Mammary Uptake, g/day 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 Gravid Uterus (250d) 2.7x 1.9x Mammary Gland (4 DIM) 4.5x Cornell Nutrition Conference 2017 0 Glucose Amino Acids Fatty Acids 1 Bell, 1995 2 Body Reserve Mobilization High Starch Fresh Rations A necessary process FA oxidation and ketogenesis supplies fuels for liver and peripheral tissues Excessive FA mobilization detrimental Prepartum ( 0.3 meq/l) and postpartum ( 0.7 meq/l) NEFA linked to: Increased disease incidence Decreased reproductive parameters, milk production Fatty liver disease Decreased DMI, milk production, impaired health status and reproductive performance Increased ROS and systemic inflammation Ospina et al. 2010; Bobe et al. 2004; Sordillo et al. 2009 3 Fermentable Starch Propionate production Mixed evidence of efficacy Positives: Increase DMI, milk yield, blood glucose Decreased body reserve mobilization- NEFA, BHBA Negatives: Decreased DMI, milk yield Low rumen ph Increased inflammatory markers Success may be attributed to different dietary and management factors Higher starch diets can lead to rumen acidosis McCarthy et al. 2015; Rabelo et al. 2003; Dann and Nelson 2011; Williams et al. 2015 4

Subacute Ruminal Acidosis Large changes in dietary composition and intake during the transition period increase the susceptibility of cows to subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) SARA and inflammation Ruminal LPS SARA Negatively affects ability of rumen epithelium to absorb volatile fatty acids Low rumen ph shifts bacterial population Decreases fiber digestion Increase ruminal concentration of endotoxin Increase inflammatory markers Cows fed Higher Starch ( 27% v 21%) had: Lower Rumen ph Higher Ruminal LPS Higher haptoglobin Higher SAA Nocek 1997; Zebeli and Metzler-Zebeli 2012, Williams et al. 2015 5 Williams et al. 2015 6 High Starch in fresh cow rations: A balancing act Can we feed high starch and still keep the rumen healthy? More energy available Less mobilization of body tissues Increased milk production Increased intake Higher risk of acidosis with consequences of: Decreased intake Decreased milk production Higher disease incidence 7 High Starch in fresh cow rations: A balancing act Fiber pendf- Physical characteristic, impacts passage rate and ruminal fermentation undf- Chemical characteristic, undigested fiber measured at a defined time point Focus on digestibility- Milk production and intake Focus on undigestibility (i.e. undf 240 ) Milk components, rumen and animal health Description NDF undf 240 LS Pre Change 32.5 8.9 LS Post Change 33.5 10.9 HS Pre Change 26.4 7.7 HS Post Change 32.8 10.5 Of 9 cows: 2 RP, 1 DA, 4 CK Of 5 cows: 1 RP, 2 DA, 4 CK pdndf Fast Pool pdndf Slow Pool undf Stone, 2004; Cotanch et al. 2014; McCarthy et al. 2014 8

Materials & Methods 56 multiparous cows Enrolled 28 days prepartum Study 1: The effect of fiber level in fresh cow rations on performance, energy, and liver metabolism CURC Experiment #757 Receive one of two treatment diets at calving through 28 DIM Once high fiber cows>28 DIM switched to the low fiber diet until 43 DIM Formulated for high starch and different levels of undf and pendf High fiber- Target adequate levels of undf and pendf Higher fiber achieved through addition of chopped straw Low Fiber- Target marginal levels of undf and pendf Hypothesis: Additional fiber in fresh rations would help buffer the rumen and attenuate any possible negative effects due to SARA without impacting DMI and milk yield. 9 10 Data Collection Sampling Daily- Feed intake, milk production Weekly- Milk Components, BW, BCS Rumination- Continuously recorded in 2h intervals Blood 2x/wk prepartum, daily from 0-7 DIM, 3x/wk through day 28, 2x/wk thereafter Subset of 40 cows- Liver biopsies 7d and 14d postpartum Statistical analysis Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA Random effect: cow within treatment Fixed effects: treatment, time, treatment time, and covariate where appropriate 11 Results- Analyzed Diet Composition Item Prepartum Postpartum Lower Fiber Higher Fiber DM, % 45.9 ± 1.2 44.4 ± 2.3 47.4 ± 2.0 MP, g/kg DM 89.2 111.5 109.1 ADF, % 28.9 ± 0.5 21.3 ± 1.1 22.9 ± 2.1 andfom, % 43.1 ± 0.3 32.8 ± 1.4 35.3 ± 2.3 undf240, %DM 12.82 ± 0.5 9.49 ± 0.4 12.15 ± 1.6 pendf, %DM 33.3 21.4 25.0 Sugar, % 3.5 ± 0.4 4.7 ± 0.7 3.9 ± 0.7 Starch, % 15.7 ± 0.3 24.9 ± 1.7 24.6 ± 2.3 Fat, % 2.3 ± 0.2 3.3 ± 0.2 3.2 ± 0.1 Treatments actually ended up being adequate undf and high undf, data now investigating upper limit of undf for fresh cows 12

