Mineral nutrition of dairy cattle

AHDB Dairy hosted a webinar with Prof Liam Sinclair from Harper Adam’s University at 7pm on Wednesday 28th September.

Achieving a balanced mineral supply supports productivity, health and profitability on dairy farms but also ensures avoidance of deficiencies and costly excesses. Minerals are a key component in the diet of dairy cows but too much or too little of just one mineral can potentially cause production and health issues, so it's important that dairy farmers and their advisors ensure they are feeding the right amounts. Some minerals also influence the uptake of others, therefore, this needs to be taken into account when selecting the correct supplements. Over the last 5 years, AHDB Dairy funded a series of trials at Harper Adam’s University looking into mineral usage on farm, the effect of different dietary copper forms supplementation as well as the effects of dietary cobalt level and supplementation with vitamin B12 on dairy cow performance. Liam will give an overview of the key findings along with top tips for optimal mineral management on your farm.