Feeding fats to dairy cows has moved on over the past few years, from rumen "protected" fats to rumen stable fractionated triglycerides- and their performance has improved with them. Supplying to high yielding dairy cows has never been easier.

Emulsifiers. Nothing new, many will say. And indeed their use has long been practiced in our industry. Although their main use was to improve fat solubility in aqueous media, farmers using them were found to be adding more than was recommended- and getting better performance. Research has since confirmed what these farmers knew all along.

The critical link between nutrition, acidosis and laminitis appears to be associated with altered haemodynamics of the peripheral microvasculature. In many dairy operations, the challenge is not with acute, but sub-clinical acidosis. Daily ruminal pH below certain thresholds (5.0) for given periods of time predisposes cattle to low grade, subclinical acidosis with symptoms including erratic appetite, loss of body weight, diarrhoea and lameness.

In modern feeding scenarios, the conditions within the rumen often fall outside the range for maximum fibre digestion by the rumen microflora. A more complete understanding of the mode of action of enzymes will allow development of low-cost enzyme products designed specifically to improve feed digestion in ruminants.

Grazing is a valuable, low cost resource for feeding high-yielding dairy cows. However, the balance between providing sufficient energy and managing grassland is delicate. Full exploitation of grazing systems to maximise milk yield requires that concentrate feeding is also optimised.