Effects of supplementing limiting amino acids on milk production in dairy cows consuming a corn grain and soybean meal-based diet

Limiting amino acids (AAs) for milk production in dairy cows fed on a concentrate diet of corn grain and soybean meal was evaluated in this study. Four lactating and multiparous Holstein cows (in third or fourth parities, with an average body weight of 633 ± 49.2 kg), 8 to 9 weeks into their lactation period, were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The experiment comprised four dietary treatments: (1) no intravenous infusion (control); (2) control plus intravenous infusion of an AA mixture of 6 g/d methionine, 19.1 g/d lysine, 13.8 g/d isoleucine, and 15.4 g/d valine (4AA); (3) control plus intravenous infusion of the AA mixture without methionine (no-Met); and (4) control plus intravenous infusion of the AA mixture without lysine (no-Lys). All animals were fed on a controlled diet (1 kg/d alfalfa hay, 10 kg/d silage, 14 kg/d concentrate mixture, ad libitum timothy hay). The AA composition of the diet and blood were determined using an automatic AA analyzer. Milk composition (protein, fat, lactose, urea nitrogen, and somatic cell counts) was determined using a MilkoScan. The results showed that feed intake for milk production did not differ from that of intravenous infusion using a limiting AA mixture. The 4AA treatment numerically had the highest milk yield (32.4 kg/d), although there was no difference when compared with the control (31.2 kg/d), no-Met (31.3 kg/d), and no-Lys (31.7 kg/d) treatments. The concentration of AAs in blood plasma of cows in all treatments, mainly isoleucine and valine, increased significantly compared with that of control. The no-Met treatment increased (p < 0.05) the concentration of lysine in the blood relative to the control and no-Lys treatments, whereas the no-Lys treatment increased (p < 0.05) the concentration of methionine relative to the control and no-Met treatments. In conclusion, milk production increased when feeding 10 g/d methionine to the cows, together with their concentrate diet of corn grain and soybean meal.