Results- DMI and Milk Production Intake, % of BW Milk Yield, kg 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 Higher Fiber Lower Fiber 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Postpartum Trt P=0.02 Trt Trt P=0.25 Trt 13 Results- undf 240 Intake & Rumination undf 240 Intake, %BW Rumination (min/day) 0.45% 0.40% 0.35% 0.30% 0.25% 0.20% 590 540 490 440 Higher Fiber Lower Fiber 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Postpartum Trt P<0.01 Trt Trt P=0.9 Trt Time P=0.14 14 BHBA, mg/dl NEFA, μeq/l Results- Energy Metabolites 12 10 8 6 Trt P<0.01 Trt 4 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 800 700 600 500 400 300 Trt P=0.19 Trt Time P=0.01 Higher Fiber Lower Fiber 200 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 Day Relative to Calving 15 Results- Energy Balance and Glucose Glucose, mg/dl Energy Balance, Mcal/d 62 60 58 56 54 52 50 48 46 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Trt P=0.02 Trt Day P<0.01 Higher Fiber Lower Fiber 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 Trt P=0.04 Trt Week P<0.01 16

Results & Conclusions Feeding increased undf 240 and pendf in the immediate postpartum period resulted in: Decreased DMI & milk production Decreased blood glucose, increased BHBA and NEFA More severe negative energy balance The detrimental effects of feeding higher undf 240 and pendf did not carryover once the cows were switched to a lower undf 240 and pendf diet undf 240 levels likely play an important role in regulating feed intake in the early fresh period, although this area warrants further investigation The maximum undf 240 level for cows in the post partum period is likely around 0.35% of BW. Potential optimal undf 240 range in the fresh period ~0.29-0.35% of BW or 9.5-11% of DM. 17 Next Step Still looking for strategies to lower body tissue mobilization and increase dietary energy. Now that we know more about the upper limit of undigestible fiber for fresh cows, can we learn more about the lower limit? 18 High Starch in fresh cow rations: A balancing act Digestible Fiber Fiber pendf- Physical characteristic, impacts passage rate and ruminal fermentation undf- Chemical characteristic, undigested fiber measured at a defined time point Focus on digestibility- Milk production and intake Focus on undigestibility (i.e. undf 240 ) Milk components, rumen and animal health pdndf Fast Pool pdndf Slow Pool Brown Midrib Corn Silage- BM3 Higher in-vitro digestibility (30h) and lower undf compared to conventional Reduction in rumen fill Higher passage rate Increased DMI Milk yield Milk components Postpartum BW gain undf Increases overall energy availability Stone, 2004; Cotanch et al. 2015; McCarthy et al. 2014 19 Stone et al. 2012; Oba and Allen 2000; Holt et al. 2013 20

Another tool-monensin Increased: DMI Blood glucose Capacity to convert propionate to glucose Milk production BHBA, mg/dl 16 14 12 10 8 6 Decreased body reserve mobilization BHBA and NEFA Through alterations in rumen environment, monensin optimizes energy availability Control Monensin -4-3 -2-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Week relative to calving McCarthy et al. 2015; Mullins et al. 2012; Arieli et al. 2008 21 Study 2: Strategies for optimizing dietary energy availability in fresh dairy cows- Impacts on production and metabolism CURC Experiment #768 22 Materials & Methods 85 multiparous cows enrolled 28d prior to expected calving, on study until 43 DIM Covariate diet from day -28 through -21 Conventional silage, no Rumensin Assigned randomly to one of four treatment schemes consisting of corn silage type with or without Rumensin supplementation (350 mg/d prepartum, 450 mg/d postpartum) Conventional corn silage, no Rumensin Conventional corn silage, Rumensin BMR corn silage, no Rumensin BMR corn silage, Rumensin Cows received a fresh diet at calving formulated to meet the initial treatment scheme Diets were identical in ingredient composition except for corn silage type and small inclusion mix which delivered Rumensin 23 Data Collection Sampling Feed intake and milk yield- Daily BW, BCS- Weekly Milk Composition- 2x/week for first 2 weeks, then weekly thereafter Fecal Samples- Collected for fecal undf analysis Blood Sampling 1x/wk prepartum 2x/wk through 14 DIM 1x/wk through 42 DIM 24

