Supplemental Fats

Beyond income over feed cost: How nutrition unlocks reproduction ROI

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Here’s the catch. IOFC only tells us the economics of what’s going into the tank, not what’s going into the cow for good health and reproduction, and impacting the farm’s true profitability. It measures how well we are converting feed dollars into milk dollars. IOFC values today’s milk but ignores tomorrow’s pregnancies.

Considerations for balancing a fat budget

katie_raver@rockriverlab.com — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

While there is still opportunity to further fine-tune the fat budget in our rations as research is devoted in this area, current tools give greater insight as to what strategies are working and which need further adjustments. Who knows, maybe someday balancing our rations with fat will be as easy as balancing that checkbook.

Where’s your milkfat coming from – your ration or her back?

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500

For the rest of us that don’t have that technology on hand, there are still plenty of ways to monitor early lactation performance to help us better understand the impact of the specific fatty acids we are feeding – specifically, body condition scoring from pre-fresh to fresh, monitoring NEFAs or BHBAs and tracking first butterfat trends in your herd management software to detect any significant changes in fat mobilization.

Beyond energy: What signals are your fatty acids sending?

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Let’s walk through the main fatty acids found in dairy diets and talk specifically about the signals they are sending beyond being utilized for energy. While they may seem complex, the stakes are high in understanding their roles as there is a rare function of the cow that is not impacted by fatty acids.

Butterfat 101: There’s more to it than nutrition

rkrammes@standardnutrition.com — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

All we have to do is balance the ration to maximize fat, right? Regarding the number of variables involved in ration formulation, few diets are ever truly balanced. Consider the word “optimized” instead. Let’s look at several key nutrients that must be optimized for maximum butterfat production.

[Podcast] Reproductive Efficiency – The Economics Have Changed

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400

At Virtus Nutrition our mission is to help you feed a better balance of fatty acids to improve reproduction, health, and profitability. In the early 2000s, we invented the process to deliver EPA/DHA in a form that dairy cows can utilize.

The blooming onion of milkfat: Understanding the layers

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Let’s play a simple word association game. When I say “milkfat,” what do you say? Palmitic? That’s what I’d expect 80% of you to say if we were having this conversation in person.

Implementing a fertility first approach at Rocking S Dairy

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Breed for fertility, feed for fertility, manage for fertility – this phrase encapsulates the approach Siebren Jacobi has taken to capture greater herd performance and profitability at Rocking S Dairy in Modesto, California.

More to milkfat than meets the eye

william.seymour@novusint.com — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Milkfat is a valuable commodity and is a reflection of overall rumen health and production efficiency. Take a proactive approach with your nutritionist to find ways to better optimize factors affecting milkfat yield, including taking a closer look at what lies behind the average bulk tank fat test.

Are all your bases covered? Delivering key ingredient options

gzimmerman@pdscows.com — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Some dairies across the country are using larger inclusion mixes due to lack of feed storage options. Still in other cases, some feed companies are proposing larger inclusion grain mixes to their customers.

Rethinking bioactive fatty acids in dry cows

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0400

If there’s one set of research that has prompted me to think differently about how we manage dry cows, it’s the work done by Dr. Geoffrey Dahl and team at the University of Florida on the effects of heat stress on dry cows.

Essential fatty acids: Still a lot to learn

Joel.Pankowski@churchdwight.com — Mon, 22 May 2023 09:10:53 -0400

We’ve learned a lot about how essential fatty acids (EFAs) work since they were first introduced to the dairy market more than 20 years ago.

Been there, done fat: A revisit to fat feeding and sources

sblez@verizon.net — Thu, 18 May 2023 10:21:40 -0400

Every dairy includes some level of fat in the cow’s diet, whether specifically formulated in or not. While we are well acquainted with the various sources both natural and commercial, the roles that various fat sources, fat components (fatty acids) and fat combinations play in the animal, in terms of production, health and reproduction, still need a great deal of work.

Mitigating heat stress effects with EPA/DHA omega-3

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 09:25:09 -0400

While mitigating heat stress with proper cow cooling lays the foundation, recent research shows that properly supplying essential nutrients to dairy cows, specifically EPA/DHA omega-3s, may be just as important in tempering inflammation and helping cows be more resilient through immune challenges.

New research challenging the way we think about feeding fatty acid supplements

JLoften@milkspecialties.com — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 09:36:07 -0500

A leader of any successful dairy operation will tell you how critical it is to have a strong nutrition program to maximize milk components and overall milk yield.

Exploring nutrient synergies: EPA/DHA omega-3 and methionine

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 18:01:18 -0500

The results from this study showed strong production improvements in response to feeding adequate levels of either methionine or EPA/DHA pre- and post-fresh, plus positive synergistic effects in performance and in improving liver function.

