Incremental amounts of Ascophyllum nodosum meal do not improve animal performance but do increase milk iodine output in early lactation dairy cows fed high-forage diets

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of incremental amounts of Ascophyllum nodosum meal (ANOD) on milk production, milk composition including fatty acids and I, blood metabolites, and nutrient intake and digestibility in early lactation dairy cows fed high-forage diets. Twelve multiparous Jersey cows averaging (mean±standard deviation) 40±21 d in milk and 464±35 kg of body weight and 4 primiparous Jersey cows averaging 75±37 d in milk and 384±17kg of body weight were randomly assigned to treatment sequences in a replicated 4×4 Latin square design. Each period lasted 21 d with 14 d for diet adaptation and 7 d for data and sample collection. Cows were fed a total mixed ration (64:36 forage-to-concentrate ratio) supplemented (as fed) with 0, 57, 113, or 170 g/d of ANOD. Milk yield as well as concentrations and yields of milk components (fat, protein, lactose, milk urea N) were not affected by increasing dietary amounts of ANOD. Concentration (from 178 to 1,370 µg/L) and yield (from 2.8 to 20.6 mg/d) of milk I increased linearly in cows fed incremental amounts of ANOD as a result of the high concentration of I (820 mg/kg of dry matter) in ANOD. Overall, only minor changes were observed in the proportion of milk fatty acids with ANOD supplementation. Quadratic trends were observed for dry matter intake and total-tract digestibilities of organic matter and neutral detergent fiber, whereas negative linear trends were observed for serum concentration of cortisol and crude protein digestibility with ANOD supplementation. Serum concentrations of triiodothyronine and thyroxine were not affected by ANOD supplementation and averaged 1.1 and 48.4 ng/mL, respectively. However, feeding increasing amounts of ANOD linearly reduced the plasma concentration of nonesterified fatty acids (from 164 to 132 mEq/L). Quadratic effects were found for the total-tract digestibility of ADF and urinary output of purine derivatives, suggesting that ANOD supplementation may stimulate growth of ruminal cellulolytic bacteria in a dose-dependent fashion. In general, feeding incremental amounts of ANOD to early lactation dairy cows dramatically increased milk I concentration and output with no effect on animal performance.

Effect of diet supplementation with Ascophyllum nodosum on cow milk composition and microbiota

“…Antaya et al (2015) reported very small differences in milk fatty acid composition in response to a diet supplemented with A. nodosum that was likely not biologically important. It is well known that free fatty acid content and diversity in milk is influenced by dietary characteristics, and namely fatty acid intake, fatty acid metabolism in the rumen, lipid mobilization, and fatty acid metabolism in the mammary gland.…”

“…Although the increase of iodine content in milk after feed supplementation with inorganic forms of iodine is well documented in literature (Schöne et al, 2009;Moschini et al, 2010;Norouzian, 2011), few studies (Mosulishvili et al, 2002;Antaya et al, 2015) have been carried out on the increase of iodine in cow milk after feed supplementation with algae. Brown seaweeds have the unique ability to concentrate iodine from seawater, and certain species accumulate up to 1 million fold and therefore constitute an important source of iodine (Dierick et al, 2009).…”

Understanding arsenic dynamics in agronomic systems to predict and prevent uptake by crop plants

“…However, as in the case of poultry litter, these compounds degrade (ultimately) to inorganic arsenic after land application 94 . Although seaweeds are a ‘niche’ soil amendment, their use agriculture is increasing and has been adopted by many organic farms as a soil fertilizer as well as a feed additive in organic dairy farming 95 .…”

Short communication: Iodine concentrations in serum, milk, and tears after feeding Ascophyllum nodosum to dairy cows—A pilot study

“…Organic producers are using different preventive approaches to support animal health because their treatment options are limited (AMS, 2015). Feed supplementation with kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum), a brown seaweed, as a mineral source is practiced by well over 50% of organic dairy producers (Antaya et al, 2015;Sorge et al, 2016). Many organic dairy producers believe that feeding kelp will improve the health of their animals because kelp is rich in iodine and other important trace minerals (Antaya et al, 2015).…”