Ration Composition Prepartum Postpartum Item NO RUM NO RUM Ingredients, % of ration DM Corn silage 51.67 51.67 51.46 51.46 Hay Crop Silage - - 10.65 10.65 Straw 23.33 23.33 2.66 2.66 Corn meal - - 15.08 15.08 Canola meal 4.57 4.57 6.45 6.45 Amino Plus 4.0 4.0 5.32 5.32 Blood meal 1.67 1.67 1.77 1.77 Wheat middlings 1.93 1.92 1.40 1.39 Soybean meal 0.67 0.67 0.48 0.48 Citrus pulp 3.67 3.67 - - Rumensin, mg/d¹ 0 336.9 0 449.7 Other 8.96 8.96 5.19 5.19 25 Ration Analysis- Preliminary analyzed via NIR Prepartum Postpartum Item CON BMR CON BMR Analyses, % of ration DM andfom 44.0 ± 3.2 41.6 ± 1.5 33.2 ± 2.0 32.4 ± 1.7 ADF 29.5 ± 1.8 27.2 ± 1.2 21.9 ± 1.7 20.7 ± 1.4 Starch 20.3 ± 2.1 21.1 ± 1.0 27.0 ± 1.1 26.7 ± 1.8 Sugar 4.7 ± 0.6 5.4 ± 0.4 4.0 ± 0.9 4.2 ± 1.0 Fat 2.7 ± 0.2 2.8 ± 0.2 4.3 ± 0.4 4.4 ± 0.3 undf240 17.1 ± 1.9 14.6 ± 1.2 11.2 ± 1.1 10.1 ± 1.1 pendf 1 35.1 35.3 22.8 23.4 MP, g/kg DM 1 94.5 96.5 115.5 117.2 26 Results- Intake DMI, kg/d 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 Prepartum Corn P=0.03 Rum P<0.01 Corn Rum P=0.44 Postpartum Corn P=0.57 Rum P=0.54 Corn Rum P=0.14 BMR-NO BMR-RUM CON-NO CON-RUM -3-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Relative to calving Cows fed BMR had: Increased prepartum intake Cows fed RUM had: Decreased prepartum intake 27 Results- Milk Yield Yield, kg/d 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 BMR-NO BMR-RUM CON-NO CON-RUM Corn P=0.05 Rum P=0.61 Corn Rum P=0.95 Corn Time P=0.14 Rum Time P=0.92 Corn Rum Time P=0.02 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Relative to calving Corn Rumensin P Value SEM Item CON BMR NO RUM Corn Rum C R C T R T C R T ECM, kg/day 53.2 54.8 54.1 53.8 1.04 0.27 0.84 0.17 0.56 0.01 0.13 28

Results- NEFA NEFA, meq/l 750 650 550 450 350 250 150 50 BMR-NO BMR-RUM CON-NO Con-RUM Prepartum Corn P=0.02 Rum P=0.35 Corn Time P=0.05 Presented as geometric means with back transformed 95% CI Postpartum Corn P<0.01 Rum P=0.06-3 -2-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Relative to Calving Feeding BMR: Feeding RUM: Cows had lower NEFA pre and postpartum Cows tended to have lower NEFA postpartum compared to cows fed CON corn silage compared to cows not fed RUM 29 Results- BHBA BHBA, mmol/l 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 BMR-NO BMR-RUM CON-NO Con-RUM Prepartum Corn P=0.62 Rum P=0.04 Presented as geometric means with back transformed 95% CI Postpartum Corn P<0.01 Rum P=0.01 Corn Time<0.01-3 -2-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Week Relative to Calving Feeding BMR: Cows had lower BHBA postpartum compared to cows fed CON corn silage Feeding RUM: Cows had lower BHBA pre and postpartum compared to cows not fed RUM 30 Results and Conclusions Corn Silage Feeding BMR resulted in: Higher intakes Higher fluid milk yield Lower NEFA & BHBA Increasing digestible fiber positively impacts performance and metabolism Rumensin Supplementation Feeding RUM resulted in: Lower intake prepartum Lower NEFA & BHBA Feeding Rumensin increased energy availability from the diet, improving metabolism in the fresh period An interaction of corn silage type and Rumensin supplementation with time on fluid milk yield would suggest there is a synergistic effect of increasing dietary energy through increased dietary fiber and altering rumen fermentation with an ionophore. Overall, increasing dietary energy positively impacted performance and metabolism 31 Overall Conclusions Fiber fractions, both digestible and indigestible, have a role in transition cow rations Indigestible fiber may improve rumen health, but can also limit intake Potentially digestible fiber increases energy availability Increasing dietary energy increases energy status postpartum Total fermentable carbohydrates should be considered in ration formulation Important to realize management can add additional stressors which can impact rumen dynamics Bottom line: The answer is always it depends 32

Acknowledgements Dr. Tom Overton Dr. Mike Van Amburgh Dr. Ron Butler Dr. Jessica McArt CURC Research Staff Charlene Ryan & Susanne Pelton Overton and Van Amburgh lab groups Undergraduate help: Questions? Claira Seely, Kristen Gallagher, Reilly Pierce, Conor McCabe, Shana Coffey 33