Milk production responses of dairy cows to fatty acid supplements with different ratios of palmitic and oleic acids in low- and high-fat basal diets.

We evaluated the effects of fatty acid (FA) supplements with different ratios of palmitic acid (C16:0) and oleic acid (cis-9 C18:1) in low- and high-FA basal diets on production responses of lactating dairy cows. Thirty-six multiparous Holstein cows (50.2 ± 5.8 kg/d of milk; 160 ± 36 d in milk) were used in a split-plot Latin square design balanced for carryover effects. Cows were blocked by milk yield and allocated to a main plot receiving either a low-FA (LF; 1.93% FA content) basal diet (n = 18) containing cottonseed meal and cottonseed hulls or a high-FA (HF; 3.15% FA content) basal diet (n = 18) containing whole cottonseed. Within each plot, a 3 × 3 Latin square arrangement of treatments was used in 3 consecutive 21-d periods. Treatments were (1) control (CON; no FA supplementation), (2) FA supplement containing 80% C16:0 + 10% C18:1 (PA), and (3) FA supplement containing 60% C16:0 + 30% cis-9 C18:1 (PA+OA). The FA supplements were fed at 1.5% of dry matter and replaced soyhulls in CON. Preplanned contrasts were (1) overall effect of FA supplementation {CON vs. the average of the FA treatments [1/2 (PA + PA+OA)]}, and (2) the effect of the PA treatment versus the PA+OA treatment (PA vs. PA+OA). Treatment by basal diet interactions were observed for yields of milk and lactose, where FA treatments increased yields of milk and milk lactose in LF but not in HF. Basal diet had no effect on dry matter intake (DMI) or milk yield. Compared with LF, HF increased milk fat yield and 3.5% fat-corrected milk (FCM) and tended to increase milk fat content and energy-corrected milk (ECM) yield. The FA treatments decreased DMI but increased the yields of milk fat, 3.5% FCM, and ECM, compared with CON, due to increases in mixed and preformed milk FA yields. The PA+OA treatment decreased DMI and milk protein yield compared with PA. In conclusion, a high-fat basal diet increased milk fat production, and the addition of FA supplements to a low-fat basal diet increased milk lactose yield and tended to increase milk yield. Additionally, regardless of basal diet fat level, FA supplements increased production responses compared with the non-FA-supplemented control diet.

Increasing palmitic acid and reducing stearic acid content of supplemental fatty acid blends improves production performance of mid-lactation dairy cows.

We determined the effects of altering the ratio of palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acids in supplemental fatty acid (FA) blends on production responses of mid-lactation dairy cows. Twenty-four multiparous Holstein cows (mean ± standard deviation; 47.1 ± 5.8 kg of milk yield, 109 ± 23 DIM) were randomly assigned to treatment sequences in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design with 21-d periods. Treatments were a control diet not supplemented with FA (CON), and 3 diets incorporating 1.5% of dry matter (DM) FA supplement blends containing 30% C16:0 + 50% C18:0, 50% C16:0 + 30% C18:0, and 80% C16:0 + 10% C18:0. Additionally, the FA blends were balanced to contain 10% of oleic acid (cis-9 C18:1). The FA blends replaced soyhulls in the CON diet. Diets were formulated to contain (% of DM) 31.0% neutral detergent fiber, 27.0% starch, and 16.9% crude protein. The statistical model included the random effect of cow within square and the fixed effects of period, treatment, and their interaction. Preplanned contrasts included CON versus overall effect of FA supplementation and the linear and quadratic effects of increasing C16:0 in FA blends. Overall FA treatment had no effect on dry matter intake (DMI), but increasing C16:0 linearly increased DMI. Compared with CON, overall FA treatment increased yields of milk, 3.5% of fat-corrected milk, energy-corrected milk, and milk fat but did not affect milk protein yield. Increasing C16:0 linearly increased milk fat yield and tended to linearly increase the yields of 3.5% of fat-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk. Fatty acid supplementation decreased the yield of de novo milk FA but increased yields of mixed and preformed milk FA compared with CON. Increasing C16:0 in FA treatments did not affect the yield of de novo milk FA, linearly increased the yield of mixed, and decreased the yield of preformed milk FA. In summary, feeding FA supplements containing C16:0 and C18:0 increased milk production responses with no effect on DMI compared with a control diet. Mid-lactation cows producing ∼40 to 50 kg/d milk yield responded best to increasing supplemental C16:0 in FA supplements, demonstrating that FA supplements higher in C16:0 and limited in C18:0 improves production responses.