How nutritionally improved straw can help to enhance milk quality

摘要

For Lockerbie farmers Gavin and Victoria Hamilton, incorporating nutritionally improved straw (NIS) into cow diets has helped buffer the rumen and boost the milk cheque due to increased butterfats.Last summer, milk butterfats fell to 3.33%, resulting in significant penalties for the Hamiltons, who milk 300 cows at Hotts Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. With the base milk price also at an all-time low, they were keen to tackle the problem head on.Mr Hamilton says: "We were losing about E4,000-E5,000/month from the milk cheque. Butterfats kept on slipping and stayed below 3.5% for a couple of months."