Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

! Agriculture and Forestry Research, Special Issue No 362 (Braunschweig, 2012) ISSN 0376-0723
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Control cows had higher β-carotene and a tendency for higher α-tocopherol concentration in colostrum
than the NSV cows in year 1 (Table 1). There were no other differences found between treatments
in vitamin concentrations in milk.
Table 1. Mean concentrations (and standard error of means, SEM) of α-tocopherol, βcarotene
and retinol in milk (mg/l) at 3 sampling occasions; colostrum, 4 days post
calving (PC) and 3-4 weeks PC for year 1 and 2, n=14
Sampling time P
Colostrum 4 days PC 3-4 weeks PC Treatm. x Time
NSV C NSV C NSV C SEM
Year 1
α-tocopherol 2.61 4.72(*) 1.22 1.47 0.66 0.72 0.51 0.098
ß- carotene 0.94 1.70* 0.37 0.51 0.12 0.13 0.16 0.036
Retinol
Year 2
2.55 2.92 0.52 0.84 0.24 0.25 0.30 NS
α-tocopherol 4.50 4.28 0.81 1.23 0.85 0.60 0.65 NS
ß- carotene 2.01 2.23 0.31 0.58 0.30 0.16 0.31 NS
Retinol 2.36 2.24 0.44 0.80 0.48 0.38 0.30 NS
(*) significant within row and time at P = 0.056 and * at P < 0.05, NS = not significant (P > 0.10)
The NSV cows had a lower lnSCC than C cows after 3 months of lactation in year 1 (4.31 and
4.74/ml, respectively, P=0.017). In year 2 the situation was the opposite when NSV cows tended to
have higher lnSCC in the same lactation period (5.59 and 5.19/ml, respectively, P=0.086). Also,
there was a tendency for a higher mastitis incidence year 2 in NSV cows than in C cows (Table 2).
In NSV cows, a higher mastitis incidence and fewer healthy cows were found in year 2 than in year
1. No differences were found between treatment groups in milk yield, milk composition or fertility
parameters.
Table 2. Number (and percentage) of healthy or treated cows fed without synthetic vitamins
(NSV) or with synthetic vitamins (C), n=14
P P
NSV P C P NSV/C NSV/C
Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2
Healthy 11 (78) 2 (14) 0.001 7 (50) 6 (43) NS NS NS
Paresis 0 (0) 3 (21) NS 2 (14) 4 (28) NS NS NS
Mastitis 1 (7) 9 (64) 0.002 2 (14) 4 (28) NS NS 0.060
Other 2 (14) 4 (28) NS 4 (7) 3 (21) NS NS NS
NS not significant (P > 0.10)
Discussion
Organic diets with high levels of grass-legume silages are expected to have a high level of natural
vitamin E and β-carotene (Lindqvist et al, 2011 ), but apparently not enough to secure sufficient αtocopherol
and retinol concentrations in plasma around calving. The higher β-carotene and tendency
for higher α-tocopherol concentrations in colostrum in C cows in year 1 agrees with other studies
(Lindqvist et al, 2011). A relationship has been shown between feeding cows no vitamin supplement
and calf mortality (Waller et al, 2007), and low serum levels of α-tocopherol and β-carotene in
the calves (Torsein et al, 2011). The tendency in year 2 for higher SCC after 3 months of lactation
in NSV cows agrees with other experiments e.g. showing 25 % lower SCC in cows supplemented
with synthetic vitamin E than unsupplemented cows (Politis et al, 2004). It is also in accordance
with the tendency for higher mastitis incidence year 2 in NSV cows than in C cows. The shown
long term effect in NSV cows with higher mastitis incidence and less healthy cows in year 2 com-
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