Mitigating climate impact on dairy productivity through feeding

Milk production is a growing activity to many farmers in Oman. However the Holstein Friesian dairy cows in Oman produce lower milk compared to the European cows in spite of breed similarity, accordingly their efficiency is low. One of the driving reasons to the low cow?s productivity is the high temperatures which impact animal feed intake and the nature of feeding systems and management under hot climate conditions. The problem of animal efficiency is associated with the environment since with lower efficiency; animals emit high magnitudes of Greenhouse Gases Emissions (GHGs) per kg milk produced. Therefore, this study is designed to evaluate the impact of partial substitution of the conventional diets with high energy concentration feeds that reduce the impact of the climate (indicated herein by the ambient temperatures and heat stress), and therefore improve animal?s productivity and mitigate GHGs emission. The suggested alternative feeds are: 1- Distiller?s Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) which proves to be economic rich energy and protein feed compared to the conventionally used soybean meal in dairy rations, this by product will be used to replace partly both corn and soybean meal, 2- By-pass fat (rumen protected fats) that will be used to replace corn intake in the diet due to it is high energy concentration. These feeds proved to be instrumental in reducing cost of milk production elsewhere in the world. However, these feeds and their nutritional impacts on dairy cow?s performance in Oman, were not evaluated previously. Furthermore, the role of these feeds in mitigating GHGs and reducing cost of milk production have never been assessed under the Omani dairy farming conditions. It is expected to derive results on optimized dietary proportion of feeds that support higher milk production, accordingly mitigate the GHGs per kg of milk produced. Furthermore, results expected will lead to reduce cost of milk production compared to the conventional feeding system that is based on expensive feeds.