Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:30:44.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dairy cattle in a temperate climate: the effects of weather on milk yield and composition depend on management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2014

D. L. Hill  and
E. Wall
D. L. Hill*
Affiliation:
Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, Scotland’s Rural College, King’s Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK
E. Wall
Affiliation:
Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, Scotland’s Rural College, King’s Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK ClimateXChange, High School Yards, Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ, UK
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

A better understanding of how livestock respond to weather is essential to enable farming to adapt to a changing climate. Climate change is mainly expected to impact dairy cattle through heat stress and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. We investigated the effects of weather on milk yield and composition (fat and protein content) in an experimental dairy herd in Scotland over 21 years. Holstein Friesian cows were either housed indoors in winter and grazed over the summer or were continuously housed. Milk yield was measured daily, resulting in 762 786 test day records from 1369 individuals, and fat and protein percentage were sampled once a week, giving 89 331 records from 1220 cows/trait. The relative influence of 11 weather elements, measured from local outdoor weather stations, and two indices of temperature and humidity (THI), indicators of heat stress, were compared using separate maximum likelihood models for each element or index. Models containing a direct measure of temperature (dry bulb, wet bulb, grass or soil temperature) or a THI provided the best fits to milk yield and fat data; wind speed and the number of hours of sunshine were most important in explaining protein content. Weather elements summarised across a week’s timescale from the test day usually explained milk yield and fat content better than shorter-scale (3 day, test day, test day −1) metrics. Then, examining a subset of key weather variables using restricted maximum likelihood, we found that THI, wind speed and the number of hours of sunshine influenced milk yield and composition. The shape and magnitude of these effects depended on whether animals were inside or outside on the test day. The milk yield of cows outdoors was lower at the extremes of THI than at average values, and the highest yields were obtained when THI, recorded at 0900 h, was 55 units. Cows indoors decreased milk yield as THI increased. Fat content was lower at higher THIs than at intermediate THIs in both environments. Protein content decreased as THI increased in animals kept indoors and outdoors, and the rate of decrease was greater when animals were outside than when they were inside. Moderate wind speeds appeared to alleviate heat stress. These results show that milk yield and composition are impacted at the upper extreme of THI under conditions currently experienced in Scotland, where animals have so far experienced little pressure to adapt to heat stress.

