Mineral composition of cow milk from multibreed herds

This study estimated the effect of Holstein-Friesian, Brown Swiss, Jersey, Simmental and Alpine Grey cattle breeds on milk mineral contents (Ca, Mg, P, K, and Na) in multibreed herds using data predicted with mid-infrared spectroscopy. The dataset included 139,821 observations from 16,566 cows and 977 herds. Fixed effects considered in the mixed model were breed, parity, stage of lactation and first-order interactions, and random effects were cow, herd-test-date, and the residual. Multiple comparisons of least squares means were performed for the main effect of breed, parity, and stage of lactation using Bonferroni adjustment. Holstein-Friesian yielded milk with the lowest fat, protein, and casein concentration, and Ca, Mg, and P contents, whereas Jersey cows produced milk with the greatest fat, protein, and casein concentration, and Ca and Mg contents. Results of this study suggest that mixing milk from different breeds could enhance milk composition and technological ability, and therefore contribute to improve dairy industry efficiency.