A32-Lmcaster Farming, Saturday, Dacambar 22,1984
ITHACA, NY - Modern
American dairy cows are second to
none when it comes to milk
production. Now, scientists have
made a major advance that could
turn these animals into “super
cows” by markedly increasing the
efficiency of milk production.
Scientists from Cornell
University reported this week that
a group of typical dairy cows in
creased milk yield up to 41 percent
(more than 25 pounds of milk per
day) when given daily shots of
laboratory-produced bovine
somatotropin (growth hormone).
Bovine somatotropin is an ex
perimental protein which was
produced by Monsanto Company.
Highlights of findings made in a
study conducted at Cornell to
determine the effects of long-term
use of biosynthetic hormone, or
methionyl bovine somatotropin
(MBS), on cows’ productivity and
health are:
- the composition and quality of
the milk was the same as ordinary
milk;
- treated animals remained in
good health throughout the test
that lasted for more than six
months;
- calves bom to these animals
were healthy at birth and grew
normally afterward; and
- efficiency (milk per unit of
feed) increased markedly.
Cornell scientists reported these
findings at the 1984 Cornell
Nutrition Conference for Feed
Manufacturers in Syracuse (Oc
tober 30-November 1). This is the
first long-term study of its kind to
improve the productivity of dairy
cows.
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The findings mean that farmers
around the world are closer to the
day when they may be able to use
such a practice to dramatically
increase the efficiency of milk
production.
The study was conducted by
Dale E. Bauman, professor of
nutritional biochemistry in the
New York State College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences at
Cornell, and graduate student
Philip J. Eppard. Monsanto
Company supplied the
somatotropin for the experiment.
“Methionyl bovine
somatotropin” (MBS), the
biosynthetic bovine growth hor
mone, is a product made by
genetically modified
microorganisms created through
recombinant DNA technology,
known popularly as gene splicing.
Both natural and biosynthetic
somatotropins are proteins. To be
effective for boosting cows’ milk
yields, somatotropin must be in the
blood stream, hence the hormone
is injected into muscle, Bauman
explained. If the substance is taken
orally, it has no effect because it is
digested like any other protein.
Conducted in 1982-83 at ComeU’s
Animal Science Teaching and
Research Center, the study was a
continuation of Bauman’s earlier
work that involved short-term use
of both natural and recombinantly
derived bovine growth hormone. In
these studies, hormone-treated
cows boosted their milk production
by 10 to 40 percent.
In the recent long-term study,
researchers gave three groups of
six animals different amounts of
MBS daily for 188 days during the
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last two-thirds of lactation. This is
the period when a cow’s milk yield
normally drops off; milk
production following calving peaks
during the first 60 to 100 days of
lactation. For comparison, another
group of six cows received natural
somatotropin isolated from the
pituitary gland; still another group
of six cows was used as control.
Results of the Cornell study
surprised even the researchers.
MBS-treated cows increased their
milk yields by 23 to 41 percent.
“These results are surroun
ding,” Bauman commented.
“Increased milk yields from test
animals are dependent on how
much hormone was used daily.”
The cows that received the
highest dose of MBS (40.5
miligrams per day) boosted
production by 41 percent. Another
group that was given 27 mg per day
produced 36 percent extra milk.
Increases in milk yields from still
another group that received the
least amount of MBS (13.5 mg per
day) averaged 23 percent.
The extra milk produced by each
of the cows that received the
highest dose (40.5 mg) amounts to
more than 25 pounds per day, or
more than 10 quarts of milk. One
quart of milk weights about 2.15
pounds.
The nutritional composition of
the milk thus produced, in terms of
percentages of milk protein, fat,
and lactose (sugar), was not af
fected.
“The dramatic gain m
production efficiency of the cows
treated with the hormone, as
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demonstrated in this study, is
equal to that resulting from 10 to 20
years of genetic improvements in
cows achievable through
traditional animal breeding
programs,” Bauman said.
The amount of the experimental
protein used daily per animal was
small. If 40.5 mg were used daily,
for example, the amount of
somatotropin required to treat one
animal for 200 days would amount
to less than two-tenths of an ounce,
Bauman estimated.
Bauman also reported that the
cows were in good health
throughout the study. Twenty
eight of 30 cows used in the ex
periment were pregnant. Sub
sequently, these animals calved
successfully, and their offspring
grew normally.
“We observed no ill effect on the
health of the test animals and their
young,” Bauman pointed out.
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Commenting on the scientific
significance of his work, Cornell’s
Bauman said that results clearly
demonstrate that somatotropin is
one of the key controls that channel
more nutrients to milk synthesis in
dairy cows.
“It is impressive that even in
high-producing cows,
manipulation of this single control
(by administration of
somatotropin) can dramatically
increase the efficiency of milk
production,” he noted.
Looking ahead, the Cornell
scientist said that the world is
faced with an ever-increasing
population, projected to double to
10 billion people by the year 2030.
“We have to produce as much
food in the next 40 years as we have
produced in all history,” Bauman
stressed. “For this reason, im
provements in the efficiency of
food production are crucial.”
I 0 A /I I?
tf*l
le peace and R
so richly *
by Our
Jesus Christ
as you
His Birth,
ior
idays.