I would like to know if those of you, who have used milk fatty acid analysis (De Novo, Mixed and Preformed) find it to be a useful tool to track responses to diet changes? Do you think milk fatty acid profile can be used as a biomarker to track rumen function?
I have been watching the work on milk fatty acids for a while now. We are sending in samples from many herds on the Vista PreT product to see if we have any effect on DeNovo. Still to early on but we are learning and seeing some interesting results.
I have seen it used to show the results of adding to much “ cheap” cotton seed. It hit the drop,in fat and with the info they where able to show the dairyman what happened and why.
It has also helped show the issues with overcrowding in a couple of herds.
In the industry, their is a myth that de novo fatty acids are related to rumen health. At times this is false. Let’s consider the herd I just analyzed, 3.8% fat with 3.12% protein. Everything is perfect right? With the milk fatty acids, we found that the milk is high in preformed fatty acids (> 45%) and low in de novo fatty acids with good protein. To me, this smells like a CLA effect that is only in the mammary gland with no effect on the rumen. I analyze three herds monthly that get all their milk analyzed for milk fatty acids though AgriMark. These data give a better picture of how milk fatty acids change with diet.
Still early in the process, I agree with Randy in his comments on WCS and overcrowding . Astute observations on the cheap WCS.