IS BUTTER FAT AFFECTED BY FEEDING?

Shannon News, 3 November 1922, Page 2

IS BUTTER FAT AFFECTED BY FEEDING?

A correspondent to “The Leader" asks: By increasing the milk yield of a dairy cow is the test correspondingly lowered, so that the butterfat content aggregates the vSame ? Thus, a cow on good average feed produces 3001 b of milk of 4.0 test per week, equal to 121 b of butterfat. Then, if by concentrates or the. substitution or addition of more succulent, milk producing fodder, this cow can be made to produce 3751 b of milk per week, will the test be lowered proportionately with the increased yield, so that the butterfat content of the milk remains unchanged, viz., 121 b? The contention is that the cow has a butterfat limit, and therefore, no matter how much the milk yield may be increased, the butterfat production cannot be raised above that limit. Is this so?

The Editor/ replied as follows: The test is not lowered in exact proportion to the increased milk flow. Every cow has a maximum, butterfat test gained by heredity. She can be so fed and cared for that she will produce milk of that test, but she cannot regularly stimulate unerringly such a maximum test without deviation. It, is well known that a well-balanced ration which provides all of the essentials in abundance for maintaining the body of the cow and providing for her largest, butterfat production is conclusive in securing the best possible milk flow. It is also known beyond dispute that comfortable conditions favour a high test. On the other hand, all factors that detract from the comfort of a. cow detracts from the butterfat nercentage. No doubt this is the reason why cows test lower in midsummer when the heat is intense and flies pesky, than during the other months of the year.