[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":44},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-rasyon-cevresel-ciktilar-en":3},[4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24,26,28,30,32,34,36,38,40,42],{"p":5},"A dairy farm wants to join the sustainability programme of the company that buys its milk. The company asks every farm for nitrogen and phosphorus excretion per cow and an estimate of methane per kilogram of milk. At first the farmer sees it as a reporting chore. Once the figures are on the table, the farm owner sees something else: the excess protein and phosphorus in the ration are a cost to the feed bill as well as to the environment.",{"h2":7},"How much of the nitrogen goes into milk?",{"p":9},"A dairy cow turns only part of the nitrogen she takes in with feed into milk and body tissue. The rest is excreted in faeces and urine. Nitrogen in urine turns quickly into ammonia in the manure store and in the field, affecting both air quality and water. Nitrogen use efficiency shows how much of the nitrogen taken in with feed ends up in milk, and it is a good indicator of how balanced the ration is.",{"p":11},"Take an example, with illustrative numbers. A cow eats 22 kg of dry matter a day and the ration's crude protein is 17 percent. Nitrogen intake is 22 × 0.17 / 6.25, about 598 grams. The cow gives 35 kg of milk a day with 3.3 percent protein. Nitrogen in milk is 35 × 0.033 / 6.38, about 181 grams. Nitrogen use efficiency is about 30 percent. Most of the rest goes to manure.",{"h2":13},"One point of protein",{"p":15},"For the same cow, let us bring the ration's crude protein down to 16 percent, keeping the balance of rumen-undegradable protein and metabolisable protein so that milk yield does not change. Nitrogen intake falls to about 563 grams and nitrogen use efficiency rises to about 32 percent. About 35 grams less nitrogen is excreted per cow per day.",{"p":17},"On a farm with a hundred cows, that is about 1,280 kg less nitrogen a year. On top of that, protein is one of the most expensive nutrients in the ration. Depending on the protein sources used, cutting crude protein by one point also lowers the daily feed cost per cow noticeably. In this case an improvement made for the environment is a direct cost saving.",{"p":19},"The point to watch is not to cut protein blindly. If metabolisable protein, and limiting amino acids such as lysine and methionine in particular, fall short, milk yield and milk protein drop. The right way to reduce protein is to target the forms of protein the cow really needs rather than total crude protein. Models such as NASEM 2021 help strike that balance.",{"h2":21},"Phosphorus: often more than needed",{"p":23},"Phosphorus is one of the minerals most often overfed in dairy rations. One reason is that phosphorus is linked with fertility, so the safety margin is kept wide. Yet current recommendations show that the level used in many rations is above requirement. Excess phosphorus is excreted in manure, builds up in the soil and contributes to eutrophication when it reaches surface water.",{"p":25},"Bringing phosphorus down to requirement is usually not hard. Reducing the phosphorus source in the mineral mix and counting the phosphorus that comes from by-products such as bran and oilseed meals is often enough. Since inorganic phosphate is an expensive ingredient, this correction lowers feed cost too.",{"p":27},"Besides phosphorus, sodium and potassium also matter for manure and waste water, but in dairy rations the real difference usually shows up in phosphorus. After lowering the phosphorus level, monitoring for a while with blood or manure analyses reassures both the farmer and the vet and helps the change stick.",{"h2":29},"Reading methane correctly",{"p":31},"Methane, a natural product of fermentation in the rumen, makes up a large part of greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farming. A cow's daily methane output depends on the dry matter she eats and the make-up of the ration. But reading methane only per cow can be misleading. A higher-yielding cow produces more methane a day because she eats more, but she produces less methane per kilogram of milk.",{"p":33},"The reason is maintenance. Every cow, whether she gives milk or not, eats a certain amount of feed just to maintain her body. As milk yield rises, that fixed need is spread over more kilograms of milk. That is why one of the most effective ways to lower methane intensity is for the ration and herd management to raise efficiency. Forage quality, the fat level of the ration and starch sources also affect methane output.",{"p":35},"The effect of forage quality on methane matters in practice too. Forage cut early and high in digestibility raises both dry matter intake and milk yield and lowers methane per kilogram of milk. It is another case where the environmental target and the yield target pull in the same direction.",{"h2":37},"Making environmental output part of the ration",{"p":39},"Environmental calculations are often done in a separate table after the ration has been made. In that approach, ration decisions are taken without thinking about environmental effect and the results are only reported. The more effective way is to see these outputs together with the ration. When two rations are compared, not only cost but nitrogen and phosphorus excretion and the methane estimate are then visible at the same time.",{"p":41},"OptiFormula TMR calculates methane, nitrogen and phosphorus outputs for every ration. Read together with dry matter intake, daily cost per head and income over feed cost, it becomes clear which change is good for both the environment and profitability. The basic data needed for the reports a milk buyer or a sustainability programme asks for then comes from the ration itself.",{"p":43},"Reducing environmental impact is often thought of in terms of expensive investments. Yet the first and cheapest step is often in the ration: bringing overfed protein and phosphorus down to requirement. That step is good for the environment and for the farm's bottom line.",1794234580506]