Production performance of Holstein cows at 4 stages of lactation fed 4 dietary crude protein concentrations

Dairy cow responses to dietary crude protein (CP) may depend on stage of lactation. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 4 concentrations of dietary CP on dry matter intake (DMI), production performance, net energy for lactation (NE_L) output in milk, feed efficiency (FE: milk NE_L/DMI), and nitrogen use efficiency (100 × milk protein-N/N intake) when fed to cows grouped as early, mid-early, mid-late, and late lactation. Our secondary objective was to determine the range of CP concentration at which production responses were not negatively affected across days in milk (DIM). Multiparous Holstein cows (n = 64) were stratified by DIM [initial average ± standard deviation: 86 ± 14.9 (early), 119 ± 10.0 (mid-early), 167 ± 22.2 (mid-late), and 239 ± 11.1 (late)] and then randomly assigned within DIM group to receive 1 of 4 total mixed rations containing 13.6, 15.2, 16.7, and 18.3% CP (dry matter basis) according to a 4 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments. Cows were individually fed a covariate diet for 14 d, followed by 56 d of treatment diets. Milk yield and DMI were recorded daily and milk components were analyzed weekly for 2 consecutive days at 3 daily milkings. Data were analyzed using a categorical mixed-effect model to evaluate the effects of CP concentration and DIM using linear, quadratic, and cubic contrasts, and their interactions. Additionally, a mixed-effect cubic regression model was fit with DIM, dietary CP concentration, and their interaction as continuous independent variables. Dietary CP concentration deemed optimal across DIM was determined as the range of CP for which the dependent responses did not differ from the predicted maximum. With advancing stage of lactation, DMI, milk NE_L output, and FE decreased linearly (from 30.4 to 28.4 kg/d for DMI, from 33.2 to 23.3 Mcal/d for NE_L output, and from 1.09 to 0.82 Mcal milk NE_L/kg DMI for FE for early and late lactation cows, respectively). Responses to dietary CP concentration were linear, quadratic, and cubic with the greatest values observed when cows were fed the 16.7% CP diet across DIM (30.8 kg/d, 31.0 Mcal/d, and 1.01 Mcal/kg for DMI, milk NE_L output, and FE, respectively). There was an interaction between dietary CP concentration and stage of lactation for DMI, milk NE_L output, milk component yield, and FE, which was due to the decline in response to additional CP as lactation progressed. Compared with the 16.7% CP diet, feeding the 18.3% CP diet decreased milk NE_L 0.81 and 5.3 Mcal/d for early and late lactation cows, respectively, indicating that feeding a higher CP concentration in late lactation had a negative effect on cow performance. Nitrogen use efficiency declined linearly with increasing CP concentration and DIM. Regression analysis suggested that dietary CP ranging from 16.3 to 17.4% maintained production in early and mid-early lactation. However, dietary CP could be reduced to between 15.7 and 17.1% in late lactation. This research suggested that there are distinct ranges of dietary CP concentrations that maintain cow performance at each stage of lactation.