Keywords

climate changefat percentageheat stressprotein percentageTHI
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 9 , Supplement 1 , January 2015 , pp. 138 - 149
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agnew, RE and Yan, T 2000. Impact of recent research on energy feeding systems for dairy cattle. Livestock Production Science 66, 197–215.Google Scholar
Agnew, RE, Yan, T and Gordon, FJ 1998. Nutrition of the high genetic merit dairy cow-energy metabolism studies. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition (ed. PC Garnsworthy and J Wiseman), pp. 181–208. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham, UK.Google Scholar
Armstrong, DV 1994. Heat stress interaction with shade and cooling. Journal of Dairy Science 77, 2044–2050.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, D, Maechler, M, Bolker, B and Walker, S 2013. lme4: linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.1-2. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/ Google Scholar
Bertocchi, L, Vitali, A, Lacetera, N, Nardone, A, Varisco, G and Bernabucci, U 2014. Seasonal variations in the composition of Holstein cow’s milk and temperature-humidity index relationship. Animal 8, 667–674.Google Scholar
Bohmanova, J, Misztal, I and Cole, J 2007. Temperature-humidity indices as indicators of milk production losses due to heat stress. Journal of Dairy Science 90, 1947–1956.Google Scholar
Bouraoui, R, Lahmar, M, Majdoub, A, Djemali, M and Belyea, R 2002. The relationship of temperature-humidity index with milk production of dairy cows in a Mediterranean climate. Animal Research 51, 479–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruegemann, K, Gernand, E, von Borstel, U and Koenig, S 2011. Genetic analyses of protein yield in dairy cows applying random regression models with time-dependent and temperature x humidity-dependent covariates. Journal of Dairy Science 94, 4129–4139.Google Scholar
Bruegemann, K, Gernand, E, Koenig von Borstel, U and Koenig, S 2012. Defining and evaluating heat stress thresholds in different dairy cow production systems. Archiv Tierzucht 55, 13–24.Google Scholar
Burnham, KP and Anderson, DR 2002. Information and likelihood theory: a basis for model selection and inference. In Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach (ed. KP Burnham and DR Anderson), pp. 49–97. Springer-Verlag, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Burnham, KP, Anderson, DR and Huyvaert, KP 2011. AIC model selection and multimodel inference in behavioral ecology: some background, observations, and comparisons. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65, 23–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dikmen, S and Hansen, P 2009. Is the temperature-humidity index the best indicator of heat stress in lactating dairy cows in a subtropical environment? Journal of Dairy Science 92, 109–116.Google Scholar
Dunn, RJH, Mead, NE, Willett, KM and Parker, DE 2014. Analysis of heat stress in UK dairy cattle and impact on milk yields. Environmental Research Letters 9, 064006, 11pp.Google Scholar
Gantner, V, Mijic, P, Kuterovac, K, Solic, D and Gantner, R 2011. Temperature-humidity index values and their significance on the daily production of dairy cattle. Mljekarstvo 61, 56–63.Google Scholar
Gauly, M, Bollwein, H, Breves, G, Bruegemann, K, Daenicke, S, Das, G, Demeler, J, Hansen, H, Isselstein, J, Koenig, S, Lohoelter, M, Martinsohn, M, Meyer, U, Potthoff, M, Sanker, C, Schroeder, B, Wrage, N, Meibaum, B, von Samson-Himmelstjerna, G, Stinshoff, H and Wrenzycki, C 2013. Future consequences and challenges for dairy cow production systems arising from climate change in Central Europe – a review. Animal 7, 843–859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graunke, KL, Schuster, T and Lidfors, LM 2011. Influence of weather on the behaviour of outdoor-wintered beef cattle in Scandinavia. Livestock Science 136, 247–255.Google Scholar
Hammami, H, Bormann, J, M’hamdi, N, Montaldo, H and Gengler, N 2013. Evaluation of heat stress effects on production traits and somatic cell score of Holsteins in a temperate environment. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 1844–1855.Google Scholar
Hansen, PJ 2009. Effects of heat stress on mammalian reproduction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364, 3341–3350.Google Scholar
Jenkins, GJ, Murphy, JM, Sexton, DMH, Lowe, JA, Jones, P and Kilsby, CG 2009. UK climate projections: briefing report. Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UK.Google Scholar
Kadzere, CT, Murphy, MR, Silanikove, N and Maltz, E 2002. Heat stress in lactating dairy cows: a review. Livestock Production Science 77, 59–91.Google Scholar
Knapp, DM and Grummer, RR 1991. Response of lactating dairy-cows to fat supplementation during heat-stress. Journal of Dairy Science 74, 2573–2579.Google Scholar
Kuznetsova, A, Brockhoff, PB and Christensen, RHB 2014. lmerTest: tests for random and fixed effects for linear mixed effect models (lmer objects of lme4 package). R package version 2.0-6. Retrieved July 7, 2014, from http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lmerTest Google Scholar
