With dairy margins under pressure from increased feed, fuel and crop costs, managers are looking for low-cost ways to improve milk production efficiency. Water is the most essential and least costly component of the diet.

Summer is just around the corner and with it high temperatures, humidity and heat stress. According to a 2019 Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research study, the U.S. dairy industry experiences $1.5 billion in losses annually due to heat stress.

Name the single nutrient that can impact milk production the most drastically. Hopefully you answered “water” but if you didn’t you are not alone. For most producers drinking water is not a top of mind concern. But consider this, water is the largest nutrient that you provide for your dairy cattle. High production dairy cattle have the largest water requirement per unit of body mass than that of any other land-based mammal. Milking cows drink between 30 to 50 gallons of water per day to produce a nutrient packed product that is itself typically 87% water. When the total daily nutrient intake for dairy cattle is analyzed, it reveals that 12% is compromised of dry matter intake and a whopping 88% is water.