Vitamin “R” or quality “rest” time for dairy cows has become a clever indicator of cost-effective cow comfort. The research behind it has been clean, neat and irrefutably logical as it parallels research linking rest (sleep) and human health and well being. If we humans get the rest part right, the biggest dividend occurs when rest is counterbalanced with exercise. Giving your body the opportunity to use oxygen more efficiently through controlled work (and a good attitude) increases the capacity for work without taking on additional stress. Adequate rest and repair time closes the circle. It’s really a shame that the cost of conducting research yielding concrete information on the value of exercise to health, well being and productivity of dairy cattle is prohibitively expensive. It’s also somewhat difficult to design the perfect trial.

Information does exist, both from research and herd level observation, that Vitamin “X” or “exercise” does have a positive impact on dairy cattle. It’s a matter of how much benefit, how well set up you may be to exploit the benefit and what is the cost involved in capturing the benefit. As early as 1976 researchers at Utah State University recognized that the industry-wide transition from pasture to confinement could have undesirable health effects. They designed and tested a motorized circular “cow exerciser” that most cows would adapt to, but some would not. During the eighties they published 4 research articles based on forced exercise through the rig. They were able to show an increase in physical fitness, diminution in body condition scores and fewer services per conception and days open for exercised cows. Feed intake and milk production parameters were not different. In 1977 Stan Henderson at Southern Illinois University went a bit more “natural” by marching dry cows 3 miles a day back and forth on a fairly decent and long laneway. Compared with control cows left behind in the barn the exercised dry cows had fewer fresh cow difficulties by 1977 standards.

Twenty years later “Management Intensive Grazing” got some cows back out to pasture. With it came a second wave of research, often with an animal welfare twist. Researchers at Michigan State University revived the “mechanical walker” and reaffirmed the increase in physical fitness through exercise in dairy cows. Research Veterinarians in Sweden and Switzerland looked at exercise at single herd level and across many herds and its effect on health parameters -- particularly feet and legs. Routine daily exercise had positive effects on claw formation and lowered the incidence of medical treatments.

Pasture research has yielded some inferential insight into benefits of exercise. A 1999 NYS trial aimed at describing factors affecting milk fat depression in high producing pasture herds showed an average loss of one-half body condition score while heart girth measures increased (suggesting either muscle growth, weight gain or both) after one month on spring pasture. Solids corrected milk production also rose. A recent trial by Bartlett, Grace, Emo, True and Overton, also here in New York, compared summer pastured short bred heifers with cohorts remaining in a free stall barn. Both groups were fed and managed optimally. Pastured heifers trimmed down 0.35 Body Condition Scores while confinement heifers stayed the same. Calving scores trended lower (better) for the pastured heifers, while projected and actual 305 day lactation milk yields were the same for both groups. More favorable body condition and easier calving were cited as influential in the trend for fewer services per conception and shorter calving interval for the pastured heifers.

Anecdotal information from a larger dairy is pretty interesting. Bred heifers in an older free stall facility were difficult to keep from becoming over-conditioned. The price paid was manifested in Dead on Arrival (DOA) rates in first calf heifers around 20% most of the time. Production was decent, but not quite where they could have been relative to mature cows. The newly built bred heifer barn included two high tensile fenced “pasture” areas in the rugged hillside behind the barn. All pregnant heifers now have “free choice” mountain climbing virtually all of the time. They are easily viewed out tumbling the wildcat in all kinds of weather from the farm office. Heifers are now more trim (lower body condition scores), a little lighter weight but just as tall at 21.5 months freshening. DOA rates have dropped to 9.3 % (11.5% for bull calves and 6.5% for heifers). These first calf heifers are now milking at 81% of mature cows at peak and 89% of mature by the end of first lactation. It’s hard to argue against “Vitamin X” having a significant influence in these positive changes in performance.

All farms are not created equal in their ability to take advantage of demonstrated but not fully quantified “Vitamin X”. Cleaner, clearer research may tell us how far you may be able to go to harness the benefits. Many CNY farms do have the ability to take advantage of pasture (both as a reasonably inexpensive source of high quality forage and source of “Vitamin X”) without a lot of financial risk. This is particularly true for heifers. Those not well set up for pasture may be able to explore some custom grazing with a farm they trust to give their heifers a “shot of Vitamin X” for the Spring ? Fall. Who knows, with better information we may one day see “walking club” areas for low stress forced exercise for heifers and dry cows (that doesn’t involve a 4 wheeler and a lot of whooping). We’ll see!
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