Lambertz, C, Sanker, C and Gauly, M 2014. Climatic effects on milk production traits and somatic cell score in lactating Holstein-Friesian cows in different housing systems. Journal of Dairy Science 97, 319–329.Google Scholar
National Research Council 1971. A guide to environmental research on animals. National Academy of Science, Washington, DC, USA.Google Scholar
Pollott, G and Coffey, M 2008. The effect of genetic merit and production system on dairy cow fertility, measured using progesterone profiles and on-farm recording. Journal of Dairy Science 91, 3649–3660.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team 2013. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Ravagnolo, O and Misztal, I 2000. Genetic component of heat stress in dairy cattle, parameter estimation. Journal of Dairy Science 83, 2126–2130.Google Scholar
Ravagnolo, O, Misztal, I and Hoogenboom, G 2000. Genetic component of heat stress in dairy cattle, development of heat index function. Journal of Dairy Science 83, 2120–2125.Google Scholar
Renaudeau, D, Collin, A, Yahav, S, de Basilio, V, Gourdine, J and Collier, R 2012. Adaptation to hot climate and strategies to alleviate heat stress in livestock production. Animal 6, 707–728.Google Scholar
Revelle, W 2013. psych: procedures for personality and psychological research, Version=1.3.10. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=psychGoogle Scholar
Rodriquez, LA, Mekonnen, G, Wilcox, CJ, Martin, FG and Krienke, WA 1985. Effects of relative-humidity, maximum and minimum temperature, pregnancy, and stage of lactation on milk-composition and yield. Journal of Dairy Science 68, 973–978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanker, C, Lambertz, C and Gauly, M 2013. Climatic effects in Central Europe on the frequency of medical treatments of dairy cows. Animal 7, 316–321.Google Scholar
Seedorf, J, Hartung, J, Schroder, M, Linkert, KH, Pedersen, S, Takai, H, Johnsen, JO, Metz, JHM, Koerkamp, PWGG, Uenk, GH, Phillips, VR, Holden, MR, Sneath, RW, Short, JL, White, RP and Wathes, CM 1998. Temperature and moisture conditions in livestock buildings in Northern Europe. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 70, 49–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D, Smith, T, Rude, B and Ward, S 2013. Short communication: comparison of the effects of heat stress on milk and component yields and somatic cell score in Holstein and Jersey cows. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 3028–3033.Google Scholar
St-Pierre, NR, Cobanov, B and Schnitkey, G 2003. Economic losses from heat stress by US livestock industries. Journal of Dairy Science 86 (suppl.), E52–E77.Google Scholar
Stull, C, Messam, L, Collar, C, Peterson, N, Castillo, A, Reed, B, Andersen, K and VerBoort, W 2008. Precipitation and temperature effects on mortality and lactation parameters of dairy cattle in California. Journal of Dairy Science 91, 4579–4591.Google Scholar
Thom, EC 1959. The discomfort index. Weatherwise 12, 57–61.Google Scholar
UK Meteorological Office 2012. Met Office Integrated Data Archive System (MIDAS) land and marine surface stations data (1853-present), NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__dataent_ukmo-midas Google Scholar
Veerkamp, RF, Simm, G and Oldham, JD 1994. Effects of interaction between genotype and feeding system on milk-production, feed-intake, efficiency and body tissue mobilization in dairy-cows. Livestock Production Science 39, 229–241.Google Scholar
Vitali, A, Segnalini, M, Bertocchi, L, Bernabucci, U, Nardone, A and Lacetera, N 2009. Seasonal pattern of mortality and relationships between mortality and temperature-humidity index in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 3781–3790.Google Scholar
Webster, JR, Stewart, M, Rogers, AR and Verkerk, GA 2008. Assessment of welfare from physiological and behavioural responses of New Zealand dairy cows exposed to cold and wet conditions. Animal Welfare 17, 19–26.Google Scholar
West, JW, Mullinix, BG and Bernard, JK 2003. Effects of hot, humid weather on milk temperature, dry matter intake, and milk yield of lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 86, 232–242.Google Scholar
Wheelock, JB, Rhoads, RP, VanBaale, MJ, Sanders, SR and Baumgard, LH 2010. Effects of heat stress on energetic metabolism in lactating Holstein cows. Journal of Dairy Science 93, 644–655.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Hill and Wall Supplementary Material

Table S1

Download Hill and Wall Supplementary Material(File)
File 15.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Hill and Wall Supplementary Material

Table S2

Download Hill and Wall Supplementary Material(File)
File 24.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Hill and Wall Supplementary Material

Table S3

Download Hill and Wall Supplementary Material(File)
File 20.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Hill and Wall Supplementary Material

Table S4

Download Hill and Wall Supplementary Material(File)
File 30.7 KB