EDMONTON — New research into how amino acids affect the diets of dairy cows is expected to make animals more efficient and reduce the amount of nitrogen in manure.
Lorraine Doepel, assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s veterinary medicine school, said the goal of her research is to make dairy cattle more efficient.
“The dairy cow is not very efficient at converting dietary protein into milk protein. The project is looking at how to increase that efficiency,” Doepel said during University of Alberta Dairy Day.
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Combined with other studies, Doepel hopes to learn how dairy cows use the protein they consume.
Researchers hope to more closely match cows’ requirements for amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, with amino acids in the diet.
“If we can better match feed requirement, there will be less nitrogen coming out the back end. It will have positive effects on the environment as well,” she said.
“A consumer doesn’t really know how efficient or inefficient the cow is, they just know there is nitrogen being excreted into the environment. From a public perception, that’s the important part. From the dairy industry’s perspective, it really is increasing efficiency so we can decrease feed costs and make the cow more efficient.”
Doepel said her project isn’t the first research into amino acids in diets.
“One project on its own won’t be earth shattering, but when looked at the data combined, it will have a positive effect on the industry. It’s not a new approach, but looking at different amino acids and trying to get all 20 of them, that the cow requires, into one nice package is the goal.”
She said producers won’t see immediate financial benefits from the research, but the increased knowledge about amino acids will hopefully be used down the road in feed formulation programs.