NASEM nutrient requirements 2021: What is new with fatty acids?

Wed, 25 May 2022 22:08:33 -0400

Over the last 20 years, research and the subsequent field application of innovations in dairy cattle nutrition has contributed to greater animal performance and health.

Navigating the high price of fat supplements

jonas.desouza@perdue.com — Wed, 25 May 2022 21:40:36 -0400

Writing any economic analysis or market direction is always complicated, since it constantly changes. However, it is safe to say that fat supplement prices are at the highest level ever.

The case for EPA/DHA omega-3 as an essential nutrient

rsmith@virtusnutrition.com — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 13:00:01 -0400

One of my fond childhood memories is of my dad placing me on Nina’s back as she walked into the barn to be milked. Nina was truly a great cow by all accounts – highly productive, great conformation and highly prolific thanks to my dad’s forays into embryo transfer (ET) work in the early ’80s.

[Podcast] Evaluating fats in the era of high input costs

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 19:27:41 -0500

Finding the right ration mix for your dairy herd is critical to maximizing performance and profitability, but in the era of high feed costs and increased uncertainty, getting it right is trickier than it looks.

Lipid damage effects on livestock production: Causes and sources of oxidation

tjnkns@clemson.edu — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 14:00:01 -0500

Throughout my more than 30 years of studying fat feeding and lipid metabolism in ruminant species, the major emphasis was consistently on sources and feeding rates, but little attention was directed at fat quality.

Production responses and the role of antioxidants

tjnkns@clemson.edu — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 18:47:03 -0500

An earlier article on fat quality addressed lipid oxidation where fat in feed and body tissues is degraded to peroxides by heat and air. The accumulation of peroxides is held in check by antioxidants until conditions overwhelm the antioxidant defense system.

The role of energy and omega-3s in embryo development

dwaterman@omegabalancer.com — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 18:18:00 -0500

As dairy cows produce higher and higher volumes of milk, the need for a higher caloric intake is necessary to help support this huge demand for energy. Dairy cow diets typically contain some form of fat, either from rumen-active sources such as cottonseed, distillers, tallow and roasted beans or from rumen-inert fats such as calcium salts or prilled fats.

Linoleic acid: Main driver in milkfat depression

fernando@dellait.com — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 19:44:10 -0400

Early in the 20th century, researchers found that fat-free diets had adverse effects on growth in rats. This newly discovered “factor” was suspected to be a vitamin which they labeled at the time vitamin F.

Do Jersey and Holstein cows respond similarly to palmitic acid supplementation?

fernanda.batistel@usu.edu — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:00:01 -0500

Milkfat and protein yield are the major contributors to the price producers receive for milk in most Federal Milk Market Orders. This underlines the importance of focusing on increasing the yield of milkfat and protein and not milk yield per se in order to maximize milk price and income.

Where does oleic fatty acid fit in dairy cow fat supplementation?

andhil@swbell.net — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:02:54 -0500

The major fatty acids (FA) fed to dairy cows are palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), linoleic (C18:2) and linolenic (C18:3). The first two have been extensively reviewed in their individual and complementary effects.

Why some fat supplements cause a decrease in dry matter intake

andhil@swbell.net — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 20:17:52 -0400

Why are fat supplements fed? Because in early lactation, cows cannot eat enough to meet their increasing milk production energy requirements. Thus, cows go into negative energy balance. This is an issue for especially the first one-third of a lactation. And, this negative energy balance is more pronounced and for a longer period of time for cows beyond their first lactation. Consequently, fat supplements are used to increase energy density of the ration. But, if a fat supplement decreases dry matter intake (DMI), the benefit of using it is decreased.

Research finds value in fatty acid supplementation for fresh cows

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 13:00:01 -0400

Fat is an integral part of the fresh cow’s ration. Moreover, it is actually the fatty acids, building blocks which constitute the macronutrient, that are important in the ration.

A tale of two fat studies: Palmitic fatty acid supplementation in early lactation cows

andhil@swbell.net — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 18:58:20 -0400

In a previous article, I noted that high-palmitic-fatty-acid (greater than 80%) supplements most often decrease dry matter intake (DMI). And, since many studies with that type supplement have been done with midlactation cows over a short term (21 days), it raises the question as to what would be the response in early lactation cows?

Fatty acid feeding for fresh cows

jer358@cornell.edu — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 21:49:53 -0400

Enhancing the fat content of lactation diets is a convenient means to raise dietary energy-density and intake, which in turn helps support the heightened energy demands of modern high-producing dairy cows.