Peak milk is used to measure the success of the dry period and early lactation nutrition and management. When nutrient needs for both the fetus and the cow are met during the dry period the cow will have a better chance of handling the stress inflicted at calving, will be able to modulate inflammation better, and will be less likely to encounter any metabolic diseases during the fresh period.

What is peak milk?

Peak milk is the highest recorded test day milk production in a cow’s first 150 days in milk (DIM). Peak milk indicates how well the cow responds to feeding strategies during the dry period, close-up, and early lactation periods.

Most cows reach peak milk by 45 to 90 DIM (60-70 DIM ideally) and then slowly lose production over time. Many papers cite that each added pound of peak milk could lead to 200 to 250 pounds more milk over the entire lactation.

How to improve peak milk and lactation performance.

1. Focus on the dry period: Nutrition and management of the dry period affect health and performance post calving.
   • Aim for at least 28-32 pounds of dry matter intake per day. Compare intakes in the close-pen to the far of dry pen. We don’t want intakes to drop a whole lot when we move from the far-off to the close-up pen.
   • Avoid overfeeding energy.
   • Optimize cow comfort.
   • Address hoof health.
   • Support a healthy microbiome.
   • Prime the immune system and modulate inflammation.
2. Prevent Subclinical milk fever: blood calcium levels below 8.0 milligrams/deciliter.
   • Animals are more prone to ketosis.
   • High somatic cell count.
   • Delayed uterine involution.
   • Animals more likely to have metritis.
   • Depressed feed intake.
   • Reduced milk yield.
3. Optimize feed intake immediately after calving.
   • Provide 10-15 gallons of water including a drinkable drench.
   • Allow full access to the fresh ration.
   • Provide ad lib alfalfa/grass hay.
   • Keep feed fresh and bunks clean.
4. Maximize cow comfort.
   • Stock pens 80-85% of capacity.
   • Keep animals in a fresh group for 14-21 days.
   • Provide 30-36 inches of bunk space per cow.
   • Reduce social stress.
   • Group first lactation animals separately if possible.
   • Invest in wind breaks, shades, and cooling if necessary.
5. Maintain rumen health and prevent acidosis.
   • Offering ad lib alfalfa/grass hay in the fresh pen allows cattle to consume plenty of good quality digestible fiber to help them as they adjust to their new feeding program. Aim for 31-35% neutral detergent fiber.
   • Maintain rumen fiber mat with consistent feed intake and avoid empty bunks.
   • Provide free choice buffer, monitor both feed and buffer intakes.
6. Identify cows with a history of metabolic or health problems: cows with a history of milk fever, ketosis, or mastitis are more likely to encounter these problems again.
   • Individual monitoring of these cows to help them navigate transition is helpful in disease prevention.
7. Evaluate body condition scoring (BCS): target BCS at calving is 3.0-3.25.
   • Overweight cows are at higher risk for ketosis and fatty liver.
   • Overweight cows are typically harder to breed back.
8. Position feed additives: fresh cow groups are verily likely to offer return on investment for feed additives, but don’t forget to leverage the dry period too. Always feed dairy cattle with the next phase of lactation in mind.
   • Ionophores increase glucose availability.
   • Rumen-protected choline improves liver health and function.
   • Rumen-protected amino acids help to meet amino acid requirements without over feeding protein.
   • Supplement protected fat to increase energy intake.
   • Yeast culture stabilizes rumen fermentation.
   • Live yeast increases anaerobic fermentation and stimulates further fiber digestion which allows for more volatile fatty acids to be produced.
   • Bacillus probiotics produce large quantities of digestive enzymes as well as competitively excluding pathogenic bacteria from the intestinal wall.
   • Dietary nucleotides speed up intestinal recovery.
   • Yeast cell wall decreases intestinal pathogens.
   • Yucca schidigera modifies rumen fermentation, reduces methane emissions, and impacts nitrogen metabolism.
9. Avoid anti-nutritional factors: mold, wild yeast, poorly fermented feeds.
   • Mold counts over 100,000 colonies per gram are likely to decrease feed intake and diet digestibility.
   • Include a mycotoxin binder whenever antinutritional factors are a question.
10. Focus on antioxidants and adaptogens
    • Antioxidants that vitamin E and selenium help reduce oxidative stress, which will impact immune function.
    • Feeding adaptogens can help the animal adapt through stressful situations.

Monitor peak milk on your farm to establish a baseline for your performance. Anytime you make feeding changes evaluate the success of those changes from both peak milk and health events.

Consult with your nutritionist to provide the best nutrition possible throughout the transition period and to best leverage feed additives. Always remember to be feeding your animals with the next phase of lactation in mind!

At MicroBasics we leverage a blend off digestive enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, and adaptogens (Achieve) to facilitate a smooth transition and send cows on their way to maximize peak milk production.  For more information on Achieve and how it can help you strategize your transition cow nutrition, please email service@microbasics.com.

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.