AHV Resolute – A Huge Success  

Dry-off is an important stage in the lactation cycle. During the dry period, udder tissue undergoes rest and repair and which will have a positive effect on the subsequent lactation. It is possible for cows to reach a high peak yield, which generates the greatest revenue. However, udder health challenges can be detrimental to this revenue. Research has shown that 60% of new udder health challenges arise during the dry period (Todhunter et al., 1991).  This, in turn, will have a negative impact on cow health and revenue per cow. 

The entire AHV concept is built on increasing the health and longevity of the dairy cow, which makes each cow more profitable, improving the farmer’s income. Based on this principle, AHV Resolute Liquid has been developed. The management around dry-off can result in metabolic stress and the period post-calving is high-risk for new udder health challenges. 

A new approach to drying off 

Gradual dry-off will reduce milk yield by 78.7 kg up to 125.8 kg in the last week before the dry period (Tucker et al., 2009, Oliver et al., 1990). Cows may suffer from malnutrition due to feeding a low-energy diet, which results in metabolic stress and increased fat breakdown (Tucker et al;., 2009). This can have long-term negative effects on cow health and may reduce the longevity of the cow (Bronzo et al., 2020; Pascottini et al., 2020). 

AHV Resolute Liquid enables the farmer to dry off cows without restrictions, such as lowering the energy intake and reducing the milk intervals prior to the last milking. Therefore, the cow can produce her expected milk yield in the last week prior to dry-off. This will save the farmer 102.25 kg of milk on average in the short term (Tucker et al, 2009, Oliver et al, 1990). Based on a milk price of €0.50, the cow will produce €53.38 more per lactation. In addition to the extra milk yield, it prevents metabolic stress before the dry period, keeping the cow in a positive energy balance.  

Figure 1: Shows a 54% reduction in milk yield in 12 hours and persists for 60 hours (P=0.002) after the application of AHV Resolute. (AHV, 2021) 

Drying off the high-yielding dairy cow 

For high-yielding cows, the dry period is a big challenge. Generally, they will more likely experience udder health challenges during this period, which negatively affects milk production in the subsequent lactation. For every 5 kg above 12.5 kg milk yield at dry-off, the risk of udder health challenges during the dry period increases to 77% (Vilar and Rajala-Schultz, 2020). AHV Resolute reduces milk production on average by 54.3% in 12 hours (Figure 1). The solution was trialled on 54 animals to investigate the effect on milk yield after application, compared to a control group that was given a placebo containing water. The cows were milked twice per day for  7 days after the application. The daily milking demonstrated that the effect was reversible. Cows showed a clear decrease in yield 12 hours after administration and then returned to the desired production levels.

The trial results show that AHV Resolute Liquid rapidly reduced milk production after dry-off. It also shows that administering AHV Resolute Liquid resulted in less udder pressure and engorgement (Figure 2). This meant cows experienced less discomfort and stress during the first days of the dry period, and positively affected the welfare of the cow. Less udder pressure resulted in 31% less milk leakage, which in turn resulted in 20% less new udder health challenges during the next lactation which otherwise could have cost up to €306,30 on average per challenge (van den Borne et al., 2010).   Another impressive result is that the lying time of the cows is 1.5 hours more on the first day after dry-off. This is also a sign of increased welfare as lying is a high-priority behaviour in dairy cattle.  

Figure 2 Based on 60 cows(AHV, 2023)* milk yield reduction is based on AHV 2021*Cows entering dry period < 200.000 cells and first 21 days (about 3 weeks) of lactation having an SCC > 200.000 

Figure 3 shows the reduction of udder pressure after using Resolute Liquid (34 cows) compared to the control group (26 cows) 

Multiple benefits for cow & farmer 

So, what are the main benefits in using AHV Resolute Liquid?  

1. Cows can be dried off abruptly, regardless of bodyweight and production – this means cows can maintain her production levels until dry off. 

2. Cow’s will not be under metabolic stress of a gradual dry-off, through feeding a low-energy diet . 

In summary, we can say that the results show improved animal welfare, less labour for the farmer, and a lower chance of udder health challenges in the next lactation.  

Sources: 

• Bronzo, V., Lopreiato, V., Riva, F., Amadori, M., Curone, G., Addis, M. F., … & Castiglioni, B. (2020). The role of innate immune response and microbiome in resilience of dairy cattle to disease: the mastitis model. Animals, 10(8), 1397. 
• van den Borne, B. H., Halasa, T., van Schaik, G., Hogeveen, H., & Nielen, M. (2010). Bioeconomic modeling of lactational antimicrobial treatment of new bovine subclinical intramammary infections caused by contagious pathogens. Journal of Dairy Science, 93(9), 4034-4044. 
• Chapinal, N., Zobel, G., Painter, K., & Leslie, K. E. (2014). Changes in lying behavior after abrupt cessation of milking and regrouping at dry-off in freestall-housed cows: A case study. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 9(6), 364-369. 
• Oliver, S. P., Juneja, V. K., & Harmon, R. J. (1990). Influence of nonlactating and peripartum bovine mammary secretions on growth of Staphylococcus species. Journal of dairy science, 73(4), 995-999. 
• Pascottini, O. B., Leroy, J. L., & Opsomer, G. (2020). Metabolic stress in the transition period of dairy cows: Focusing on the prepartum period. Animals, 10(8), 1419. 
• Todhunter D. A., Smith, K. L., Hogan, J. S., Schoenberger, P. S. 1991. Gram-negative bacterial infections of the mammary gland in cows. Am. J. Vet. Res. 52:184–188. 
• Tucker, C. B., Lacy-Hulbert, S. J., & Webster, J. R. (2009). Effect of milking frequency and feeding level before and after dry off on dairy cattle behavior and udder characteristics. Journal of Dairy Science, 92(7), 3194-3203. 
• Vilar, M. J., & Rajala-Schultz, P. J. (2020). Dry-off and dairy cow udder health and welfare: Effects of different milk cessation methods. The Veterinary Journal, 262, 105503.