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,2
* Department of Animal and Poultry Science, and
Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Elanco Animal Health, Division Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 4T2
1 Corresponding author: nodongo{at}uoguelph.ca
The objective of this study was to determine the long-term effects of feeding monensin on methane (CH4) production in lactating dairy cows. Twenty-four lactating Holstein dairy cows (1.46 ± 0.17 parity; 620 ± 5.9 kg of live weight; 92.5 ± 2.62 d in milk) housed in a tie-stall facility were used in the study. The study was conducted as paired comparisons in a completely randomized design with repeated measurements in a color-coded, double-blind experiment. The cows were paired by parity and days in milk and allocated to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) the regular milking cow total mixed ration (TMR) with a forage-to-concentrate ratio of 60:40 (control TMR; placebo premix) vs. a medicated TMR (monensin TMR; regular TMR + 24 mg of Rumensin Premix/kg of dry matter) fed ad libitum. The animals were fed and milked twice daily (feeding at 0830 and 1300 h; milking at 0500 and 1500 h) and CH4 production was measured prior to introducing the treatments and monthly thereafter for 6 mo using an open-circuit indirect calorimetry system. Monensin reduced CH4 production by 7% (expressed as grams per day) and by 9% (expressed as grams per kilogram of body weight), which were sustained for 6 mo (mean, 458.7 vs. 428.7 ± 7.75 g/d and 0.738 vs. 0.675 ± 0.0141, control vs. monensin, respectively). Monensin reduced milk fat percentage by 9% (3.90 vs. 3.53 ± 0.098%, control vs. monensin, respectively) and reduced milk protein by 4% (3.37 vs. 3.23 ± 0.031%, control vs. monensin, respectively). Monensin did not affect the dry matter intake or milk yield of the cows. These results suggest that medicating a 60:40 forage-to-concentrate TMR with 24 mg of Rumensin Premix/kg of dry matter is a viable strategy for reducing CH4 production in lactating Holstein dairy cows.
Key Words: air emission • monensin • methane • dairy cow
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