Evaluation of Agolin®, an Essential Oil Blend, as a Feed Additive for High Producing Cows

Abstract

There is a growing demand for feed additives that can not only reduce dairy enteric methane emissions but also increase milk production and feed efficiency. Just one product is currently commercially available which accomplishes both of these goals. The purpose of this study was to confirm the performance benefits of the product (Agolin®, Agolin SA, Biere, Switzerland) in high producing mid-lactation dairy cows under United States feeding conditions. Four matched pens of approximately 150 mid-lactation cows/pen and averaging over 50 kg of milk/cow/day were enrolled in a side-by-side study. All pens received a common total mixed diet ad libitum, and the essential oil blend was administered via a concentrated farm pack to provide 1 g/cow/day to cows in the 2 test pens. Milk weights were determined, and samples were collected for compositional analysis over the last 2 days of the pretrial (May 11 and 12, 2020) and end of the trial (July 18 and 19, 2020) periods. Dry matter intake was measured by pen daily for the last 10 days of each feeding period. Milk fat and milk protein yields were greater (P < 0.05) for cows receiving added Agolin. There was a tendency (P = 0.06) for energy corrected milk/dry matter intake to be greater for cows receiving the Agolin (1.88) relative to the control diet (1.76). The trial showed that Agolin assisted in improving production parameters of economic importance to dairy producers.