Now that we have seen the economic impact of the BIG drop in the BFP, dairy managers are looking at strategies to improve profit margins. One area that should be reviewed is milk fat (each tenth point can be worth an extra 13 cent per hundred weight over 3.5 percent) and milk protein (milk price based on cheese yield or component pricing). For some dairy managers, more milk or higher components can be capture. Each day, cows "talk" to us when they produce milk components. Several "listening " points are listed below.

Point 1. Milk fat test is too high (defined as 0.5 percent point over breed average). While higher milk fat test can be worth an extra 65 cents per hundred pounds (13 cents a point time 5 points), milk yield may be 6 to 10 pounds too low. A cow producing 50 pounds of milk with 4 percent fat test ($11.65 cents per cwt) would produce $5.83 cents per day in milk sales. A cow producing 60 pounds of milk with a 3.5 percent fat test (11.00 per cwt) would produce $6.60 cents per day in milk sales.

Action/Reaction: Feeding programs that produce high levels of rumen acetate and butyrate (high fiber, low quality forage, and lack of rumen fermentable carbohydrate) could be the solution.

Point 2. Milk fat test is high the first month after calving. One major source of milk fat is blood lipids. If cows are mobilizing excess body weight, the mammary gland may convert it milk fat. Potential problems include ketosis and fatty liver, cows become too thin, and reproduction may be negatively impacted.

Action/Reaction: Review your transition cow diets and management to achieve optimal dry matter intake before and after calving, minimize metabolic disorders, and build nutritionally balanced diets.

Point 3. Milk fat and protein tests drop in June, July, and August. If both milk components drop, cows are telling us they are short of nutrients to support normal milk components. If only one component changes, review points 4 and 5.

Action/Reaction: Heat stress must be addressed to maintain dry matter intake. Review your rations to optimize digestion and lower heat increment. Provide fresh feed when heat stress has minimal impact. Evaluation bunk stability to avoid secondary fermentation. Buffers, high dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD), and fat can improve nutrient intake and use.

Point 4. Milk protein test is less than 75 percent of milk fat. For example, your Brown Swiss herd averages 4.0 percent fat and 3.0 percent protein (instead of 3.6 percent). In this example, milk protein test is 75 percent of milk fat test instead of 90 percent. What happened to your milk protein test?

Action/Reaction: Three factors can negatively impact milk protein test.

1. Feeding fat in the ration
2. A lack of rumen fermentable carbohydrate reduces rumen microbial synthesis.
3. Protein quality and/or quantity may limiting

• Total diet protein is low
• Shortage of degradable protein (limits microbial growth)
• Deficient in rumen undegradable protein
• Amino acid imbalance or shortage in the undegradable protein fraction

Point 5. Milk protein and/or fat are below breed average (Table 1).

Action/Reaction: Review your breeding program to determine if you are selecting for milk component pounds (good) or test (bad). Selecting for component test selects again milk volume resulting in less pounds of component. Again, review your feeding program and nutrient balance.

Point 6. Milk fat test is less than milk protein. Illinois extension workers refer to this as milk fat--milk inversions when milk fat test is 0.4 point less than milk protein test. For example, Holstein cows producing 3.2 percent protein and milk fat test less than 2.8 percent (should be 3.6 percent).

Action/Reaction: Rumen acidosis is occurring. Review transition diets, level of ADF and NDF, slug feeding, type and level of forage, shortage of effective fiber (forages are too fine), wet rations (over 50 percent moisture), and physical form and level of grain (starch).

Point 7. Lower milk protein and/or fat when cows are injected with BST. Cornell researchers reported if cows consume the needed nutrients to support high milk yield and components, no difference in milk components will occur.

Action/Reaction: If your BST injected cows are lower than untreated cows, review nutrient balance (dry matter intake, feed bunk management, ration balance, and environmental factors that can reduce feed intake (review actions and reactions listed in point 3).

In Summary: Carefully review milk production records looking at milk components (fat and protein) several ways.

• By days in milk (less than 40 days, 40 to 100, 100 to 200, and over 200 days in milk)
• By lactation number (first, second, and third and over lactation cow)
• By level of milk production.

Let's get our listening ears on!

Table 1. Milk components for various dairy cattle breeds (Source: 1997 DHIR).