Feeding proper ratio of fatty acids in the diet can help cows improve yield tremendously.

1) Feed a blend of fats

• Remember that not all fats are created equal.

• For example, palmitic acid will help with milk fat while oleic acid will boost yield and promote bodyweight gain.

• Hence, proper ratio needs to be adjusted at the right time for optimal benefits.

• Once cow reached peak milk and they are at ideal body weight, oleic acid should be reduced.

• During peak lactation, more palmitic should be used as it helps with milk fat.

2) Feeding fats to fresh cows

• It may be worth considering feeding fats to fresh cow.

• From research, cows did not lose extra bodyweight compared to control group without fats.

• Instead, by feeding cows with a blend of 60:30 palmitic acid to oleic acid resulted in 4.5kg/cow/day increase in energy corrected milk (ECM) over fresh period.

3) Feed fats to boost milk from forage?

• Studies have shown that feeding palmitic acid resulted in a 2-4% unit improvement in neutral detergent fiber digestibility when fed at 0.75 - 2% of total diet dry matter.

• Hence, adding fatty acid into diet can help to boost milk from forage.

• This is especially useful when farmers are faced with poorer quality forage.